Avoiding a hard conversation costs more than having it. In this episode, Doug Parks sits down with Erin Johnston, Executive Pastor at Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas, to walk through how to address underperformance directly, kindly, and clearly, and how to document it without being cold.
You will learn:
- Why avoiding the conversation makes things worse and tells your whole staff the wrong message
- Why clarity is kindness, and why vague feedback is actually less kind
- A simple way to open the conversation so the person knows what is at stake
- How to tell a performance issue from a fit issue, and why you should gather wider perspective first
- Why character and moral issues need to be handled right away
- How to document with care: verbal conversation, check for understanding, written follow-up, and a consistent process
- Where a smaller church with no HR process should start
This week's action step: if you have been avoiding a conversation, schedule it this week and use these tips to begin.
TIMELINE
0:00 Cold open
0:17 Welcome and meet Erin Johnston
0:49 The cost of avoiding the conversation
1:24 What your other staff notice
2:18 Clarity is kindness
3:26 How to open the conversation
4:38 The goal: nobody is blindsided
5:26 Performance issue or fit issue?
6:32 Get a wider perspective before you correct
7:37 Character and moral issues
9:37 How to document without being cold
10:09 Check for understanding
10:36 Verbal warning, written warning, and improvement plan
11:45 Consistency is your friend
12:05 Where a smaller church should start
12:46 Recap and your action step
13:12 Next episode and wrap up
COMING NEXT: Should this role be filled by a volunteer or paid staff?
More episodes and resources at https://executivepastor.io
The Executive Pastor Podcast is hosted by Doug Parks and Bart Rendel and brought to you by Intentional Churches. Subscribe so you do not miss a new episode every week.
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