How to Recruit

So you hear a lot about leadership, about the characteristics of being a leader.  

But a leader needs a team around him.  He must get great people to join his cause in order to accomplish his dream.  

How do you do that, you ask? I know, there isn’t a lot out there to show you how to actually GET your team.  I want to help you with the HOW on effectively recruiting great people to be a part of your team.  

First, let me tell you what DOES NOT WORK in recruiting people:

Sign ups

We think we can catch a lot of people by simply putting a sign up table and a sign up sheet near the entrance.  But sign up sheets and a person “manning the table” does not inspire people to enlist.  And even if a few do sign up, they often are not the RIGHT PEOPLE.

Making an announcement

People are not drawn by your information, they are compelled by your inspiration.  So, if you do ever get the privilege to share from a platform to many people, attach vision and enthusiasm to your appeal for people to serve.  Keep it short and to the point.  Focus 80% of your talk on the WHY and 20% on the WHAT and WHEN.  With this being said, I see even the greatest vision casters give a compelling, inspiring appeal for people to join their team from platform, but they still have very few, if any join.  They have videos and pictures and stories…they share with great conviction.  People laugh, and cry and are moved…but walk right out the door without enlisting to the vision!

Recruiting

The best leaders are not afraid to go up and personally recruit people to be on their team.  But even this can be ineffective and frustrating.  Why are they getting so many “NO’s?”  It reminds me of the funny commercial of the guy calling his friends to help him move to his new house, but his friends give him excuses:

“I’m all tied up"

“I’m buried in work"

People are not interested in doing more work - for you! 

Now, let me tell you what DOES WORK in recruiting people:

Think of recruiting people on your team as a 7 layer process.  Just like there are many layers to an onion, I am suggesting that there are several layers to effectively recruiting great people to your team.  I have identified 7 layers:

1. Introduce - before you even think about recruiting anybody, you must first start with the introduction.  Learn their name.  Let them know who you are.  Ask simple questions to find out who they are.  Don’t talk much about yourself and, for sure, don’t even think about recruiting them.  Don’t even share about you vision.  You show great value in people when you take time to know their name and their family.  Meet the person first.

2. Connect - in your second interaction (maybe the second week) ask more questions.  Again, it’s about the person, not about you.  Ask questions to find something that you have in common with them.  One rule of building a great team is to recruit people who are different than you - they think different, have different personality, have different skills and background. Connecting with someone who is different than you is a major challenge. The key is to keep asking questions about them until you find common ground.  Example: “where are you from? you grew up in West Virginia?? Wow! I love West Virginia!! I have been on vacation there with my family the past 4 years!!”  This is a great technique in connecting with people.   When you find a common ground with people, you have just opened a door to access to their life.

3. Build Relationship - as the days and weeks move on, find ways to build on the relationship you have started.  Show up to events that are important to them - a graduation, a funeral, a sporting event.  Another way to build the relationship is what I call POWER PLAY.  Find an opportunity to play together with them.  Basketball, checkers, cards, video games, etc.  For me, I love inviting people to play ping pong with me.  I create an atmosphere of competition.  People LOVE competition.  I use ping pong as my POWER PLAY to build great relationships.

4. Show the Need - I bet you can’t believe that you have to first do #1,#2, and #3 before doing #4!! If you have taken time to be intentional, now you can share your vision from the platform.  Your platform may be on a stage as a public speaker.  It may be Social Media.  It may be in a car with a group of people driving somewhere.  The key to sharing your vision is to first show the need.  Help them first see the problem, the conflict.  Great vision casters don’t tell people “we are going to build a childrens home”.  They first start with “my heart is burdened for our community where there are children who have parents that are addicted to drugs.  How are these kids going to grow up without healthy parents to teach them, love them, provide for them?” When you ask good questions, you activate people’s minds to contemplate the problem and be a part of the solution.  What you really want people saying to you is “you know, we need to do something to help these kids.”  Show the need … but don’t recruit just yet.

5. Affirm - somewhere through all of these steps, you need to affirm people.  Catch them doing good and call them out on it.  Brag on people.  Go up to them and call out their uniqueness and their gifts.  Be specific.  Don’t just compliment them, and don’t do it too much.  Pick the right moment and think of the right thing to say.  Leaders care more about the person than they do the task.  Speak in to their life. This fills their tank.  Call out the best in them and show them their potential for more.

