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Ron Hadley joins Zach again this week for the second installment of the How to Start a Mentoring Organization series. This week, they discuss how to build a team and staffing your organization, who to look for, and building a culture within your organization that fosters success in meeting your organization's goals.
Show Notes
Ron Hadley joins Zach again this week for the second installment of the How to Start a Mentoring Organization series. This week, they discuss how to build a team and staffing your organization, who to look for, and building a culture within your organization that fosters success in meeting your organization's goals.
Reach out to Ron Hadley:
https://whererugoing.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Reach out to Ron Hadley:
https://whererugoing.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the You Can Mentor podcast. We're talking about operating and leading a mentoring program with Ron Hadley. Ron, say hi.
Speaker 3:Hello, Zach and everybody.
Speaker 2:And today, we're talking about building your team. And the whole concept here, guys, is is you just need more than you. I mean, God God might have given you a purpose and a passion and a vision, but ultimately, it's gonna take more than just you. And so today, we're gonna talk about the main components of building a team, how to identify what you need, how to identify who can fill that need, and then what we can do as leaders to support, equip, and help our team flourish. So, Ron, why don't you just, kinda share with us what comes to mind whenever you think about creating a team to help a nonprofit mentoring org flourish?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, you know, it it picks up from our last conversation greatly because it starts with your why again, in my opinion. You you greatly need alignment in the why. That you want people on your team, especially in leadership positions on your team, to have that common vision of what is possible and why you're doing what you're doing and the belief in relationships as a primary change agent for that. So when you're building your team, you start with your why, and then it begins from hiring all the way through to supporting the team, to training the team, to equipping the team, to empowering the team.
Speaker 3:You've got to hire rightly. And to hire rightly, you gotta know what you need and why you need it, what you're looking for, the skill sets, and and and skill set is hard skills and it's also soft skills. Once you've made the hire again, if you've made the hire rightly, you've got a good foundation to build upon, and you've gotta trust yourself as well as the the the new team member that you've hired correctly, meaning you've got to equip them and support them and and let them flourish. One thing that that I often hold on to and I may even say a couple times in this particular conversation today, is I love to build a team and be surprised by them. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I don't wanna tell them what to do or how to do. I want to agree on why we're doing it and where we're going. And if I've made the right hire, let's get there. And I've been surprised so many times as as the team has worked together and we've reached goals, and I'm like, wow. I never would have thought to do it that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But look, we're here. So building that team starts from the very beginning, making the right hire and keeping them supported, equipped, encouraged, trained, and and and and in many ways get out of their way, and know that we've all agreed where we're going and why, and we're gonna get there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And and I just love building a team. 1, because I think this is how God works. Like, God loves it when we work together. Like, he has created each of us so uniquely that not one person has everything that you need to create a successful mentoring organization.
Speaker 2:For me, I'm all about vision. I'm all about growth. I'm all about starting. The bad thing about me is I don't pay attention to details. I'm not very operational.
Speaker 2:Right? So if I want this organization to go to the next level, I have to surround myself with people who are strong in the areas that I'm weak in.
Speaker 3:Exactly right.
Speaker 2:You know, 3 strands is not easily broken. There's been days whenever I'm sad, whenever I'm discouraged, and I need a team to support me, to encourage me, to pick me back up. I need a team to bounce, you know, hey, I I've got this idea. Tell me what you think. It's just if you wanna go fast, go alone.
Speaker 2:But if you wanna go far, go with others. And I just think that that's how the Lord works. Yeah. And that's how you're gonna get the most bang for your buck in regards to being a good leader. Here, Ron, like, we we have identified 5 key positions or 5 key areas that you need in regards to building a team.
Speaker 2:And the first one is staff. Right? Yep. No matter how big or how small you are, there's gonna come a time whenever you need to hire staff. For some people, you might have one staff member, for some people you might have a 100.
Speaker 2:But you've gotta figure out who's gonna join you the Monday through 5 the Monday through Friday, the 9 to 5, who's gonna be on your team. And that is primarily what we're gonna focus on here today. But the next thing that you need is you need kids. Right?
