your next hire is one friend away
by Dave Miller
If your church is over 85, or your team is larger than about one and a half FTE, and you know you are going to hire in the next year, this will be the most important thing you read today (or I’ll give you your money back).
Let me tell you what happened this morning.
The other Co-Founder and I have a bit of a rhythm on the rare days we are both in town. 5a alarm, coffee, some reading, a little reflection (sometimes anxious obsessing), and then eventually one of us says something out loud.
This morning I broke the silence at about 6:30 AM.
I said, "Who do you know that might know someone who is theologically aligned sorta Presbyterian, can lead a paid team, can communicate well, but does not need to be the primary preacher, is comfortable in a high-capacity environment, could live in Silicon Valley, can work the lobby on Sunday morning, but also work the systems from their desk…just wants to see people connected and taking steps forward towards hope.
She did not answer the question directly. She said, "You know who would know that person…”
And then it started.
I have been helping a partner church look for a campus pastor. I do not do as many searches as I used to, but I had already reached out to about 75 people across the country multiple times and needed fresh names. I needed to do the very thing we teach our partners to do.
Slow down. Pray. Think. Ask somebody smart. Let names come to mind.
Within 15 minutes, I had 12 new names. One name led to another. One conversation sparked three more. I found myself texting people I had not talked to in years. Quick messages like, " “Hey, how are you, has it really been five years, I am sitting here with Kristin and we both think you might know someone we should talk to…”
Yesterday I felt stuck. Today I have oxygen again.
And it made me wonder why more leaders do not operate this way.
We all default to the same tools. Job boards. Social posts. Email campaigns. Those are fine. We use them too. But those are not your edge.
Your edge is your network. Your edge is your church of 85, or 3,500. It’s the people you know in the cubicle over that just moved to town. It’s the family that just moved out of town.
I have worked on a church staff. I have worked inside a great search firm. I have done this on my own. I have worked for myself (and I still have issues with my boss).
Since 1995, across a few hundred searches and thousands of interviews, the most/best/vetted candidates almost always come through relationships. This is how.
This week, someone in Silicon Valley told me it is hard to find people there. The day before, someone in Springfield, Missouri told me the same thing (Springfield Missouri!). At some point, we have to stop blaming geography. It is not hard because of where you live. It is hard because this is a skill most teams have never been taught.
Your organization is already designed for connection. You are surrounded by people who know people. That is your unfair advantage if you learn how to use it. This is exactly what we work on every month inside Recruiters Edge.
We practice how to think about people. How to ask better questions. How to turn one conversation into ten. How to consistently build a pipeline of referred candidates instead of waiting and hoping.
A friend this week said, “Recruiting staff and hiring sucks.”
I replied, “I actually love it.”
If you want to get better at this, come join us - bring an organized volunteer or your comms person.
Sign up. Show up ready to engage. Bring your real searches and your real questions. I will learn from you, too. I’m still learning. Just this week Dillon wired me up with Claude. What a day to be alive. But Claude is not the edge for me, nor is it yours.
This doesn’t cost money. The only ask is that you are present, camera on, paying attention, doing the work in the moment.
If you are going to hire in the next year, this is worth your time or I’ll give you your money back.