The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
We're all about helping create a healthy, positive, and spiritually positive environment for church staff members and leadership teams.
The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Personality: How It Shapes Ministry Effectiveness
What if the secret to a thriving church staff lies not just in skills but in personality dynamics? Join me, Todd Rhoades, as we unpack the third pillar in our series on making great hires in ministry: personality. We'll demystify why different roles demand distinctive traits and how these traits can dramatically influence leadership and teamwork within your church. Learn how popular personality assessments like the Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, and DISC can serve as insightful tools, sparking valuable discussions rather than delivering absolute verdicts. Don’t miss the exploration of potential red flags like overconfidence and conflict avoidance that could derail your team dynamics.
Balancing technical proficiency with spiritual calling is a juggling act many church leaders face, and in this episode, we'll provide clarity on this crucial balance. Understanding the synergy between these elements is vital for a healthy, effective church staff that aligns with your church's values and mission. As you consider hiring or transitioning roles, gain practical insights into achieving compatibility and fostering a cohesive team. This episode promises to equip you with thought-provoking perspectives and actionable strategies for building a strong ministry team.
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Hey there, welcome back to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm Todd Rhodes, the co-founder over at Chemistry Staffing one of the co-founders anyway and also your guide here to building a healthier, more connected church team. Right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast Today we're continuing our journey through the five pillars of a great hire. We started that series last week. If you missed any of it, just hit subscribe and go back and listen. I believe we did the intro to this series on Thursday, and today we're talking about personality. So far we've talked of the five pillars. This is pillar number three. We've talked about theology. On Friday, yesterday, on Monday, we talked about church culture and DNA, and today we're talking about personality.
Speaker 1:Now I know what you might be thinking. You're thinking, hey, todd, can personality really make or break a hire? And I am here to tell you, after seeing it happen many times. The answer is absolutely yeah, it sure can. Personality isn't just a side note in the hiring process, it's really. It's a major factor in how someone leads and works on a team and connects with people. So today we want to unpack a little bit about why personality matters in ministry. I don't know what does, but we'll unpack it a little bit here how to assess personalities and then what to watch for and what to watch out for when you're making a hire. Okay, so let's start right at square one with the basics. Okay, personality is essentially the set of traits that makes someone who they are, their natural tendencies, their preferred way of interacting with the world and with others, even how they process stress or conflict, and here's why that matters in ministry. Ministry is nothing if not relational. Whether someone's leading a staff meeting or counseling a church member, teaching a Sunday school class or a small group, their personality shapes how they show up in those moments. Okay, I want to go over a few things about personality here when it comes to hiring, because I know a lot of your churches are getting ready to hire in the new year, and if you're not in charge of hiring, you're a church staff member and maybe you're thinking about 2025 is going to be a year of transition. No matter which side of the table you're on, I think you'll hopefully be able to get something out of what we have to share today and in this series.
Speaker 1:Okay, the first thing is personality. How do you do matching personality to the role? Now, not every personality works for every role. Let me explain. A senior pastor needs to be a strong communicator and a visionary leader, but they also need to have enough humility to build trust and lead collaboratively. A children's pastor might need really high energy and a natural ability to connect with kids and parents. And a worship pastor like I was many years ago they've got to balance creativity with the ability to lead, lead worship. They need to be musically adept, but they've got to be able to lead and be able to manage a team. So the key here is to think beyond the job description, because job description doesn't talk necessarily about personality a lot. Most don't. But you need to look beyond the job description and ask what kind of personality will really thrive in this role. And in order to do this, I want you to use tools wisely.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's talk about assessments. Tools like Enneagram and Myers-Briggs or DISC all of those. We're fans of assessments. Matter of fact, we think churches a lot of times wait too long to do assessments. They'll wait and fall in love with a candidate and then they'll say, hey, here's an Enneagram, here's Myers-Briggs, here's a DISC, take this, but it's too late, you've already fallen in love. But these tools like these can give you some helpful insights into a candidate's personality. But here's the thing they're tools, they're not gospel truth, okay. So, for example, if somebody scores as an introvert on a Myers-Briggs, it doesn't mean that they can't lead well in a public setting. It just means that they might need some more downtime to recharge. So use these tools as conversation starters, not decision makers. We've had churches that we've talked to in the past that live or die by the assessment they're looking at. If you don't score like this on a Myers-Briggs, it will disqualify you. We will not hire you. Look at the Myers-Briggs, look at the other assessments and have conversations about it. It could be that what you find out on a personality assessment will tell you that this is not a good fit. But don't just go by the personality assessment, okay. So use tools wisely.