Speaker 3:Yep. Like They're part of your team.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And so you need to figure out where are, you know, you're gonna find kids, how are you gonna access them in a safe way. You can't run a mentoring org without kids.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. The
Speaker 2:third thing is volunteers. You need volunteer tutors if you're doing an after school program or educational program. You need volunteer mentors if you're running a mentoring organization. You have to have a board. You have to have people who maybe they're on advisory committees if you're trying to put together a fundraiser or, you know, like a golf tournament, you need volunteers who are gonna come alongside you.
Speaker 2:The 4th thing, the family of the kids, the mom of the mentee, the grandma, the dad, they've gotta be on the same page as you. Because if mom's not in, it's only a matter of time before the kid's not in as well. Yep. And then lastly, and this is something that we'll talk about in future episodes, donors. You guys, you can't run a mentoring org without these three things, kids, mentors, and money.
Speaker 2:And like it or not, you have to have donors. Donors is kind of a bad word. I prefer, you know, stakeholders, supporters, people who who are going to invest monetarily into the vision that you have for building relationships.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:So students, volunteers, family, donors, and then today we're gonna focus in on on staff. And so I think what you said, Ron, is is spot on. Your staff member has to buy into the vision that you have. They have to have a why. They have to be passionate.
Speaker 2:They have to agree with your vision, agree with your values, and agree with your mission. Those are the best staff members, and those are typically the people who are gonna help take you from point a to point b. So
Speaker 3:Well, if I could tie it into what we had talked about previously as well, you know, the common denominator the the the powerful common denominator for any mentoring organization is the belief in the power of relationships.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:That relationships are the change agent for sustainable life growth equally when you're building your team whether it's any of those 5 team components you talked about or more specifically the staff team to have that shared not only shared vision of the power of relationship, but to have that skill set in your staff team. Because every component that you're doing whether it's an an an internally focused position like operations or finance, being able to model relationships with your peers, with your vendors, with your your clients that even internally, that's important. And certainly, if it's an external facing position when you've got your volunteer recruitment and your your board support and your your fundraising and your your your partnership development to have somebody who recognizes and frankly has a skill set at relationship build that's gonna set your your your organization and your work and your team up for success as well. Relationships is the belief in relationships is the common denominator for mentoring organization. Belief in relationships and modeling that out is a common denominator for a successful team, in particular, when it's a mentoring organization.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For sure. I mean, if you guys have tuned in to this podcast at all, you guys have heard us say, relationships change lives. And that's not just talking about the mentor and the mentee. I mean, it's talking about the person in charge and the staff.
Speaker 2:It's talking about the mentor coordinator and the mentors. It's talking about the person who's in charge of all of the volunteers or all of the donors, and it's just relationships is the gasoline that makes this car go. And without it, I I just don't believe that your mentoring organization will go as far as it could. Yeah. So so let's talk about let's talk about identifying what you need in regards to building a team.
Speaker 2:So tell us how you go about doing that run.
Speaker 3:Now I would break it down a couple of ways. 1, I I I alluded to a moment ago, and I start with asking, what do I need internally and what do I need externally? Because those skill sets can certainly overlap in a person, but, oftentimes, they're very you unique individuals that can can join your team. Somebody who wants to work internally. They wanna do operations.
Speaker 3:They wanna do your accounting work. They wanna do your HR. They've got they've got those technical skills, and you you need that. So you've got these internal or it could be database support. And, you you know, for young organizations, there's probably gonna be a lot of, multiple hats that people are wearing, and I get that.
Speaker 3:But if you can't hire with that filter of this is a an internal facing position or an external facing position. At least know how you're combining the 2 into one position. But you've got you've got the internal, and that's all the operational side. And then you've got the external facing. Those that are really dealing with your your partners on the outside.
Speaker 3:Much of the team members you you mentioned earlier, your students, your families, your volunteers, and your and your donors. Who's interfacing externally? That's a whole another set of of hard skills and and soft skills to find in a in a person. So I most always start with categorizing in those two areas. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Are they gonna be internal or external interfacing? Then internal is kind of self explanatory. That's just kind of a standard well run business. Right? What what do you need operationally and and HR wise and accounting and all of that?
Speaker 3:So I I don't wanna spend a whole lot of time on that. Unique to a mentoring organization is who and how you are needing to engage and interface with externally. Mhmm. And, 1st and foremost, is your your students and your your families. I mean, you've said it very well a moment ago for mentoring organization, you need three things.
