I just finished writing a recommendation for someone on Linkedin that reminded me of what is absolutely critical when considering someone for your team.  When I hire someone I am always looking for three major things that are very important to me.  If anyone of these is missing then I know no matter how qualified they may be in the other two areas it is still a no deal for me:

1.       Character—According to all the research Jim Collins has done this qualification has moved to the top of the list.  When someone has the right kind of character you will not have to worry about having to over manage them they are self motivated and will only settle for excellence in everything they do.  Talk is cheap in this area and I want someone who has demonstrated over time they have the foundation that can withstand the problems that will surely come in the future.

2.      Competency—There is no doubt that everyone you add to your team needs to be qualified to fill the positions you have available.  The more technical and specialized the skill set the more demanding you must be in this area.  However, in Collin’s research  and my own personal experience, if I find the right person I will hire them first and figure out what they are going to do later.

3.      Chemistry—The clear issue here is how well this person will fit into the team dynamic that is already in place.  I always in the interview process find a way to get a person into a casual environment so I can observe them and see who they really are unscripted.  I want people with a heavy dose of personal humility and equal amount of personal determination that do not care who gets the credit but will make sure it all gets done.

The people who are going to do great things in this new global environment are going to be the ones with the best people on their team.  There is no greater responsibility for the leader than making sure you get the right people on the bus and the wrong ones off as quickly as possible.

As Seth Godin points out we have all heard the expression winners never quit and quitters never win.  In real life that is simply not true because knowing when to quit something that is clearly not working is the secret to winning because it gets you one step closer to the one thing that you were meant to do with your life.

Many times we take jobs thinking that we have finally found the answer to what do I want to do with my career?  Many months later we realize that what we expected was wrong.  We should never quit just because the work is challenging and the people with whom we work are not the best.

However when you have done your best and the day to day responsibilities that you have been assigned are not bringing any challenge or lasting value then you need to find something that you can be passionate about doing.  Our work should be something we care about to the point that we look forward to going in every day because what we do really matters.

Sometimes we really like what we do but the team of people we are doing it with are merely takers and not givers.  They are out for number one and there is an atmosphere of backbiting , constant stress and negative criticism that drives the culture of the organization.  No matter how much you like what you do if you cannot enjoy the journey with the people you are doing it with it is simply not worth it.

Becoming a serial quitter for all the wrong reasons can be a fatal character flaw that will negatively impact your entire life.  Quitting for the right reason can be the best thing you have ever done because it can lead you to a brighter future.

I have probably learned more from Pat MacMillan on this subject than from any other writer.  His book The Performance Factor is still a must read if you want to fully understand all the dynamics involved in leading a successful team.

When selecting team members you must have the right combination of competency and character.  You really need people who are experts in their area of responsibility that can bring great factual accurate information into the discussion.  However, the ultimate success of the team in my opinion will be even more driven by how people interact with each other showing mutual respect and humility.

I want everyone engaged and passionate about their contribution to the discussion but I do not want anyone attacking another person rather than debating their ideas.  I have found the following list to be helpful for setting the right tone:

1.       Treat each other with dignity and respect

2.      Listen for understanding

3.      Don’t take things personally; don’t mean things personally

4.      Ask, but do not assume motives

5.      Avoid degrading language; do not attack each other credibility

6.      Everyone has input, regardless of position

7.      We will not take ourselves too seriously

There is a big difference in being professional vs. being negatively personal toward another person.  We must separate their ideas and comments from who they are and even though we may disagree we always value the individual.

When it is all said and done all potential employees will be evaluated under the two broad categories of character and competency.  The more important of the two is character because you can help most people through training to improve their skill set but you may never be able to overcome who they are as a person.

Once you have narrowed the number of resumes down to the people that you may be interested in it is very helpful to conduct an initial phone interview.  It is very important to learn how to ask open ended questions that will allow the person to talk beyond the typical scripted answers.  As quickly as possible find out what they are passionate about and what they are capable of doing.

