Paul Clark

Beyond the bland: 11 more questions to identify 'must hires'

Ok, since we're on the topic of interview questions, I'll share some I wrote down in doing some research into better interviews.  Print these out and put them in a file for the next time your facing that uncomfortable silence in the interview and not getting the info you want:

1. Walk me through your progression with your current employer, leading me up to what you now do daily.

2. Why would this be a good move in progression for you from a personal and career development standpoint?

3. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being a perfect match for this job), how would you grade yourself from a technical standpoint? What would make you a 10?

4. Where would you need the most support, structure or direction in your first 90 to 180 days?

5. What makes you stand out as a rarity among your peers?

6. Why is your current workplace a better place for you having worked there?

7. Tell me about your reputation at work: What are you known for?

8. Tell me about your last performance appraisal: In which area were you most disappointed?

9. From an interpersonal standpoint, where do you disagree with your boss most often? What kind of constructive feedback would you give him if he were here right now?

10. What do you know about our organization?

Better interview questions

I'm always interested in better interviewing techniques.  I came across this list of bad interview questions and realized I've asked them many times.  Maybe you have too?  Here's some suggestions for creating some better and more illuminating conversations with your candidates:

1. Don’t ask: “Can you tell me about yourself?”

This question will simply encourage job applicants to summarize their resumes, wasting precious time and preventing you from finding out any new information.

Instead, ask: “What professional accomplishments are you most proud of and why?”

Instead of asking for a laundry list, this question forces candidates to elaborate on the most pertinent aspects of their work history.

2. Don’t ask: “What are your strengths?”

This is such a common question posed by hiring managers that candidates usually trot out a prepared, vanilla response that teaches you nothing.

Instead, ask: “What is your greatest professional strength, and how have you used it to overcome a challenge in your career?”

This question compels candidates not only to describe a strength they possess but also to expand on how they’ve applied it in a real situation. It can be especially revealing when interviewing candidates for technical positions because it allows you to gauge whether they can explain their successes in terms anyone can understand.

3. Don’t ask: “What are your weaknesses?”

Candidates typically come prepared with weakness-turned-positives—“I work too hard” or “I’m sometimes too detail-oriented”—that disclose nothing about their true shortcomings.

Instead, ask: “Can you describe a time when you didn’t accomplish a goal and how you rectified the situation?”

Your goal is to find out how the candidate has dealt with adversity in the past. Did they solicit help from co-workers? Did they act right away? Did they take responsibility? This question can be especially helpful when interviewing management-level candidates. 

4. Don’t ask: “Why do you want to work here?”

While this could help you find out how much the applicant knows about your organization, chances are you’ll also receive praise about the organization that borders on insincerity.

Instead, ask: “What specifically attracted you to our organization?”

This question forces applicants to articulate why they view your organization as “unique” and “a good place to work.” It allows you to assess not only their depth of knowledge about your organization, but also whether they truly want to work for the company. 

5. Don’t ask: “Do you prefer to work alone or with a team?”

These days, employers need workers who can excel in team and individual roles, rendering this question obsolete.

Instead, ask: “Can you describe an example of when you worked with a colleague or group to solve a problem?”

Staff Reorganization Part 1

I've Twittered and wrote about the major overhaul we've undertaken through staff reorganization. Today, I want to explain the first two steps in that redesign. Tomorrow, I'll outline steps three and four. All the steps are equally as important, although the first two may seem less significant. For clarity sake, let me restate the goals we were reaching for with this reorganization of staff:

1. We’ll become less dependent on titles and departments as the structure for making decisions and executing vision
2. We’ll become more strategic in our thinking and planning by getting the right people around the table for shaping and executing vision
3. We’ll work more effectively across ministry lines
4. We’ll communication better between teams
5. More people will be in the flow of information and decisions
6. We’ll push more details and implementation to the ministry level creating greater coordination, better communication and a broader range of solutions

Step One:

Dissolution of the Executive Team. Over the past seven years, we have been led by the Executive Team, comprised of four Executive Pastors and the Lead Pastor. This group of five shaped the vision and led the staff. Virtually every major initiative started with the Exec Team and every other staff pastor or ministry leader reported to an Exec Pastor. During the January 2010 Executive Team retreat, the decision was made to dissolve the team and voluntarily lay down the title, “Executive Pastor.” There will no longer be Executive Pastors.

