Here are some things that I consider before hiring above or below:
1. If you hire below a person, can they take the ministry to the next level or only lead well at the current level? One of my mentors helped me process this. You can't make decisions about staff based on where the church is today, you have to make decisions based on where you are headed.
2. The key to effectively hiring above or below a person is constant communication. Our Executive Pastor and I try our best to communicate frequently to the staff about where they are in their leadership development. We never want anyone to be blind-sided by how we view their leadership. At People's Church, we are brutally honest with one another. We let the staff know if we are concerned about their leadership. We want them to know if they are or are not meeting expectations.
3. Before we hire above a staff member, we make sure that we have done our best to develop them. We constantly tell our staff that we believe in them. The reason we tell them this is because we really do believe in their potential, and we want to do everything we can to develop and draw out the potential that's inside of them. Here are some things we do to develop our staff: We give our team books, listen to other leaders, go to conferences, do leadership teachings in staff meetings and do quarterly reviews. If a staff member doesn't respond positively in a timely manner to all of the leadership development, we will hire over them.
More on Tuesday