SUMMARY ATTEMPT: WHO'S HOLDING YOUR LADDER | CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3

FIVE CORE QUALITIES OF LADDER HOLDERS

Those who are gripping the ladder don't have to agree with my tactics or methods. They do have to believe in my vision and agree with where I'm going.

There are five essential qualities we seek:

1. Strength: If they need to be corrected in certain areas, they can change without my having to worry about how much I am going to hurt their feelings. We need strong ladder holders; so strong enough to take criticism and who wants to do better. “the greater the need, the shorter the prayer”, I must have people holding the ladder who can handle instructions in two or three words and be able to do it quickly.

2. Attentiveness: They ought to be alert to what I'm saying and absorb it quickly. I don't want to give them the same lessons repeatedly. We don't have to chase after attentive people repeatedly; they understand the first time.

3. Faithfulness: They must have faith in me as their leader and be committed to me. If they aren’t faithful to me – if they aren't committed to the same vision I am – they will abandon me. I need people who remain at the ladder no matter how difficult things become. As long as I am up there, the faithful show me that I can be assured they are down below.

4. Firmness: Manipulative people who won't be able to exploit them. Terrorism in the church is nothing new, but it is usually cloaked in clothes of ecclesiastical language, hidden in the bylaws, or made to sound spiritual and appealing.

Three Important Lessons

a. If we disagree with our leader, we don't do so publicly. We need to discuss it with that person in private.

b. If we disagree, we ought to search our motives before we speak. We need to be sure that others don't set us up. They won't speak up themselves, but they will find naive and trusting souls to do the work for them.

c. If we disagree, we should be sure we don't do it for personal gain.

5. Loyalty: They don't always agree but;
(i) They may disagree with my head but not to my heart 
(ii) They may disagree with how I do things but not why I do things 
(iii) They may disagree with my methods but not my motivations.

PASTOR OR CEO

Even though they are both pastor and CEO, they can't be both at the same time.

The first lesson we learnt is that we hire people for what they know and we fire them for who they are. When we select ladder holders, we need to spend more time with who they are rather than what they know. Troubles in the job usually start over personality issues and not over competency.

This leads me to the second lesson I've learnt: hire slowly and fire quickly. It's better to have a vacancy than to have bad help. Don't rush hiring decisions, don't delay firing decisions.

The third lesson I learnt is this: the best the best time to fire somebody is the first time it goes through your head. I've also learnt that if the situation is serious enough to fire people and we don't, after that we begin to search for reasons to keep them. When you are assigned the task of taking the hill – or the market – you are less concerned about who is for you and more and more concerned about who is with you. Those who make pledges are for us; those who pay their pledges are with us. We don't have to be involved with churches very long before we recognise that there is a large gap between those two groups.

THREE LEVELS OF LADDER HOLDERS

1. Followers: may refer to everyone in the congregation.

2. Ministers: those who have a heart to serve others.

3. Leaders: They minister through others.

Ministers do service primarily by themselves; leaders do service through others.

Source: Who's Holding Your Ladder by Samuel R. Chand

Summary Attempt: Who's Holding Your Ladder; Chapter 2

Summary Attempt: Who's Holding Your Ladder; Chapter 4

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