More Than Hired Hands

From filling roles to forming people

By Jeff Little

Great organizations are the result of great team members. Finding and developing them is one of our most important responsibilities. The team communicates the ethos of the environment. I recognize people hear me preach, but how they feel when they interact with our staff gives them a greater picture of our culture.

One of the first questions other ministry leaders ask me is, “Where did you find these people?” It humbles me—I believe I get to work with the best people on the planet, and I realize this isn’t the reality for everyone.

My response usually goes something like this: “Don’t just build on hired hands but on sons and daughters.” I’m not talking about natural family. When I use the phrase “sons and daughters,” what I mean is people who are as committed as I am to the vision and values of the organization.

By contrast, a hired hand is someone who is committed to a paycheck. They’re not committed to a calling—they’re only after what the work provides.

I talk about this principle in my book Win with People. Jesus shares the consequences of building on hired hands in John 10, saying they run at the first sign of adversity, displaying a lack of investment. Sons and daughters are bought in, even if it doesn’t necessarily benefit them directly, because they see the higher vision. Pastors typically don’t like this because they need a youth pastor or worship leader ... now! They needed a kids’ director, like ... yesterday.

I get it. I’ve been there. This approach requires years of time and energy, but trust me, the investment is worth it.

While we are passionate about training future leaders, we also hire externally and have been blessed with some incredible team members who become sons and daughters in the house. With both groups, you can implement this grid to help ensure you are hiring the right people.

When building a healthy team, look for people with:

Character. This is who they really are. Not the version they want people to see, but the real them. It doesn’t mean they’re perfect. In fact, people with high character respond well to correction. This is difficult to pinpoint when first getting to know someone in the hiring process. They won’t usually disclose this on their resume.

One way to see someone’s true character is by giving them weight. Weight creates pressure that reveals a response. Pay attention to their response and if it aligns with the values you’re trying to build on.

Competency. Do they know how to do anything? Don’t just hire someone based on their likability or popularity with people. Yes, we want friendly people, especially in ministry, but coffee touchpoints every day aren’t going to accomplish much. Evaluate their skills and ability to perform tasks, build teams and systems, be excellent and get people excited.

Curiosity. Do they wake up every day thinking about how they can grow and better the team and mission? These people outpace the program with their eagerness to learn. You don’t have to teach them to have initiative; they just go for it.

If you are a department manager, pastor or leader, this all starts with you. Give yourself an honest self-evaluation and commit to becoming a better team-builder. The fact that you would read this shows you deeply care about your team and finding the right people. I haven’t arrived; I’m still learning, too. So let’s become better together!

Jeff Little is the lead pastor of Milestone Church in Keller, Texas. He’s married to the love of his life, Brandy, and together they have four kids and two grandchildren. They began Milestone with 32 others in a middle school cafetorium with a vision from God and a passion to reach people and build lives. Since then, they have witnessed God do incredible things, and now, over 20 years later, Milestone is a multisite church and a family of thousands that is continuing to grow exponentially throughout their region.