A hierarchy of titles creates a hierarchy of power. Sometimes that power is legitimate and sometimes it isn't. Having an Executive Team comprised of four guys with the title, "Executive," created an unnecessary and sometimes problematic power structure that got in the way of real collaboration, teamwork and collegiality--especially across ministry teams. The staff over time, began to view the Executive hierarchy as negative. The next generation of staff members want participation, a voice, and flexibility in reporting/power structures. The Executive Team was extremely productive, but it had run its course.

Step Two:

Establishment of a new title structure. Titles will be de-emphasized, in favor of areas of responsibility. Five general titles will remain, with clearly defined parameters. All staff will fit into these five employment categories:

Lead Pastor: The “Lead Pastor” designation is reserved for the individual providing overall organizational leadership and reporting directly to the Governing Board.

Pastor: The “Pastor” designation is reserved for individuals with: 1) Bible college or seminary education; 2) licensed or in the process of licensure by the District, making them eligible to provide sacerdotal functions; 3) manage ministries and/or have other paid staff under their supervision.

Director: The “Director” designation is reserved for individuals who manage ministries and have other paid staff under their supervision, but do not have formal Bible college or seminary education.

Specialist: Individuals with specialized technical education or training.

Ministry Assistant: Individual contributors who provide ministry assistance to various ministries and ministry leaders.

No more executives, assistants, associates, and all the other title nuances that were intended to convey hierarchy. The reporting structure is defined by the Organization Chart, not by titles. This will create less formality and foster a better sense being one team. I once joked about a pastor who showed a slide in a sermon where he quoted himself... but here's what I said in a blog post back in October about titles:

"...we labor over titles when the reality is that what we do is vastly more important than what we're called. Our people find their own natural way to understand each person's role, in spite of the fancy titles we apply. Function trumps formality"

So my functional, no-nonsense title becomes:

Paul Clark, Pastor
Operations

I earned the title, "Pastor" based on my education and credentialing, and my functional responsibilities are in the area of operations. That's all anybody needs to know. If for some reason somebody cares to know who reports to me or where I am in the reporting structure, they look at the Organization Chart. Very clean and simple.

Already, in just a week or so of living in this new system, I have seen these two steps pay dividends. The younger staff feel like the playing field has been leveled. There's a feeling that we're all on the same team. People are opening up more and feeling valued.

Steps three and four are huge, so stay tuned.

Staff Reorganization Overview

Those of you following me on Twitter know that last week we unfolded the staff reorganization that we've been working on since last fall.  The organizational structure we had when I came almost eight years ago was traditional, with the Senior Pastor having about ten direct reports.  Leadership, mentoring and oversight was limited to what he could do, given his own workload and time constraints.  The joke was that it had been years since he had ventured into certain ministry areas of the church, even though those ministry leads reported directly to him.

When David became the Lead Pastor, he reorganized with an Executive Team so that he could pour himself into four other guys, who would then provide leadership, mentoring and oversight to the rest of the staff.  It's a model that's worked well for us for most of the last five years.

Last fall David and I stole away for a day and asked ourselves the question, "What organizational changes do we need to make in order to be an effective staff serving a church of 6,000?" We're currently about 4,000. We filled an 8-ft whiteboard several times in answering that question. We took an honest look at what we do well, what we struggle with, and how well we are positioned to respond to the growth God is giving us. We worked through staffing and organizational issues down to a micro-level. It was a fun day.