Speaker 3:You need the students, the kids, and you need the volunteer, and and you need the money. Staying on those first two to keep the students and the families and the volunteer engaged, you need an internal team that is focused on that. In my strong opinion, that is one of the differentiating factors from a well run impactful mentoring organization to one that's got a good heart and is doing good work, but may have some gaps in their execution. Because you have got to support those those matches. You've you've got to have again, kinda using tech technical formal terminology, perhaps, but a portfolio management, a case management approach of having your your students and your matches and your families assigned to a specific staff member so that that relationship is being built through case management.
Speaker 3:And they know the student. They know what's going well with the match, what might need to be worked on with the match. They know what the family needs are and how to refer them even out to other community resources when when there are needs that are being identified and what the student is dealing with. You need a team member that is monitoring all of that as well, specifically matched with assigned to each each volunteer, each student, each family, each each match. And then they're also monitoring the the safety, and I've heard you mentioned this before as well the the importance of safety because in essence as a mentoring program you are putting a stranger in the life of a child and that's just the nature of it.
Speaker 3:Now there's a lot of work before and after enduring to, facilitate those those matches being set up well for getting to know each other and and and and growing together. But that is the basis of where you're starting. You're putting you're putting 2 strangers together, and you've got to facilitate, not only the relationship growth and the positive impact, but you gotta facilitate and monitor the, the safety aspect. And on on safety, frankly, that's for all parties involved. Yep.
Speaker 3:Certainly for the young person who perhaps is the most vulnerable in in their life stage of development, but it's safety for the volunteer as well. There's a lot of parameters that volunteers need to have surrounding them and and being made aware of and and there's there's, you know, guidance set and and safety to help with the the the volunteer but also for the organization the organization is that great liability for that very role of placing 2 people together and so you need somebody monitoring that facilitating the growth of the relationship knowing what's going well what needs to be worked on and and and just facilitating and monitoring the safety and portfolio management you need that kind of of a structure you also need another external audience that you need focus on is recruiting you you've said it so well many times that you know you cannot serve if you've got a one to one mentoring organization, you cannot serve 1 more kid, not one, unless you have one more volunteer. Right. So you've got to have somebody out there telling your story of impact and inspiring people to want to be a part of this, inspiring the right people to want to be a part of this and to enter into your your process for intake and and how do you, you know, how do you move them through the process of being approved and and and screened and matched to the right student.
Speaker 3:But you gotta stir the interest and get people to raise their hand and say, yes. I want to learn more. Yes. I think I would like to do this. And you need that that external team member who knows where to look.
Speaker 3:And what I would oftentimes tell my teams because I've overseen volunteer recruitment at various points in my career, is the the first question I would have them ask themselves. And it sounds kinda general, but I think it helps because it opens up the the possibilities of recruiting or the possibilities of inspiring volunteerism is I would have them ask themselves, where are people gathering? I'm not sure you could have a much broader question than that. But if you ask yourself that, you're gonna have an abundance of answers, and then you can actually ask yourself, how do I reach them?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So it could be a place of employment. It could be a classroom. It could be church sanctuary. It could be a civic organization. It could be an athletic team.
Speaker 3:It could be an apartment complex. It could be a movie theater. Where are people gathering? It could be a restaurant. How do you get your word out to that group?
Speaker 3:And it's gonna be different answer for all of them. Sometimes it'll be going and doing a presentation. Sometimes it'll be distributing flyers. Sometimes it'll be posting a poster. Where are people gathering?
Speaker 3:And when you have that broad list, you have somebody in charge of or somebody who's greatly engaged with. How do I reach them now? How do I get word out about our program? The the the 3rd group I would mention so, you know, you you need the external team building. You need to build a team that is focused on your your matches, keeping them supported and and monitored.
Speaker 3:You need a team that's out there engaging more volunteers, that's externally. You gotta you gotta build that position. And and the the the the third important one I'm not I won't go great into fundraising, because fundraising, in in my opinion, especially if you're launching an organization or even if you're in a a a more mature larger organization, you've got your your executive leadership that's responsible for that. But the the other team is just building the other role is building a a component of your team that is is getting word out to just the broader stakeholder group. And that's gonna be your your leadership team, certainly your your primary executive director, but even of the layer below that of of team members who are getting the word out.