The next step is to send them a series of questions and assessment tools that will give you an even clearer understanding of the person’s strengths and personality tendencies.  This should be compared to a very detailed reference resource form that looks for the not so obvious information.  A good question might be if you were to see them in a totally different field of work what would it be and why?

By the time you get to a face to face interview the issue is more about character and chemistry than it is competency.  I have found it very beneficial to involve other team members in this process to see how they read the fit for our organizational culture.

I would never hire anyone for any kind of significant role without first meeting their spouse.  Seeing a couple interact with each other can tell you a lot about the person.  Probably one of the most important things to do is get the person in several casual settings where they will not have their game face on and you can listen and observe how they interact with other people.

This entire process could take several months but remember the only thing worse than not having a position filled is to have it filled with the wrong person.  When in doubt move on to the next person because as a leader your gut is probably right.

We know from reading scripture that God cares about every person on the planet and there is not a people group that is outside of His global plan of redemption.  However, we cannot miss as we read the Bible that God has always had a heart for the cities where the masses are living.

God’s passion comes out for the large cities in the book of Jonah in an incredible way.  He is moved by the multitudes that do not know Him and declares, “should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left.”

Even a nation like Babylon that was wicked in the sight of God to the degree that He promised to totally destroy its evil culture, God through Jeremiah tells His people who are living in captivity there, “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”

Throughout the book of Acts and the birth of the missions movement as we know it today we see God consistently sending his missionaries to the largest cities of that day to reach out to the greatest number of people possible with the message of the gospel.  We read many stories of individuals coming to Christ but when God was reassuring Paul about pending persecution He reminded him, “for I am with you , and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”

The grand plan of worldwide redemption starts in a garden goes through a cross and ends in a city.  Yes God cares about the one individual that lives in remote Montana or Malawi but He also knows that the largest number of people in 1^st or 21^st century will always be found in the cities of the world.

How can we too not have compassion and prioritize reaching the millions that live there who still to this day cannot discern between their right hand and their left.

The subtitle of this great new book by David Platt is taking back your faith from the American Dream.  This is by far one of the most challenging and rewarding books I have read in a long time.

When you become a follower of Christ you accept both the privileges and responsibilities of that relationship.  Discipleship demands radical obedience to be on the mission of impacting the world with the gospel.

The mission is to be carried out as you are going about your life everyday at home, work, neighborhood, community and ultimately to the ends of earth.  This means that we all need to see ourselves as missionaries and our task is to tell our story to as many people as possible.

The most challenging part of the book is how we as American Christians have bought into the lie of the world and committed the sin of materialism.  He is not saying in my opinion sell everything you have and give it all to the poor. 

He is saying that we have been blessed beyond measure compared with the rest of the world and every Christian should be living a lifestyle that reflects biblical priorities.  We may not need to sell it all but we sure don’t need to buy it all either and we must be generous in helping others who are literally dying every day from preventable causes.

According to David, “today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty.”  This reality forces us to move beyond mere knowledge and even debate to sustainable action that seeks to do something to help. 

How many starfish are you willing to throw back into the sea?

We have all had good and bad experiences with this wonderful but sometimes problematic annual rite of passage in corporate America.  It is always helpful to know what is expected of you and to hear from your superiors how they think you are doing.

As Christians we must never forget that ultimately our real employer is our heavenly Father. Because of the price He paid for our redemption we should have a passion to live our lives in reckless abandonment to His will.

His expectations are very clear as we are going about our everyday lives we are to be spreading the aroma of His grace to all of the people we come in contact with in every situation.  Our lives should be living epistles to be known and read by all at home, at work and in the normal patterns of life.

As we unconditionally minister grace to other people we are earning the trust and opportunity to share with them the reason of the hope that lies within us.  Our conviction is that stuff and success don’t really matter in the end but what we have done to move others toward knowing Christ does.

Jesus said it so clearly that it cannot be missed as the Father has sent Him into world He now sends us. We are to be storytellers of His personal grace and compassion in our lives and hope givers for all the broken people who live in utter despair.

