Do You Know How to Hire Leaders?

John Maxwell's Commentary in His Introduction to Genesis:>"Because God designed people to lead - to "have dominion over" the earth(1:26,28) - we know that we possess a ruling capacity."

From Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges:
Servant leadership enables humility to overcome incompetence. Suppose someone who is not qualified accepts a leadership position. What will it take for this person to become effective and get the job done? This question was asked of Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God ..... Prior to this question, participants were asking Henry and Ken about whether you needed to always check if you had the proper strengths to take a particular leadership position. Henry's response was classic. In essence, he said,"That's an interesting concept, but it's not Biblically sound. Name for me one leader in the Bible whom the Lord called who was qualified? Every one of them, including Moses and Mary, claimed in one way or the other that they were the wrong person for the job. The reality is that the Lord never calls the qualified, He qualifies the called."

Mike's Thoughts:
These passages present quite a paradox for me, as a leader, trying to fit the right person to the right position. The authors above are telling me that we all have leadership capacity and it doesn't matter if we are qualified for the position, as long as we are humble we can overcome our incompetencies! I struggle with this. I can visualize situations where, in the right environment, an incompetent leader may be allowed to grow into his/her position. This assumes a definition of incompetence as "not being aware of one's capabilities". Therefore, a leader who appears incompetent, may grow into the position because inside they had the capacity to do the job, they just lacked the experience and confidence in themselves initially. The fact that God had divine knowledge of each person's capacity for leadership, whether or not that individual realized it at the time, allowed Him to "qualify the called". In effect, He did what all good leaders should do, is bring out the best in His leaders. For me, as a leader, I don't have the luxury of divine knowledge of each person's capacity for leadership. I can certainly pray for such revelation. Can I be certain that the Lord will answer each of my prayers for such revelation? Now that is a very good question and poses yet another paradox for me! If I answer that by saying "no, God picks and
chooses the prayers He answers", am I being unfaithful? If I say "yes, God answers each of my prayers", am I being untruthful and prideful because I know that God has not answered every prayer I've ever prayed? I want to defer to Ronald Reagan! I believe it was he who said, "trust, but verify". In other words, God wants us to have faith in Him, but we need to do our part, too.

Mike's Action Points when filling a position:
1- Pray for discernment and peace in regards to this candidate. If I receive a clear answer from the Lord that this is the right person
for the position then move forward with placing him/her. If I don't
receive a very clear answer then proceed with the steps below.
2- Verify the quality of the candidate by checking references and
verifying what the candidate has been doing the past few years.
3- Run a background check. However, issues that may arise as a
result of a background check should raise a red flag, but not
disqualify a candidate by itself. EVERYONE messes up sometimes, but in different ways and to different "degrees". Remember, to God, a sin is a sin, whether it is taking a pencil from the office or committing a third degree felony. Jesus died on the cross so that we can all be forgiven of our sins daily. So,it is more important what are doing about and since we messed up than the fact that we messed up, because we all mess up. How many great pastors and servants of the Lord have come from people who were incarcerated for years for crimes they committed? The answer is more than you realize.
4- Once I've done the due diligence as to the quality of the candidate, I should pray for peace as whether or not to move forward with the person.
5- Next I need to verify that the candidate has the talent/capacity to fill the position. We all have leadership talent, but a person may have the talent to lead in one area, but not another. This is
different from the skills and knowledge that a person has acquired thru study and experience. Anyone can acquire skills and knowledge, but talent is unique from person to person. There are excellent assessments that can be used such as "Strengthsfinder" by Tom Rath, and others.
6- If more than one candidate has made it this far in the process, and they are deemed equally capable for the most part, then go about assessing their knowledge and skills.
7- Pray for peace and a clear understanding as to which candidate is
the appropriate hire at this time, if any! If you don't receive true peace about the candidate, then the Lord is most likely telling you to start over with new candidates or to evaluate the position itself.

Please see my blog: http://legacycoach.blogspot.com