Speaker 3:It could be a it could be a very specific position like a, you know, a marketing, director or communications director, and and it would include your your executive director. But you need that that broader leadership team member that is out there getting the word out and just activating on the awareness of. All of that is is the common thread of relationship.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, man, Ron, you just you just kinda went off there, buddy. That was awesome. I would say, like, there's there's so much there, and every organization is different, every org grows at a different rate, every founder needs or every person who's in charge needs that second person to kind of fill in all of those gaps. A person to be strong where, you know, ultimately, the person who's in charge is weak and I know for me, whenever I first started, right, my job was to tell the story.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:My job was to take the vision that the Lord has given me and to spread it to everyone who I meet. And in doing that, I'm gonna recruit mentors, I'm gonna find donors, I'm gonna find people to hop on our board. It's here's the story, here's what God's doing, and then this is the most important thing, telling them our needs. Hey, we need mentors. We need board members.
Speaker 2:We need money. We need you to connect us to every person that you know. Right? So whenever you're building your team at the very first, it's it's absolutely foundational that you are able to clearly articulate your needs.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I know for me, for the first 5 or 6 years, my my needs were five things. I need mentors. I need volunteer tutors. I need people to hop on our board. I need connections.
Speaker 2:So you might not be able to give us money, you might not be able to mentor, but can you just introduce me to 2 people? And then the last thing is I need money. Yeah. And so and, you know, 98% of the people that you meet with can do one of those 5 things. Right?
Speaker 2:And so for me, it was just telling the story, being clear on what I needed. And then after that, it's supporting the staff. So my first hire was a director of programs, and I think you hit the nail on the head, Ron, whenever you said especially whenever you're starting out, you're gonna be wearing a ton a ton of different hats. Like, yeah, you're executive director, but you're also director of operations, you're also director of fundraising, you're also all of these things. Right?
Speaker 2:But my the main job that I had was to tell the story and that brought in recruiting, that brought in money, that brought in connections, but it was also to support my staff.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Because if your mentees don't feel safe, if your volunteers don't feel encouraged and equipped, and if your moms or grandmas or guardians don't feel that this is an org where her child is going to flourish, you're just not gonna last very long. So it's my job to give this staff member everything that they need to make sure that the mentees, moms, and volunteers have everything that they need. Because you can only give what, you know, you yourself have. And if your staff isn't filled up, then they don't have anything to pour out to the kids and to the volunteers and to the families. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so and so and I think specifically in regards to identifying what we need internally, I think one of the best things that I ever learned how to do early on was create a clear job description. Yeah. And that is, hey, here is your role, and here is exactly what I want from you. And here's exactly what I what I do not want from you. Right?
Speaker 2:Because if I can create a clear job description, then that person is set up for success. They know exactly what they will be held accountable for. They know exactly what is their lane and what is not in their lane, and they can really kinda hit the ground running. So tell me about what experiences you've had with, you know, job descriptions and setting up your staff for for a success? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Great great great question because that that's critical. We both have acknowledged here that it starts with making the right hire. Mhmm. But part of making the right hire and part of setting up that that hire for success is clear expectations. So you've got to communicate not only verbally but in writing have a job description that can delineate the purpose of the role the accountability of the role what is it that they're going to be measured against?
Speaker 3:What what is expected of them? List out identified skill sets that you're looking for. You may not check every box in a candidate, but, you know, you know, ideally, this is the type of skill set configuration that can flourish in this particular role have that known and that helps your your your candidates and your eventual hire know to what would be most beneficial in filling this role and succeeding in this role and then having the the you know the job description most definitely includes not just accountability and the skill set but the responsibility here here's what you will be doing here's what we'll be looking to you to oversee or to to execute on. And and having those aligned expectations from the get go helps everybody, not just the organization, not just the leader, but most importantly, that the team member. And even beyond setting them all of those parties up for success, it helps their their guardrails going forward.