Last week, after review by the Personnel Committee and the current Executive Team, we presented our organizational restructuring to the staff. We noted that the church has grown quickly over the last few years and that many new staff have been added to respond to the growth in ministries. Although the staff continues to be healthy and the ministries are very effective, several important goals came into view as we considered the future:

1. Greater flexibility through less formality and departmental-ism
2. Gift-based leadership: getting the right people on the right teams
3. Better communication between ministries
4. Flatter vs. hierarchical organization: to reduce siloing and improve teamwork

We explained what these goals would look like in real life:

1. We’ll become less dependent on titles and departments as the structure for making decisions and executing vision
2. We’ll become more strategic in our thinking and planning by getting the right people around the table for shaping vision
3. We’ll work more effectively across ministry line
4. We’ll communication better between teams
5. More people will be in the flow of information and decisions
6. We’ll push more details and implementation to the ministry level creating greater coordination, better communication and a broader range of solutions

We then presented four steps that we are implementing, which we believe will help us achieve the goals we discussed above.  I'll share them with you over the next few days, so that you don't "unsubscribe" because my posts are too long... Have a great day!

Voice mail resume

We recently hired a Director of Communication and I came across an idea I wish I would have seen beforehand.  Of course we solicited cover letters and resumes from prospective candidates, but one additional creative idea would have been to ask candidates to call the church and ask for a particular extension with a voice mail attached, and have them leave a voice mail message with a sketch of their background and interest in the position.  That way I not only would have had the print material I needed to qualify candidates, but I would have also gotten a window into their verbal communication skills as well.

Several candidates sent their own custom videos for me to consider, which was cool.  But not everybody is a videographer.  The voice mail would have been a good tool for getting a better idea of the person behind the resume.

Boosting morale--one idea

I came across an interesting idea yesterday (amid many goofy ones) for boosting morale.  One that I think we might try:

Have "Late Day Mondays" through the summer: offer those who are hourly or non-exempt the perk of coming in an hour later than usual on Mondays, without losing any salary. Mondays are pretty slow around the church office anyway, since many pastors have very busy weekends and tend to come in late on Mondays. And in the summer workload slows a bit. Summer weekends can wear us out, so a slower start to the week might be a sweet deal!

Exempt staff have plenty of perks and flexibility with their time. But office staff sometimes are in a rut when it comes to their hours and their schedules.

What creative things have you done to boost morale and show appreciation for your staff?

10 Questions to get some good feedback--on yourself

Since we have pushed formal performance appraisals to the side in favor of informal coaching, we may miss the need to get good feedback from our employees and direct-reports on the way they view our leadership. That's a problem because it creates the potential for myopic supervision. We're always focused on what others are doing around us, but we lack any insight on how others view our behaviors.

Don't risk thinking that you're doing it all right. Even the best managers need some coaching. Those we supervise have a unique perspective on our leadership. Take an opportunity with your staff and ask them to give you some honest feedback around questions like these:

1. How well do I communicate to you what I expect from you? 
2. Do I make my expectations clear, especially in terms of deliverables and dates?
3. How would you describe my involvement level in your work (i.e. too involved, too little involved, or a comfortable level of involvement)?
4. Do you feel comfortable asking me for explanations, clarification, or discussing ministry-related issues? 
5. Am I approachable?
6. Am I available to you?
7. Do I convey that I am interested in your issues and in your success?
8. Do I convey an openness to new ideas?
9. Do you feel you are treated fairly?  Do others feel the same?
10. What's one thing you wish I would do differently?

David has said one of my defining qualities is that I'm extremely introspective.  Very true.  But I can't get better if I don't know what I'm doing poorly. And I want to be the best leader I can be within the realm of ministry God has given me.  If you're a supervisor, try these questions on your staff.  If you're not supervising anybody, design your own set of questions to get some feedback on how others perceive you.

15 intriguing interview questions

I ran across some interesting interview questions the other day in an HR Specialist publication.  Since I've done my share of interviewing lately, I thought I'd pass along these gems in the hope of adding some adventure to your next interview...

