The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
The Lie of the Calling Card Resume
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What does Saddleback Elevation Church and North Point have in common? They're big, well-known, often used as calling cards on ministry resumes. But here's the problem A big name on a resume doesn't always equal big impact healthy church staff culture. Today we are going to talk about exposing the myth of the calling card resume. We're going to talk about why churches need to dig deeper and what flashy resumes might be hiding, and how to actually discern actual character and fit, not just impressive job titles. So if you're hiring or you're looking to be hired, this might be a wake-up call that you need.
Speaker 1:Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and your host. Right here you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. We talked about this a few days ago on the podcast, but I wanted to take a little bit different tack today. Let me start with this Just because someone worked at a megachurch doesn't mean that they're going to be a healthy hire.
Speaker 1:In fact, that really impressive resume on paper might be hiding some serious red flags. Stick around, I'm going to show you how to spot the difference between real value and shiny packaging. All right, we've all seen it right. It's the resume that just makes you say someone applies for your staff and boom, there it is Former worship pastor Elevation Church or creative director Saddleback, and your gut says this is it. I remember at my church in Bryant Ohio when I was an elder. There we were hiring a worship pastor years ago and we had a former American Idol contestant. I don't remember how far he made it, but I had watched American Idol when this person was on and I saw the name and I thought I recognize that name and we thought, wow, that would be pretty impressive if we were able to hire the person that was on American Idol. Your gut says, wow, this is it Right. But here's the problem we often confuse proximity to greatness with personal health or effectiveness. Just being on the roster of a high-powered church, just being a contestant on American Idol or even a finalist, doesn't mean that they led well or they led with integrity, or even hear me, or even that they led at all. In some cases, maybe they were just along for the ride or worse, they left under some really messy circumstances. So you just have to remember that flash doesn't equal fit.
Speaker 1:Big name churches often have big teams and that role listed might have been one slice of a massive pie or specialized or siloed or even disconnected from a core ministry role. A lot of times we'll interview people that have a big church on their, only to find that it was either a volunteer role or a very insignificant role. But they're putting that face forward on their resume, knowing that they're going to get some calls because they worked at Saddleback or they worked at North Point. Sometimes these roles, when you see them on the resume, give this illusion of broad experience, but the reality could be just really narrow execution and when that person joins your smaller church, expecting the same systems and the same budget and the same culture, you're setting yourself up for some disappointment, and some really fast disappointment. So let's talk just a little bit here about what a big church can sometimes hide, because, if we're really honest, big churches can unintentionally mask dysfunction. Leaders can coast on momentum or hide behind layers of staff, and I've worked with churches where a staff member came from a well-known ministry and flamed out after six months or a year, and it's not because they weren't talented, but it's because they weren't healthy and maybe some of them weren't teachable. Maybe some had entitlement issues because they worked at a big church. Maybe they've never learned how to build something from scratch.
Speaker 1:What should we look for? Instead of getting starstruck by a really wowing resume, maybe we should ask some different questions, because a paper resume only has got to tell you so much, particularly when you're looking at a resume from someone from a church that you admire and a church that you know, and you're enamored and think, wow, this would be such a steal if we could hire this person. Ask these questions before you get way out in front of your skis. Okay, what did they actually build in their last role? What was their actual role like? How do they respond to failure or to transition, and can they even thrive in a different context without the same resources, without the same recognition, without being on the staff of a big, well-known church?
Speaker 1:The real value that you're going to need to assess if you're interviewing a candidate that has this on their resume, the real value is in assessing their adaptability and their character and their EQ, their emotional intelligence, to see if they really would have the ability to lead and the ability to be led in your specific church. Now, a resume might open the door, but the wisdom and the questions that you ask are going to determine whether or not you need to let somebody in, all right. So here's the bottom line for today. A big name church on a resume might be a conversation starter, but don't let it get to you. It should never be the hiring decision maker. You've got to dig deeper. You've got to ask the tough questions, because what worked at a large church might not work at your church and that person that came off of that large church staff might not be the person that's going to fit really well, chemistry-wise, on your team.
Speaker 1:I hope this has been helpful. Man, it's a struggle when you see that resume and your jaw drops and you think, wow, they're even actually considering applying here. Take a pause and ask the right questions. All right, that's it for today. Right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hope this has been helpful and we'll be right back here again tomorrow.