6. Invite - now comes the recruiting part…although I prefer the term INVITE.  “Recruiting” feels like we are drafting people to go to war.  Invite feels like we are letting people come to our fun party.  BTW - make your vision feel like a party.   No one wants to work, everyone wants a party - fun.  Of course, a great vision takes great work.  

But you can create a culture of fun, party, relationship, competition.  You can make a landscaping job feel like a party.  You can make building a church in Haiti feel like a fun competition.  You can make preparing for an event be lots of fun.  So, invite the person personally to your vision.  Make the invitation specific.  Tell them what you need them to do, to own.  Tell them the time you want them to show up, how long it will take.  And make sure to tell them how much fun it will be and how awesome it will be to accomplish the vision!


7. Close the Deal - …and you thought it was done with the #6 Invite 😃 no sir.  Maybe it is my aggressive, forward personality, but I like to close the deal, right then and there.  Don’t just stop with the Invitation.  Set the challenge and ask for the answer.  “Can I count on you?” “are you ready to step in this week?”.  Don’t be discouraged if some are not ready just yet.  Some people need to process a decision more than others.  Many times, these people are the RIGHT PEOPLE.  They are more committed.  Others will respond positively right in the moment - they are great too.  The point is that you need to bring the challenge to them.  People need to be challenged…even if at first they are taken back.  Later on, they will really appreciate being called up to step up.  

Recruiting is tough work.  It takes skill, timing, and a huge investment of your energy.  Don’t think you can just make an announcement and ask people to stop by your information table on their way out to lunch and expect to build a great team of passionate, skilled people.

Think like a hunter, not a gardener.

Get after it - go seek out the people you want, that you need to make a great team! They are out there.  Work dilligently and patiently through the 7 layer process to build a connection with these people and you will have a winning team!

---

The Power of Music

The Lord showed me how important music is for me, in particular.  While on a short vacation away from work and routine, I had a morning to do exactly what I wanted.  I was enjoying family, working outside (which relaxes me), reading, praying, resting.  I had some beautiful piano music and I was so calm and happy and peaceful.  

God showed me how music is one the best ways to get me to slow down and pay attention.  Because I am musical, my ear is in tune to every note, every rise and fall, every emotion and nuance that the music plays.  I listen for the timbre of the instrument, how the instrument is miced, what the size and features of the room are where the recording took place.  I can imagine the musician playing the instrument with every note and phrase performed.  I can actually imagine the TYPE of personality of the person playing the instrument.  Isn’t that weird? Don’t believe me??  I can.  I have studied music all of my life.  I love music.  

I have been studying different personality types recently.  I am intrigued with people, just like I am with music.  I love to study people.  What makes them do what they do? Feel what they feel? Believe what they believe?  

Of course, in my study of people, I have really studied my personality type: my design, my gifts, my faults, my tendencies.  

God showed me through study that I tend to be driven, anxious, busy, push hard.  I tend to move to the next project or thing.  I have to be more intentional to stop and pause and reflect - to live in the moment and enjoy life.The Lord showed me how important music is for me, in particular.  While on a short vacation away from work and routine, I had a morning to do exactly what I wanted.  I was enjoying family, working outside (which relaxes me), reading, praying, resting.  I had some beautiful piano music and I was so calm and happy and peaceful.  

You cannot tell music how to make you feel - you cannot dictate the journey it takes you on.  The music commands you, it stops you, it leads you, it challenges you.  You cannot speak back to music - it is speaking and you must listen. 

Another interesting antecdote that music has helped me with is my speech.  As a young man, my motor skills were not the best.  I had a mild stuttering problem.  It usually revealed itself when I was either tired, excited or anxious.  It was embarrassing.  I discovered that when I sang music that I did not stutter.  Music forced me to talk according to the rhythm that the music set for me.  It took all of the pressure and anxiety of talking.  In my teenage years, I did A LOT of singing!  I put “2 and 2 together” and realized that I could use the beat of music to say a phrase, it would come out much more clearly.  So, as I was with a group of friends and wanted to say something, I would first think through what I wanted to say, then would create a song in my head with that one phrase, practice it in my head.  Then, when I had an opportunity to speak, I would say the words just like the song in my head.  It REALLY helped me!