Speaker 3:You know, you can always test our our our are we moving in the right direction? Are we fulfilling what was intended for this role? Is it filling the right component of the team need? And something you've you've said, I I completely concur with as well that you've gotta hire people, that complement your skill set and then have the the the the confidence not to be threatened by their skill set. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:If it is something that you don't have or an area that you don't flourish in, but they are filling it for you recognize that for what it is, and they may always be a little better than me in that area of execution. And that's why I hired them. As as a leader, we're not in charge of people, but it's our responsibility to take care of the people that were charged to help. And so you're building that team in in the clear expectations for other job description, help from the the the outset, but also help to manage going forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So so first, identify what you need. So I know one thing that I found is early on, I would fall in love with a person and, like, man, we've gotta hire this person. But I didn't really have a clear cut need for him, but I liked them so much that I hired them. But I ultimately set both of us up for failure Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because I didn't from the get go say, no. No. No. I'm not gonna focus on a person instead of I'm I'm gonna focus on where the gaps are. So the first thing that you have to do is create that job description.
Speaker 2:Create, hey, this is what we need that we don't have. Create and identify the type of person that you want. This person needs to be type a. This person needs to be detail oriented. This person needs to be hard work.
Speaker 2:Right? And and and come up with that list. On paper, write out the perfect candidate. Right? And then go find that person.
Speaker 2:Don't go find the person first, but write out and spend some time and write out everything that you need, everything that would be an ideal fit, and take the time to prepare that. Take the time to create that job description. Hey, in a perfect world, here here are the 9 things that this person would do every day and not only would they do it, but they do it well. And not only would they do it well, but they'll like it.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Right? So identify the need and then go find that person. Right? And don't compromise. Sometimes it might take you 3 months to find the person.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it might take you 6 months. But a bad hire will set you back way longer than 6 months.
Speaker 3:That could not agree more. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2:So don't compromise. And make sure that that person is a good fit. Ask them questions. Meet with them face to face multiple times. Meet meet with them in different settings.
Speaker 2:Have them interview with you. Have them interview with someone from your board. Go out to lunch with them. Do do something fun to see, does this person have what we need? Is this person going to be capable of doing what we ask them to do?
Speaker 2:And then thirdly, do you like to be around this person?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then do they have the competency? Do they have the character? Do they love Jesus? Are they passionate about mentoring? Are they passionate about kids?
Speaker 2:Do do they have a why? Or is this just gonna be just a job form? Yeah. Right? So figure out the what, figure out the who.
Speaker 2:And then one thing that we've talked about, Ron, is how do we as leaders give them what they need to flourish? And we have identified a main component of that is culture. Is how can we as leaders create a culture to help our staff, which will in turn help our volunteers and our families and our kids flourish. Right? So why don't you just share about, you know, your experiences with with how to build a culture that helps people flourish?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And as I lead into that, I wanna affirm a couple things that you you've already said as well. You know, you you you mentioned the, scenario where you you've got somebody you really like, and you you wanna pull them onto your team. But if it's not the right fit or if it's not a role that you need and that they can fill, then you're setting everybody up for for failure. I think that plays right into what you also said earlier about the broader definition of a team.
Speaker 3:So that kind of an individual that you really want involved may not be a good fit for the staff because you don't they don't fit the right skill set that you need. But you wanna keep them close. I mean, they share a vision or or you get energy from each other. There's just something there that that helps with your vision of of the mentoring organization. There are other components of the broader team that they could fit into.
Speaker 3:Find a volunteer role for them. Put them on your board. Keep them close so that you can keep, you know, dreaming out loud together and and building upon that energy, just because they don't fit. Because you do need to keep a close focused look at what kind of skill set do you need on your staff team. If somebody doesn't fit but you want them close, put them on the board.
Speaker 2:Well, so, Ron, like, it's funny that you said this. Back in 2017, I I needed to hire for the first time a a true director of programs. Someone to run our after school program. You know, we were we're serving about 75 kids and things were really starting to take off. And I had one of my good friends.
Speaker 2:And I mean, we we had grabbed coffee probably once every 6 months since 2013 and he I mean, he's just an awesome guy. Like, just a stud and has really helped me kinda hone how to lead and how to, you know, kinda create what it is that we're up to here at 4 Runner. And whenever I got approval from my board to hire, he's the first person who I thought of. The problem was he's exactly like me. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I didn't need someone like me. What I needed was someone who's actually the opposite of me. I need someone who was detail oriented. I need someone who could create curriculum. He's more futuristic, you know, he's all about the vision.
