CNLP 148: Jim Wideman on Staffing the Hardest (and Most Important) Position in Your Church

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Where do you get your people?

It’s one of the top questions leaders of growing churches get asked.

After the senior pastor, one of the most important positions in any church these days is actually a surprise. Jim Wideman explains what staffing is in high demand and why.

Welcome to Episode 148 of the podcast.

Jim Wideman’s website

Jim’s Tool: Stay or Go?

Jim on Twitter

NextGenStaffSolutions.com

TrainedUp.church

Free AssessmentTony Morgan and the UnStuck Group

William Vanderbloemen on Episode 114

Right Path 4 and Right Path 6 personality profiles

Live To Serve Conference

The Orange Conference

3 Insights from This Episode

1. Be curious. 

What if every time you walked into a room of strangers you thought: “Each person here knows something I don’t, and I can’t wait to talk to them.” That’s what Jim does, and it’s a key recruitment tactic. He embraces networking, not just to get what he wants, but to learn about people and listen to them.

Lots of hiring comes from the simple practice of getting to know people. You might get to know some great people and hire them. Or, your great people might know of other great people and refer them to you. Let others know that you have an open opportunity to serve.

2. If your leadership pipeline is empty, it’s up to you to change it. 

Plain and simple: If you don’t have leaders you can call upon, then you need to develop more leaders.

How do you start? Look for the people who are excelling and give them opportunity. Look for your outstanding volunteers. Look at the people on staff who are passionate about pushing the vision forward. Invite them to sit in on conversations and meetings. Talk to them beforehand about what they’re going to see, and then grab a meal afterwards and debrief.

When you start growing as a leader, you’ll spend more and more time developing other than planning programs or setting strategy.

3. Don’t just hire people like you.

It’s natural to hire people who are just like us. Or, people that we just like in general. But each position on your team requires a unique skillset and personality. How will they work with their leader? How will they work with parents? Do they prefer a team or individual setting? Use a personality test to figure out the unique need of your team, Jim recommends the Right Path Tests.

Beyond personality dynamic and hard skills, pay attention to their personal lives. How are they doing spiritually? What kind of parent are they? What’s their personal philosophy on managing money? All of these things matter when finding the right people for your team.

Quotes from This Episode

CNLP 148: Jim Wideman on Staffing the Hardest (and Most Important) Position in Your Church Click To Tweet CNLP 148: Jim Wideman on Staffing the Hardest (and Most Important) Position in Your Church Click To Tweet CNLP 148: Jim Wideman on Staffing the Hardest (and Most Important) Position in Your Church Click To Tweet

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Next Episode: Kris Valloton

Kris Valloton talks about the incredible rise of Bethel Church, how to create a music culture like they have for Bethel Music, the number one need young adults have and how to meet it., and how God is using charismatic ministry to impact the most unlikely people.

Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 149.

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Carey Nieuwhof
Carey Nieuwhof

Carey Nieuwhof is a best-selling leadership author, speaker, podcaster, former attorney, and church planter. He hosts one of today’s most influential leadership podcasts, and his online content is accessed by leaders over 1.5 million times a month. He speaks to leaders around the world about leadership, change, and personal growth.