Putting People Off the Bus

In our online newsletter, Kevin Miller called terminating a worker “throw-up time.” Here’s an excerpt:

“Recently I had to look in the eyes of someone and tell her she could no longer be part of our team. Her final day would be in two weeks. … Her large, brown eyes began to well with tears. …

“Meanwhile, I was reading Good to Great (HarperBusiness, 2001), in which Jim Collins explains the traits of leaders who transform good organizations into great ones. ‘We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy,’ he writes. ‘We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats—then figured out where to drive it.'”

Online readers joined the debate:

My problem with this bus metaphor is that removing a volunteer from a position of leadership is like telling Uncle Harry he can’t help out with the family reunion anymore because he’s too obnoxious and tells bad jokes. —Lauren Porter, Vicksburg, Mississippi

I disagree, strongly. … We have lost the focus that Jesus had on people. We focus rather on getting a job done. David Schroeder, president of Nyack College, put it this way, “The kingdom leader doesn’t use people to get work done, he uses work to get people done.”

—George Cooper, Slovakia

Why would we allow incompetent people to remain in positions of authority [and thus power] in the church whom we would not let do the same job in the “real world”? Is it truthful to keep someone who is clearly doing harm or is incompetent in a job just because they are a volunteer or because this is the church? Is it the goal of the church to give people work they want—or is it to do the work of the Great Commission?

—Dan Denton, San Diego

Over the past two years I’ve had to weather the storm over a member of the church who wanted to preach. … I think he and his family (long-term members) will probably leave. Although I know this may be for the best, I already feel the pain of personal failure.

—A pastor from the UK

Collins talks of choosing the right people so together you can decide the destination. In The Purpose Driven Church, however, Rick Warren makes a case for focusing first on the purpose of the church (its destination). I agree. Attracting people who will fit in becomes easier when they understand why our church exists and where it’s going.

—Rich Doebler, Cloquet, Minnesota