Do you struggle with anxiety? With fast pace? Can’t turn off your busy mind? On to the next thing?  Use beautiful music as your secret solution.  Sing along to it.  Hum to it.  Sit and listen to it.  Invest some of your $$ in some great music and find peace and clarity.  Let music slow your pace for a slower, happier life.  

Push Through the Pain

I hate pain.  Who likes pain??

It’s painful for me to go a long time on the Elliptical machine in my gym.  The best I can do usually is 10 minutes.   The hardest part is when I hit the 8 minute mark and have 2 more minutes left.   (For those of you who run 30 minutes at a time, I know what you are thinking  :)) I’m building up to it.

For me, there is something about that 8 minute mark - it’s a mental block.  It seems like a huge hurdle I have to get my body over.  It feels like my body cries out in pain telling me “I can’t do this! I’m done.  Stop…. Quit….Enough Already!"

Pain is a signal for the body.  It is a warning sign to tell us, “if you keep doing what you are doing, you are going to break something.” We learn as children if you touch the hot stove, you will burn your hand.  If you run out in front of a car, you will be killed.  Pain is a great protector to keep us in the safety of healthy boundaries.  

However, pain can keep us from pushing through to a new level of achievement.  It occurred to me recently that part of the process of losing weight is learning to manage pain.  When I start eating clean and cut out the destructive habit of snacking at night, my body cries out in pain.  I deal with feelings of loss, like I am losing a close friend.  I deal with feelings of irritation because I can’t have what I want... when I want it.  I deal with feelings of depression because sugary food and starchy food makes me happy.  I try to find the diets that are the most tolerable so that I can eliminate the pain of cutting out bad foods; but I have found that there is no diet pill, no work out machine that will eliminate the pain.   but I am realizing that pain produces the power to achieve my goals - There is no getting around it.

Pain produces power to achieve your goals.

Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

In life, we deal with painful issues all of the time.  Whether it’s diet, exercising, taking a class to improve, putting in hard work that is necessary, relationships…we experience great pain.  It’s why we run to food, alchohol, drugs, sex, material things for comfort.  We do anything we can to reduce pain in our lives.  What we need to understand is that in order to overcome in the tough areas of our live, we must embrace the pain that comes with tackling the tough issues.  

Push through the Pain

Are you struggling with an ENDING in your life? You don’t want to admit it, but you need to let go of a relationship, a material possession, a job or title that you cling to - but you are having a tough time letting it die? Death is painful - but death is a necessary part of the cycle of life.  You must first allow something to DIE so your NEW LIFE can spring up.  Are you willing to let something that you have loved die in it’s natural life cycle so that something new can come to life?

Are you struggling with a FAILURE in your life? You have a weakness that continues to trip you up causing PAIN for you AND for those closest around you.

an Addiction

a Blindspot

a Hot button

These weaknesses cause failure which cause tremendous pain.  Why not USE the PAIN to PUSH you to GROW OUT OF THE WEAKNESS.  You say “I am weak” - GROW STRONGER!  The great thing is, when you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, He lives in you and helps you get stronger!

Are You are paralyzed by FEAR? Does the unknown cause anxiety for you? Let me coach you: don’t let fear of the unknown keep you from moving forward to grasp the dream God has placed before you! Stop asking the “WHAT IFS??” and start declaring the “I WILLs”.

I WILL become the person I dream to be

I WILL begin TODAY with pursuing my dream

I WILL push through the adversity and the pain to reach the higher level that I want to be at

Don’t let fear grip you! Embrace your future.  

If you are wondering if you might have to experience pain to achieve the next level, the answer is YES.  But pain produces growth in us.  The pain is the river you must swim through.  Embrace the pain - it is the process that will get you to your destination.  Don’t look for the diet pill.  Don’t look for someone to pay the price for you.

Get up! Begin! Push! Press! Reach! 

I WILL accomplish what I set out to achieve!

I Love December

I LOVE December.  It's my favorite month.  It takes me back to when I was a boy, back to the wonder, the joy, the anticipation of Christmas.