• How would you move Mount Fuji?
• What was your best MacGyver moment? (my personal favorite)
• How would you determine how many house painters there are in the United States?
• If I put you in a sealed room with a phone that had no dial tone, how would you fix it?
• If both a taxi and a limo were priced the same, which one would you choose?
• How do you measure nine minutes using only a four-minute and seven-minute hourglass?
• What are five uncommon uses of a brick, not including building, layering, or a paperweight?
• If you died, what do you think your eulogy would say about you?
• If you saw someone steal a quarter, would you report it?
• How would you sell me eggnog in Florida in the summer?
• What should it cost to rent Central Park for commercial purposes?
• If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
• What is the probability of throwing 11 and over with a pair of dice?
• How many lightbulbs are in this building?
• If you were a brick in a wall, which brick would you be and why?

These were selected from over 14,000 submissions.  Go here for more questions AND some of the answers given. Yikes!

Pastoring in a big church

Is there a wave of opinion coming that suggests that being big is somehow bad? Maybe it’s already here and I’m just now noticing it. I’ve picked it up in Skye Jethani’s book,”The Divine Commodity,” his video I referenced last week, and in one of Donald Miller’s books I read last summer. It’s an underlying sentiment I detect that if a church is big, their motives and their methods may be suspect, and perhaps they’ve yielded to the culture in order to become big.

What if a church is doing the right things: preaching a gospel of redemption and transformation, presenting vibrant and engaging worship experiences that connect people to God, placing people in community where they discover meaningful relationships, and ministering to people’s needs through focused, well-executed ministries? What if God in his sovereignty adds to that church,

• people who are searching for Christ?
• people who have been hurt by other churches?
• people who are attracted by authentic relationships?
• people who want to hear practical, challenging, messages from the Bible?
• people who want their children and students involved in ministries that are relevant, transformative and fun?

I believe what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3: “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.”

Churches should grow. Some grow more than others. The increase belongs to the Lord, not to us as pastors or leaders. That is a truth that should keep us humble. All we can do is struggle to keep our motives and our methods pure. We must remind ourselves, “Bigger is not better. Better is better.” We want to do ministry with an effort and passion that is intentional and praiseworthy, just as Paul said, whatever you do, “do it all for the glory of God.”

I'm sure there are pastors that just want to pastor a megachurch, or at least the biggest church in town. They think that bigness validates them. That’s a sad mistake. I believe that if we hear God say to us, 'Well done, good and faithful servant,” it will have nothing to do with the size of our congregation, and everything to do with our heart and our motives.

Most pastors who go to conferences driven by megachurch models go there because they want their ministry for Christ to expand in its influence and impact. They suspect that larger churches have found something that has helped them become more influential in their communities. Theologically, they believe that the rapid growth of the early church is evidence that God wants to bring people to himself and that church growth is a valid biblical outcome. The Great Commission includes increasing influence and ministry growth.

As I’ve said before, I’m not impressed by bigness. But neither am I apologetic about being a pastor in a big church. In God’s providence, he's using both to accomplish his purposes.

Livin' large is no way to live

I stumbled across this video by Skye Jethani this weekend and was encouraged by listening to it (actually several times). He’s talking to us, church leaders and managers, who are easily duped by the idea, “bigger is better.” I see this all the time and it’s easy to get sucked into the trap of assuming that big numbers mean big impact, when in fact, numbers say nothing about impact or transformation. Here’s a few key points I take away:

• Larger is not better.
• Your legitimacy as a pastor or leader is not tied to the size of your ministry.
• Jesus’ ministry would be judged a failure by today’s standards.
• We must stay faithful to our calling, which is about the heart, not metrics.
• Outcomes are not an accurate portrayal of legitimacy.
• Our identity is rooted in being loved by the Father.
• Outcomes belong to the Lord.
• Stop judging yourself and others based on visible outcomes.

Those are great truths to contemplate. The bigger we get as a church the less impressed I am by bigness. Great leaders are contagious. They attract through their wisdom, their humility, and their authenticity, not their success. But, next week I want to comment on an underlying theme that comes across in much of what I've seen from Jethani recently.