The 4th “C” of Adding Healthy Team Members

I believe there is a fourth “C” to finding good team members. Unfortunately, I had to discover it the hard way.

You’ve possibly heard of the 3 C’s of finding the best team members. I think Bill Hybels is often credited with them.

Chemistry
Competence
Character

Bill Hybels appears to be a genius leader. I agree with all of them. They are each important. People need the chemistry to mesh with others well on the team. They need competence to do the job well. And, of course, they need character to keep from injuring the quality and integrity of the team. All vital attributes of finding healthy team members.

But, I believe there is a fourth “C”.

It may be semantics. Some may say it’s covered in one of others – maybe chemistry. I think it’s unique.

The fourth “C for me is Culture.”

That’s right.

Culture

Culture involves things like what people wear, office hour expectations, the unwritten rules, and the way things have always been done.

I’ve hired people I like personally – we had good chemistry – they had competence and character- they were even friends – but we found out we didn’t belong on the same team. We see things differently. Our culture preference is different.

One of my close pastor friends leads so much differently than I lead. He’s a good leader. He leads a healthy church, but his style is different. It creates a different culture than one I would create.

I hope he would say the same for me. I strive to be a good leader. I attempt to lead a healthy church. But, I’m different.

Some people will fit better under the culture my friend’s leadership creates. Some people will fit better under the culture my leadership creates.

This goes without mentioning the cultural individuality of the churches we both lead have existed long before either of us became pastors. Or the unique settings and community of the churches.

Not long ago there was a person I desperately wanted on our team. He had chemistry, competence and character. But, the more we processed together it simply wasn’t the right culture. As much as we would have loved working together, he would have been very unhappy in the days ahead.

And, so what’s the purpose of this post?

Hopefully the application of this speaks for itself, but just to be clear.

When you hire – consider character, competence and chemistry. Those are important.

But also consider culture. Is your culture a good fit for the person?

When you consider where to work — consider character, competence and chemistry.

But also consider culture. Is it a good fit?

Culture matters.