UECF logoUnited Evangelical Christian Fellowship Church (UECF)130 Ferris Pl, Westfield, NJ
Chapter 14 of 40

Today’s Mission

Today’s Mission

smileyDay 12

Ridiculous Lines from the Chronically Ineffective Leader

“I Called, but They Haven’t Called Me Back Yet”

It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.

BABE RUTH

You may have found yourself uttering these ridiculous words yourself, after a week or so of calling and following up. Those new to leadership or new to building teams are often amazed—stunned—at how few potential volunteers respond after the first message.

Here’s a good general rule: most potential team members won’t call or email back after a single message. This rule is so true that there’s a chance that the people who do call you back quickly after a single message may end up not being the kind of people you are looking for!

As an effective team builder, you should never be thrown off track by the slow response time of potential leaders. Instead, accept it as part of the landscape of building an effective team.

Each additional message you leave simply allows you to bring a little more enthusiasm and a little more detail to the conversation. You can say things like

  • I’m thrilled about the possibility of someone like you working with our kids!
  • We’re looking at an hour and a half three Sundays a month during the school year.
  • If you’d like to know more, you might want to talk with your good friends Jen and John who have been in this role for years and are fabulous!

    • Today you again get to lean into the bread and butter of building a great team—the follow-up process.

    Today’s Mission

  • Commit today to strike from your vocabulary as a leader the ridiculous line, “I’ve called, but they haven’t called me back yet.”
  • Continue your daily recruiting follow-up work:
    1. Take out your master recruiting documents: your needs list and your ranked pool list.
    2. Check your email to see if anyone has responded to your email invitation, and reply to those emails immediately.
    3. For those who have said yes, send an email suggesting a meeting time and place for you to talk further about what you’re looking for.
    4. Hold any scheduled meetings with potential volunteers.
    5. For those who have said no,
      1. Move their names to the bottom of the pool list, under the section called “No.”
      2. Beside each name, write what role each person has said no to.
      3. Remove their names from the needs list.
    6. Place new names in the blanks left by those who have said no.
    7. Send your standard invitation email to the people you have added to your master recruiting list.
    8. Send a follow-up message to any potential volunteer who hasn’t responded to your last message in three days or more.

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