This weekend Theresa and I decided to take a road trip to Lake Tahoe. As we headed out on the three hour tour, we listened to Simon Sinek's Start With Why, on Audible. Go ahead and judge, Theresa and I are geeky like that.

Driving back from the lake, Sinek shared the story of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to explore Antartica and be the first to cross the entire continent. History buffs may recall that the trip ended in failure when their ship became stuck in ice and eventually sank. As Sinek told the story, he shared his fascination with the fact that no one on the expedition died as a result of their trials. He suggests that this is because Shackleton hired for cultural fit, rather than job skills.

Shackleton's legendary job description reads like this:

“Men wanted for Hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”

In crafting the job description for his adventurers, Shackleton targeted those who would be a good cultural fit for his team, rather than ensuring that they could handle a dog sled, steer a ship, or build a fire in arctic conditions. From the very beginning, Shackleton defined the type of team culture he was looking to build, in order to attract the right type of people to his team.

As you begin your search for a new teammate, where do you begin? Do you start by listing the skills and credentials that you are seeking... or do you start by describing the type of person that you are looking for?

How would you describe the type of person who would be a great long-term fit for your team?

When Todd and I work with churches to help them find a great long-term staff member, we begin by developing a Church and Candidate Profile that describes who the church is and the type of person that would thrive in that church's culture. I'd love to share more about how we do this, and why we believe that this helps churches find staff members that will stay at your church for five years or longer. Interested? Click here to choose a time to talk.