Strategically Choosing Your Inner Circle: Why This Matters
Although the character, values, and skills of a leader are important, the people who surround the leader carry a significant weight and influence, both that can affect the shape of the team and the approach of the leader. One of my favorite speakers has often said, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” Your inner circle is important!
Furthermore, what you invest in your inner circle has a lasting impact. Jesus, who is one of the most transformational individuals in history, did not choose the religious leaders of the day but twelve men of little learning in whom He could invest His knowledge and vision. He spoke with and trained these disciples daily. These disciples carried on the work of Christ after His death and ascension, impacting the world for generations.
Effective leaders choose men and women who demonstrate integrity and drive—character, competency, and compatibility.
Character
The inner circle of the leader (the team within the team) and other chosen team members should possess a heart of integrity. An effective leader must not overlook character shortfalls as a trade-off for impressive credentials of experience, personality, or education.
Positive character attributes to look for include temperance, humility, sensibility, allegiance, compassion, perseverance, and honor. Each candidate for employment should demonstrate maturity and sound character because these essentially drive motives and decision-making.
Competency
Competency is the capacity to successfully perform a job to a given standard. It gauges the suitability and sufficiency of a person for a set of responsibilities. In Exodus 18:13-26, we find that the Hebrew leader, Moses, spent most of his days serving as judge for the people’s disputes. His father-in-law gave him sage advice to select capable men from all the people and appoint them as officials to help Moses lead. Following this wisdom, Moses chose capable individuals that lightened his load. Look for those with strong internal building blocks that you can mold into even stronger workers.
A person can be entrusted with more for the future based on his or her actions today. Being good and faithful with a few things will demonstrate increased capability to handle weightier matters. Competent team members contribute remarkably to the overall success of the executive leader and team.
Compatibility
Compatibility entails a person’s appropriateness for certain functions in the team or organization. This component nurtures seeds of unity, deflecting discord and diffusing potential problems in staff relationships. With well-matched team members, organizations will more effectively and fluidly implement the mission and accomplish tasks.
Have you evaluated your team members’ compatibility lately? No individual is a perfect teammate 100% of the time, having blind spots and points of sensitivity that can lead to negative reactions. The onus falls on you, the leader, to navigate each worker through those areas in an effort to build greater team-mindedness. You serve as the oil in the engine and the mentor to their minds. There may come a point when a team member’s lack of flexibility and toxicity must be purged from the team to maintain overall health.
Your role is to assess and strengthen character, competency, and compatibility within the team. These three qualities will compound effectiveness and joy or multiply your woes.