Student Ministries Pastor II

A few comments on the search for a Student Ministries Pastor.

I have hired dozens of people in my tenure as a manager and leader. The guiding principles I have found helpful are:

  • Expose the candidate to as many people within the organization as possible.
  • Prepare the interviewers to seek the candidate's experiences in relation to the qualifications for the role.
  • Gather feedback from each interviewer with regard to their observations of strengths/results, yellow flags of caution, or red flags of severe concern.
  • Define upfront the decision maker(s) - preferably only one decision maker.
  • The interview should open opportunities to understand a candidate's experiences as they relate to his/her preparation for the role. What he/she "would" do is secondary to the primary purpose of discovering the level of preparedness.
  • We seek a win-win as we fill the role. We want a candidate to want the role. The candidate wants us to want him/her in the role.
  • The three spheres of criticality in filling a role are (from Bill Hybel's book, Courageous Leadership): Character, Competence, and Chemistry.
  • Getting the right person in the right seat on the right bus is often more important than where the bus is going (from Jim Collins' book, Good to Great).
  • Be as open in communication with the interviewers as is appropriate.

I'm sure there are other best-practices and principles you have found successful. What do you think?

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