During my final performance review I only want to hear one comment, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Lighting the fuse is an appropriate analogy for any leader who is about to initiate a significant change process. If you make a mistake during this critical process the whole situation can figuratively blow up in your face leaving your people and your organization in worse condition than before you started.

 It is never enough to just do the right thing, you must do the right thing, the right way, and especially at the right time.  There are at least four major reasons for initiating the change process:

1.  Need Must Be Met—this would appear to be the easiest of all the reasons after all there is someone or something that is not right and we can make it better.  However, rarely does everyone in your group see this need in the same way and many may not be directly motivated by this cause at all.  Be careful of needs that only touch a limited constituency. 
2. Opportunity Should Be Taken—this one requires everyone to look out into the future and see a new reality that is better than the one they are in today.  This requires maximum amount of visionary leadership to paint a picture that people can embrace to the point they are willing to move forward.
3. Problem Can Be Solved—here again one person’s problem is merely another person’s distraction.  Compelling reasons must be given that this situation not only if affecting people in a negative way but if it is not resolved it will only become worse.
4. Crisis Threatens Our Future—now you have an issue that can be communicated in such a clear and dramatic way because if it is not dealt with the future of this group of people or organizations is in peril.  Never take a problem and try to turn it into a crisis for impact sake because people will see through the clever marketing and lose confidence in the leader.

The bottom line for any leader is that you have a very limited amount of leadership capital with your people so spend it wisely.  Most people will only be motivated to change when the pain of the present is clearly worse than their fear of the future.  Be careful not to judge them for that because to some degree we are all the same way.

I would highly recommend this book for any Christian that is serious about fulfilling their calling by leveraging their career to impact the world for eternity.  The authors are Steve Rundle and Tom Steffen who pack a lot of great information about the biblical justification for their approach and several actual examples that fit their definition of success.

The core conviction they have is that every Christian is already in full time ministry and the spreading of the gospel should not be delegated exclusively to a small team of ordained missionaries.  They also believe that there should be no dichotomy between the sacred and the secular when it comes to using our career as a platform to accomplish ministry.

This is not some clandestine strategy to use business platforms as a way of getting into closed countries but rather a convictional approach to start legitimate businesses that make a profit and then help their local communities.  It is also a very holistic approach to missions that avoids both extremes of a social gospel on one end of the spectrum and counting decisions on the other.

This approach avoids all the negative aspects of redemption and lift that eventually removes new believers from their immediate community where they can be the most effective in reaching new people.  There is an acknowledgement that some companies may make profits to provide the necessary funding for other front line ministries.

They believe that “by establishing authentic businesses that employ local workers among the least-reached peoples of the world, they contribute to the economic health of the immediate community and also provide avenues for both physical and spiritual ministry.”  This really is about making a profit so that you can really make a difference.

The one thing that has never changed about missions is that God has always been seeking people to know Him and then to make Him known.  The unchanging message of the gospel started in a garden and will end in a city full of people from every tribe and nation on the earth.

The great commission was given to the early church and they immediately began to carry the message to every part of their known world.  This message was primarily being shared not by a professional ministerial class but by average believers who had a personal story to tell about what Christ had done in their lives.

During the middle ages the formal church was the focal point of representing God to the world.  The emphasis had shifted from individuals to organizations and the world suffered greatly in this period of isolation from the truth.

The reformation gave the scriptures back to the people and set the stage for all that followed in the modern mission’s movement where individual believers once again committed their lives to go into whole world with their message of hope.  However these individuals became part of much larger organizations that took the lead in spreading the good news.

Today the major emphasis is still upon organizations, denominations, mission agencies and other groups that represent primarily the trained professionals who maintain the old paradigms that have existed for hundreds of years.  These groups do a great work and will always play an important role in touching the world.

An exciting new movement is developing where committed Christians are once again being used by God in incredible ways and places where the professional worker model cannot work.  They are using their career calling as a platform not only to make a profit but also to make an eternal difference.

If you want to learn more Great Commission Companies is a great book that points the way to how God is using globalization to break down barriers and effectively create genuine communities of new believers.