Speaker 2:He's all about, you know, meeting with people and being external and but I hired him. And not only was it a mistake, not only after 6 months did we both say, this isn't working, you know, but it set us back about a year. And because I didn't take the time, because I didn't go through the process, because I got so excited about my my friend joining our staff
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 2:You know, I I not only messed up our nonprofit, but I messed me as a leader and I messed him up as well. And just like he would have been so much better as a board member. He would have been so much better as, you know, an adviser. But I got excited. And I didn't take the time, and I didn't do the work to actually identify what I needed, but instead, I just went straight to the hoop.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, it's
Speaker 3:exactly right.
Speaker 2:It was a bad move.
Speaker 3:And and and that that was the other point I wanted to go back to as well, and you just kinda flushed out the example all all the more, is for you, that right first hire was a director of programs. That won't be true for every person, every every every eventual leader and organization. If somebody who has a vision to launch a mentoring organization is very programmatic, you know, knows how to and and what they want to do on program intervention and program design. They may need somebody who is more focused on the external stakeholder development and an activation out there in the community. They'll have a different first hire.
Speaker 3:Right. But to the very point you made, you have to know what you need and greatly part of that need is what complements you Mhmm. And what you're bringing to the table and fill in the gaps. And for you, it was that program director.
Speaker 2:Well and so much of that as a leader is being self aware
Speaker 3:Definitely.
Speaker 2:And being secure in your strengths and secure in your weaknesses. Saying, hey. It's okay that I'm not detail oriented.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's okay that I can't sit down and pay attention to the details and the safety policies and the volunteer policies and the procedures and all of that. I mean, that is not my jam. But what I can do is I can cast a vision. Exactly. I can go meet with people.
Speaker 2:I can fundraise. But I have to be okay with what I'm good at and okay with what I'm not good at and hire someone to compliment me. And, like, that, as a leader, that's so much more about my character. That's so much more about my being mature. And these are all things that we'll talk about in a different episode.
Speaker 2:But but, man, it's it's it's so vital that you create an environment where your strengths can be celebrated, but also your weaknesses can be taught. Like, everyone in my staff knows that I make quick decisions, and that one of my biggest weaknesses is I don't take the time to properly process things. And so in a meeting, you know, people on my staff can say, now, Zach, you have this idea. Let's wait 5 days, and let's see what happens. And more times than not, you know, that time of taking time to wait is super helpful.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, I wasn't trying to evade your question. I'll go back to it about the the culture. Yeah. How do you how do you build that that culture and and therefore help the team to flourish?
Speaker 3:You know, the I I oftentimes in my work both in terms of my direct leadership with youth mentoring organizations that I've led but also now in some of my consulting and strategic planning work I I focus on 4 primary components not to say that this is exhaustive but the 4 areas that I advise leaders on when it comes to and you don't create culture but when it comes to fostering culture because culture has got to be organic it's got to come from the team I mean you can have values obviously you need to have values as a as a team and as an organization, but culture comes organically from the people. So to foster that, 4 areas I really advise on. Number 1 is division. It's the why. I mean, you you have I I hope it doesn't sound like, we're we're saying it too many times, but you've got to always start.
Speaker 3:When you're building a team, when you're building an organization, you you have to start with the the why, and what is your vision. And when you're helping to foster the the culture of a team, you've got to keep that why in front of everybody. And there's there's not one right way to do that. There's not one model model to do that. But, you know, keep sharing stories and and both your own personal stories as individuals and as a team and as the lives you're impacting.
Speaker 3:But keep keep that why in front of that vision of where you're going and why you're going there in front of the team. That that's that's where you start on culture.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a great point, Ron. For for us, our vision is front and center on our main wall.
Speaker 3:Perfect.
Speaker 2:And we see it every day.
Speaker 3:Perfect.
Speaker 2:And every day, we meet from 9:15 to 9:20, and we just talk about our day. We talk about, you know, hey, who, and da da da. And we always recite our vision. Yep. Hey, this is where we're going.
Speaker 2:And it's just over and over and over and over. Like, we are fixated on what God's call for us is. So Yeah. That's a great point.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That that that's exactly right. That that's a perfect example of how you how you apply the the fostering of your vision in a day to day application for your team. The the other component of helping to foster culture that that I encourage and and advise leaders on is empowerment. And it goes back to what you and I are talking about many times too.
