There is a staff member you have been thinking about since spring.
And not necessarily for good reasons.
You like them. The church likes them. They show up early, they love your church, and they would drive across the state at midnight if somebody on your team needed help.
Something is still off, though.
You have had the conversation in your head a dozen times. You have not had it out loud. Every time you get close to putting it on the calendar, you find a reason to wait because you cannot figure out how to say the truth without sounding cruel.
You may not even know what is actually true.
You Are Answering Two Questions at Once
The stall is structural. You are trying to answer a question that has no answer in the form you are asking it.
The question in your head sounds like this. Is this working? Or worse, Why is this not working?
Sitting underneath it are two separate evaluations, and both need to be “working” for the person to work.
- Are they living our values?
- And are they in the right seat?
Values alignment is a culture question, while seat fit is a competency question, and the same person can score very differently on the two.
When those collapse into a single verdict (“is this working”), every honest observation starts to sound like an indictment. It’s either working or not working. But you know there’s more to it than these two options, so you remain quiet.
What the silence is costing you
The person keeps working hard at something they were never built for and going about it in a way that’s not how your team works best, and the results stay flat no matter how much effort they pour in.
Your team reads the whole thing. They can see the gap as clearly as you can, and your silence quietly resets the standard for everyone watching.
Meanwhile, the ministry attached to that seat stops moving people. Volunteers in that area drift. Next steps get fuzzy. The mission slows down in one specific lane and nobody can name why, because the conversation that would explain it has never happened out loud.
Separate the Two Judgments Before You Say Anything
Score the values question by itself
Take your values, one at a time, and score every person on your team from 1 to 4.
A 1 means the value is functionally absent in how they work. A 4 means they set the standard for everyone else. Score value by value rather than forming a general impression, and score everyone, including the people who are thriving.
This part is about alignment and nothing else.
NOTE: If you don’t have value clarity, start there. Ask me to help if you need to. Codifying your actual values, behaviors, and culture is an organizational non-negotiable. Â
Next, consider their competency for the role. Run F.I.T. on the seat. Three questions, yes or no on each.
- Fuel. Does this role fuel their unique genius, the intersection of what they love and what they are great at?
- Impact. Can they create significant, positive impact from this seat?
- Timely. Is it timely given their maturity, experience, EQ, skills, and where your church is right now?
What the Grid Will Show You
Most people fall into one of four categories, and the middle two are the ones costing you sleep.
- High values, full F.I.T. These people are carrying your culture. Most of them have never been told. Tell them this week.
- High values, partial F.I.T. This is the person you have been rehearsing. Faithful, aligned, and misplaced. The fix lives in role design rather than in a performance improvement plan.
- Low values, full F.I.T. The productive one everybody quietly tolerates. The most expensive person on your staff, because your team is watching what you allow.
- Low values, no F.I.T. You already knew.
Run This Before Your Next Check-In
If you’re thinking about a specific staff member as you read this post, score them on both questions this week. Values first, F.I.T. second.
Then open the conversation with the seat itself. Say it plainly. I want to talk about the role you are in, not about you. Ask two questions and let them talk.
- Which parts of this role fuel you?
- Which parts drain you every single week?
You will hear the answer in the first ninety seconds. Most people know if they are struggling in a seat. They have been waiting for permission to say it.
Then decide. Redesign the seat, move the person, or start the harder process. All three are honest.
One More Thing
If you are staring at an org chart full of good people in seats that no longer fit, that is part of what we evaluate through the Church Accelerator Intensive. Check it out today, or just reply to me directly at gavin@gavinadams.com and tell me which seat you keep thinking about.
Helping You Add More Intention To Your Mission,
Dr. Gavin Adams
Quotes to Share
- You cannot fix a seat problem with a character conversation.
- A seat that fit two years ago stops fitting when the church grows past it, and nobody did anything wrong.
- Most people know exactly which seat they are in. They have been waiting for permission to say it.