Top ten reasons I LOVE December:

1. I love wearing Fall Clothes and Christmas Colors. That becomes challenging living in South Florida, but I still try.

2. I love Christmas Cookies and I love the Christmas Peppermint Mocha cream in my coffee (actually, I enjoy the Peppermint Mocha all year round :)

3. I love the Christmas Lights, Christmas Trees, Christmas Candles

4. I love Christmas music - my very favorite! I love the choirs, the kids choirs, the orchestras, the bells.  





5. My birthday is in December!

6. Jesus' birthday is in December!

7. I love going to my church in December.  There is a spirit of joy, of peace, of giving.  There is a sense of holiness because of the miracle of God sending His very best gift to mankind: His Only Son, Jesus.



8. I look forward to a little bit of extra time off from work and responsibility - time with friends and family.  Celebration is in the air.

9. I love Christmas movies! I even still watch some of the old Christmas specials: Rudolph, Charlie Brown, Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

10. I love that the year is coming to an end - it's a time of reflection and thankfulness for how wonderful the year has been. 

I really appreciate how God created different seasons. For us in South Florida, we can easily forget that there are four seasons.  He made spring, summer, fall and winter.  He created cycles in life so that we would experience different rhythms, different tempos.  December is a season of celebration, family, worship of Jesus, of reflection.  It is not a time to create, build, or work.  Things do not grow in winter; they die.  The winter season is essential in God's divine cycle for the earth; I believe we must also abide in God's divine cycle.  If we embrace the "winter" in our life, then we will be fully ready for the coming "spring." 

I hope you will slow down your rhythm (and your blood pressure) - take the pressure off to try to fix something in your life, to begin something new.  Save that for spring time.  Rest, celebrate, enjoy time alone and enjoy time with family.  Give yourself margin to reflect on the goodness of God this past year.  Ask yourself good questions - learn from this year.  If you enjoy every day in December, you will be ready to embrace the Spring of 2016!

Merry Christmas!!

Tune In

Have you ever been in the middle of a problem in your life and you wanted to know what God was doing? Or why God was allowing problems to happen to you?

For me, those are the times when God speaks the most clearly…IN the problem.  I want to GET OUT of the problem, but God wants me to GET THROUGH the problem. 

You see, God wants to teach you and me THROUGH the problem.  We just need to tune in to what He is wanting say to us, to teach us.

Problems get our attention

Sometimes God has to use a problem to get our focus; and there is nothing like frustration or desperation to turn us directly toward God.  We get so distracted with life and with our goals or concerns.  We do more talking than we do listening.  

My grade school teacher used to tell our class that God gave us one mouth and two ears…I think that’s what she said….I’m not sure…I wasn’t listening. :)) What God wants to say to us is MUCH MORE important than what we want to say.  We must tune in to Him.

Problems force movement

Sometimes God is wanting us to move to something new that He has prepared for us, but we won’t budge.  We get too comfortable and settled where we are - we don’t like change.  We get scared of the thought of something new or different.  The truth is, we long for something fresh, new and exciting - God has more for us, yet He knows that we need some help getting there.

Stress is not always a bad thing.  Some stress is actually healthy and necessary for us.  The definition of stress is to press in with the outcome of forcing movement.  Pressure will eventually force some kind of movement.  Some stress is especially good for teenagers.  

I know many parents nag their teenagers about getting a job to make money and learn responsibility.  However, parents become frustrated when their kids ignore their preaching and continue to sit in their rooms playing video games or spending hours on their smart phones.  These kids HEAR the urging to get a job, but they don’t FEEL the need.  Why would they? Their parents still provide them with an air conditioned, safe home with a bed, bathroom, electricity.  They assume that having a cell phone is a basic human right.  

You see, it’s only when that teenager has all of that taken away for a time that they begin to FEEL the pain of no home to go to, no A/C turned on. No clean bathroom.  All of the sudden, that teenager begins to panic, they get very uncomfortable, they develop a sudden urgency to find a job.  When they get desperate, they become quite innovative and creative.  They don’t quit until they find some job and they understand that they have to perform well at the job to keep the job.  Stress is a GREAT MOTIVATOR.  Stress gets us moving in the right direction.

Problems bring new perspective

Before a problem comes, we tend to look at our life the same way.  But problems or crisis bring an opportunity to see a new angle in our situation.  Our nature is to solve the problem, and when we get stuck, we start looking for other ways we can get around the problem.  