Speaker 3:You know, make that right hire. Know what you need. Have your job description. Have the agreement on where you're going. But then, frankly, get out of the way.
Speaker 3:Yeah. If you've made the right hire and you've got the right structure for the position and you've both agreed on where you're going where you're ultimately wanting to get to through that position and through that team members role then keep them empowered and get out of their way let them surprise you on how you reach that ultimate outcome that ultimate goal and target you've got to keep them resourced you got to listen to them and know what they need to get the job done and and resource them as you can as an organization. There's always resource constraints, and you can't always do everything or provide everything that every team member might hope for or or want. But but listen and know what's needed and resource them as you can. Keep them trained on ongoing training and support is is is is vital as well.
Speaker 3:So that empowerment idea.
Speaker 2:Well, man, I think I think that that that's so great, Ron. As a boss, one question that I need to consistently be asked my team is, what can I do to help you accomplish your goal?
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Now in order to help them accomplish their goal, you guys need to have a goal. Right? But my job as a boss is, hey, look, you're awesome. You are capable. You are passionate.
Speaker 2:You're a great employee. What is getting in your way, and how can I help remove that obstacle?
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:That's perfect.
Speaker 3:And that leads right into the third factor that I oftentimes keep try to help keep leaders focused on, and that's empathy. Both in terms of empathy for the role that your team members are filling and the challenges that they have and listening to them and asking those right probing questions about how can you block and tackle for them, what do they need to be successful, and what do they need to to enjoy the job the most, what do they need for, you know, continued enjoyment and improvement of team relations, all of that internally. But there's a role also for outside of the work relationship and and know what their personal story is as well, especially in a mentoring organization. If that's the whole crux of why you're together is to facilitate and foster mentoring relationships where people are getting to know each other. That's something to model on your own team.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. And the the approach of empathy for helping to foster team culture goes to listening to them, asking those right questions about what they need to be successful in the role, but also knowing what their life story is and and what what they're dealing with on their journey outside of the four walls of of the physical or virtual office that you've got. Empathy is important.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's it's it's absolutely vital. Because if your employees just see you as just like a tax a task master. Right? Yeah. And then that that isn't gonna create a safe environment.
Speaker 2:That isn't gonna create what you ultimately want, which is the best place to work. And your employees have to know that you as a boss, you as the person who leads them, cares more about who they are than what they do. Like, yes, it's important to meet goals. Like, hey, you have a job, but it's also important that they feel loved and cared for. And as a leader, you are a shepherd.
Speaker 2:Oh, exactly. Yeah. And you I mean, ask how they're doing. Ask how's it going with their family. Hey, if this person likes to ride, if they like to ride bikes, ask them about it, you know.
Speaker 2:In our staff meetings, the first 10 or 15 minutes, we always ask, hey, give us a give us a recap on your weekend. What's one thing in your life, not work, that is going well? What's one thing that isn't going so so well? And on a scale from 1 to 5, how's it going? Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it doesn't have anything to do with work. But those little tiny questions, those times of, hey, let's let's set work aside and let's just talk about you.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And
Speaker 2:then as a boss, encouraging them. You can never encourage them enough. Giving them words of affirmation, giving them little gifts, you'd be amazed what a note card say, hey, dear Steven, you're doing an awesome job. Whenever you did this last week, that showed me this. You'd be amazed at how far that goes.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you really do wanna create a environment of empathy, an environment of safety, and an environment where they know that they're cared about. And that will create the best place to work, and that will create the best employees that can push your vision further than you ever thought that it could go.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Again, those are perfect examples of applying empathy. It can be as simple as a word of encouragement, a note of affirmation, celebrating wins, and just asking questions about, what they're going through. So you applied it. Exactly right.
Speaker 2:It is so important to celebrate wins, and I'm not good at that. It's it's so important to have fun. Like, hey, every so often just go bowling, or just go out to lunch. Like, don't talk about work, just have fun together. And that does a number of things.
