It’s taken me two decades in leadership to figure out a pattern of trust that’s accurate most of the time.
But once you learn the pattern, it’s easy to utilize.
Is it absolutely foolproof? No, but it’s proven to be a very reliable guide.
So with that said, here are three ways to tell who you can truly trust in leadership. I’ve framed it in the form of 3 questions.
1. Are they aligned?
This is the first question because it’s the question most leaders overlook. Ignore it, and it will ultimately sink your ship.
Alignment is critical in leadership. I’m going to assume your organization or church has a specific mission, vision and strategy. Almost every organization worth leading does.
Alignment ensures that your team is all pulling in the same direction.
A person may have outstanding character and a great heart, but if they are not aligned with your mission, vision and strategy, they may not be an asset to your team.
In fact, they’ll create conflict.
When you try to steer the ship right, they will try to steer it left. When you want to move forward, they will want to move backward. And eventually, your ship might sink.
Alignment is NOT about putting ‘yes’ people in places of leadership.
Quite the opposite; an aligned team will have vigorous debate about how to accomplish the mission, but you won’t have to go through the frustrating, daily debate of which mission to accomplish.
If you want more on alignment, I wrote about 5 things North Point Church has taught me about alignment here.
2. What are their friends like?
Don’t know who said it, but they were right: Show me your friends and I’ll show you your life.
One of the best things you can do when thinking about inviting a leader onto your team is to see who they hang out with: like attracts like.
A person’s friendship circle will tell you a lot about the kind of person they are … positively and negatively.
If you admire a potential leader’s friends, chances are you will love working with that potential leader. If you don’t, chances are you won’t.
If you see a circle of high capacity people who are very trustworthy around a potential leader, chances are that leader is trustworthy.
If you see a circle of backbiting, gossip, failed relationships or other struggles, chances are that’s what you’re recruiting.
The character of a potential leader’s friends will tell you a lot about their character.
You don’t need to judge here … you just need to discern.
The health of your organization and team matters too much for you to ignore this.