I love playing with the Rubik’s Cube - I am a bit of a nerd.  I remember in the 1980’s when I first tried to solve the Cube - impossible.  I admit I became so frustrated that I started peeling the colored stickers off and resetting them to make it look like I matched all of the sides.  Stupid.  Now in the computer age, I have been able to read the tutorial online and learn the algorithms on when and where to turn the Cube.  

I can solve it every time! I am so smart now! :)) JK.  But, it sure feels great to at least be able to solve the Rubik’s Cube.  (A point of comfort - nobody could really solve the cube without the algorithms.)

Your problem can push you to look at your situation differently, to learn, to grow.  You will eventually grow bigger and have a wider, wiser view of the situation - the problem will seem smaller.  You may not be able to “solve” the problem, but your perspective will grow and you will learn to work around it or over it and move on to the greater things God has prepared for your life.

Problems are painful - they get us discouraged and stuck.  However, we can tune in to God to see what He is saying to us and what He wants to do in us.  God is faithful to get you THROUGH the problem.  Hold on, be patient, be teachable and learn.  You will come out of your situation stronger and wiser.

Self Discovery is the Best Teacher

I started piano lessons at 5 years old.  My mom found a piano teacher in a town 45 minutes away, because she heard he was a good teacher.  Looking back, we realize he was a “not-so-good” teacher.  He was a grumpy, old man who smoked heavily next to me as I nervously tried to follow his instruction.  My mom found a better teacher locally - an elderly lady who played the organ in a Lutheran church.  She was kind, but strict.  

In spite of these well-meaning but un-inspiring teachers, I fell in love with the piano and with music.  My dad was a gifted pianist and had a beautiful grand piano in our home in the front room, away from the television and kitchen area (that’s important by the way to have a music room separate and private.) 

My best piano lessons truly came from time by myself playing songs “by ear”.  At 13 years old, my dad could see that I was progressing slowly and painfully on the piano through conventional piano lessons and methods.  One day, he bought a new cassette tape and piano book (yes, cassette tape!!) of a new Christian artist, Michael W. Smith.  Michael W. Smith was a young, gifted piano player and used keyboards and synthesizers in his songs.  I was awe-struck ——  I was inspired immediately. 

I started listening to this fresh, new music and then went to the piano and tried to mimic it.  At first, I could just pick out the melody with one finger.  I tried opening the book of sheet music for the songs my dad had bought, but I was not really fast at reading music, and I was too impatient to have to pick out all of the notes.  I remember even bringing the stereo (which was big and heavy) in to the piano room and would play the cassette tape, pause it and then try to find the notes on the piano.  

Another method I learned to play the piano was by listening to my dad and grandma play the piano and organ in church.  After church, I would sneak up to the piano and try to mimic some of the musical passages and styles they would do.  Again, just a few notes and simple chords for a while - actually, frustrating and discouraging at times, because I could not play beautifully and fluidly like my dad could (he was great! one of the best.)

By 16 years old, I was now able to add more chords and fluency to my piano “vocabulary.” I was able to take the 10 songs I could imitate from the Michael W. Smith album, and also start to experiment some of the songs I knew from church and begin to discover new arrangements I could make on my own.  I loved Christian artists like Amy Grant, the Imperials, Russ Taff, Andrea Crouch.  I got really good at imitating their songs - quick to play exactly what I heard.  I started experimenting by transposing to other keys.  

I continued taking conventional piano lessons through all of this, learning classical.  That was helpful in rounding out my musical influence and ability, for sure.  But all of the Gospel, the Jazz, the church music and the modern music came through self discovery.  No one helped me with that - well….Michael W. Smith and my dad and grandma did :)  

One simple thought from my long narrative: Self Discovery is the best teacher.  

I have taught piano, voice and music for over 20 years.  I believe in music lessons and love great teachers.  But one concept I instilled in each student is that they MUST go on a personal odyssey of experimentation, of discovery for themselves.  They must find artists that inspire them, intrigue them and begin trying to imitate them.  It is difficult at first, but they will see themselves grow immensely.  Each “self lesson” will build on the next, and they will develop musical vocabulary - they will hone their musical ear to be quick and accurate.  

I know this is focused on the piano.  However, this concept of Self Discovery spills over in to all areas.  I believe the best athletes, the best public speakers, the best, artists, the best minds all do this.  

Challenge yourself to find something that inspires YOU, that intrigues YOU, and start your own, personal odyssey of self discovery!