Speaker 1:Third thing I would share with you is watch for red flags. Okay, here's what I mean by this. Sometimes, personality can raise red flags during the hiring process. Here's a few things, personality-wise that can pose themselves. Keep an eye out for these, because they're red flags. The first one is overconfidence. Keep an eye out for these, because they're red flags. The first one is overconfidence. If a candidate comes across as overly self-assured or dismissive of feedback, they might struggle to work well in a team setting. Okay, so overconfidence, maybe? Conflict avoidance, and this is the opposite of overconfidence. On the flip side, someone who avoids hard conversations might struggle in leadership roles that require them to address issues very directly. And emotional inflexibility is another one, and you can pick up on some of this during an interview or during a weekend visit. Ministry is unpredictable and a really rigid personality can create problems, especially relationally, when things don't go according to plan. So watch out for some red flags.
Speaker 1:And then, the last thing I'd like to share with you today is look at personality fit versus culture fit. Now, yesterday we talked about culture and cultural fit, but there's an important distinction I want you to make between personality fit and culture fit. Personality fit is different, okay, than culture fit. A candidate might align with your church's values and vision. They might align, actually perfectly, but they might have a personality that just clashes with your team. Now, both matter, but they're both separate issues, and just because you have one doesn't mean that the other is going to follow. Matter of fact, you can have one and the other could be totally off. Let me give an example. I once worked with a church that hired an executive pastor and he was brilliant at strategy. They had a very direct kind of no-nonsense communication style. The rest of the staff was much more relational and collaborative and while they shared the same vision for the church, the personality mismatch it just caused tension that eventually led to turnover bad hire.
Speaker 1:Here's the bottom line for today. Here's your action step for today. Okay, I want you to. A lot of times. I'll give you two or three questions, and today there's three questions.
Speaker 1:Take some time to think about personality traits that are the most important for the role you're hiring for, or, if you're a church staff member, maybe looking to make a transition. Ask these questions about the church that you're going to. First of all, what traits, what personality traits are just non-negotiable for this position? What are non-negotiable? Second, how does the person's personality complement the rest of our team? And third, are there any personality traits that might create some friction? Now, if you're not currently hiring, this is still a valuable exercise. Use the time to assess your existing team dynamics. Are there personality clashes that need attention? Are there gaps that could be filled with the right hire sometime next year and I'll tell you what some of these issues are just really hard to work through, especially if you're doing it on your own or you don't have a whole lot of experience doing that.
Speaker 1:And if you're in the middle of a hire or you're getting ready for a hire and you're just feeling stuck, particularly maybe on this personality piece and the type of personality person that you need, I'd love to talk. Shoot me an email anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I'd love to help you think through it. We can hop on a quick Zoom call and hey, if you haven't already hit that subscribe button so you don't miss tomorrow's episode Tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about this. I hope I can give you some insight on skills Tomorrow.
Speaker 1:The fourth pillar of a great hire is skills. How do you strike the right balance between technical ability and spiritual calling? It's going to be a good one, so stay tuned. All righty. That's it for today. Remember personality isn't just about finding someone who's perfect. Good luck finding that person. It's about finding someone who's going to be a good fit for the role, for your church, for the team and for your ministry. And when you get that right as one of the five pillars of a great hire, it's amazing how much healthier and more effective. Your staff can be All right. Thanks so much for joining me today. I will see you here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Day. You.