Speaker 2:1, that fills up their tank. 2, they'll tell their friends. And when you need to hire, you'd be amazed at the number of people who will apply because they have heard about your culture. They've heard about your environment. And people there's so many people who don't like their jobs, and they are dying for a job that gives them worth and fulfillment and satisfaction and fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Right? So
Speaker 3:So there's a lot of, you know, details and different applications for these four components of of fostering culture that that I tended to focus on. And perhaps I should have mentioned them in a different sequence, but, you know, I've I've mentioned vision, have that vision out there. I've mentioned empowerment, and I've mentioned empathy. And then the third one or the fourth one, the final one, is accountability. Yes.
Speaker 3:And that probably maybe I shouldn't end with accountability. Should have been ended with
Speaker 2:Yeah. Right.
Speaker 3:Empathy because that that was more celebratory and fun. But you gotta have that component of accountability too. You know, we've mentioned many times that having that job description and that those target goals and agreeing on where you're going, well, that's where you start, and those are the guardrails for moving through the the the the team member's role. And on a micro and macro level, how's the individual fulfilling that team role, but also how's the team more broadly working together to move towards the entire organizational target goals. And but if you're gonna lay all that groundwork, you've got to have accountability.
Speaker 3:It's got to be tracking and measurement on on how you're getting there both quantifiably and and in quality. So you've got to integrate into your, in my opinion, in your approach to organizational ethos culture is this idea that, yes, we do know where we're going. Yes. We do have that vision. Yes.
Speaker 3:We do have all of you empowered. Yes. We do have the the personal relationship level integrated in, but we're also all accountable to each other. Yeah. And and and and there's great value in making it to the extent you can there's not all this can't always happen but make it team accountability so it's not just top down heavy handed supervisor to you know team member accountability but we're all in this together and are we getting there or not sometimes the the the boss if you will the the director has to have those one on one conversations and there's got to be a little more formal approach if there are performance issues and you can't shy away from that that's part of the accountability what one thing that can from my experience be harmful to team morale more than anything else is is, you know, kind of tolerating poor performance or or or lack of performance that can be really demoralizing to a team.
Speaker 3:And and so it's up to the leader to address that and keep the team accountable and keep the individual accountable, for how we're moving forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And and in order to accomplish your vision, you know, you've gotta have a team, you gotta find out what you need, you gotta find out who it is, you gotta help them to flourish, but you've also had to lead. And having hard conversations, you know, in the right way
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:You know, is is key as a leader. You know, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Yes. Enciani.
Speaker 3:Great book.
Speaker 2:Crucial Conversations. Mhmm. As a leader, I know for me, I I had to learn how to have those hard conversations. How to say what needed to be said in a kind and general way, but in a firm way. And say, hey, look.
Speaker 2:We set the goal at this, you're doing this, I need you to do this or else this is gonna happen. Now, how can I help you make that happen and all of that stuff? But I know as a leader, I'm consistently having to train and figure out how to better have those hard conversations because they they have to be had. Yeah. Because that's our job as a leader.
Speaker 2:That's our job as a shepherd, and that's what your org and ultimately, your kids need in order to create the best possible mentoring org out there. Yeah. So
Speaker 3:We we've talked many times on this episode and and the previous one, about a well run organization. Mhmm. And it does start with the leader. Yeah. It doesn't doesn't start and end with the leader, but the leaders got to to set that example and lead accordingly and that there's no element more importantly than leading the team rightly.
Speaker 3:Just to your point, it does affect the the the kids and the students. It does affect the families. It does affect the the volunteers all of your interactions as an organization stem from how your team is performing and what your organization culture is and nobody nobody probably models it better, and maybe nobody should model it better than the leader herself or himself.
Speaker 2:Alright, Ron. Hey. So today, we talked about how to build a team. We focused in on staff. We focused in on how to identify what you need, how to identify who you need to make that happen, and then how to give them an environment to flourish.
Speaker 2:We talked about culture and just why building a team is so vital to carrying out God's vision for your mentoring organization. So, Ron, thanks, man. Really appreciate your wisdom. If you guys wanna learn more about Ron, you can check him out on his website. Ron, can you tell them all about that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, I'll just give you the the website address. It's where are you going dot com, and the r and the u are the letters are you. Where are you going dot com? It tells you all about, the work we do and it's got a brief bio with me.
Speaker 2:It's awesome. Alright. Hey, guys. Thanks a lot for tuning in. And remember, you can mentor.