Y'all know my friend, Dustin?

You should.

Or many call him Dstrad. He is, as they say, good people. We've been friends for a bit. 

But we started as dude-who-needs-a-job and dude-who-needed-some-help.

I had the unique privilege to sit in Dustin's interview at Elevation Church years ago. There were 6 of us in the final meeting to determine if he was going to fit and what he'd do. 

Now, I can't afford the time and attention to go into detail about the Elevation interview process back then. It was a long, intentionally multi-day process, not an hour with HR. We believed something different and higher about our mission and calling than most churches do. And we weren't thirsty for a warm body so we didn't fast-pace anyone.

*** I coach organizations on this now. I recruited, developed, and hired more people than any other individual there. And yes, I keep a list. :) I can help your church or business build better identifying and hiring systems. ***

So ... at the end of Dustin's 3-day interview alongside 12 others, he sat in the hot seat. He was the last one. And that seat was hot!
(I'll let him tell you the whole story.)

We didn't discuss just his character. We didn't discuss his fashion. Or his skills. Or his passion. Or his theology. 

We assessed and discussed his RISK!

EVERYONE (even you) has inherent risk attached. We can't know everything about someone, even if we've been friends forever. We also can't tell the future and how they'll react in new pressure experiences. You know this. You've seen this. But we often forget to discuss risk. 

You can look over patterns to evaluate risk. You can judge verbal and body language to evaluate risk. You can do reference checks to evaluate risk. 

But there is nothing you can do to eliminate risk. 

And that's the point: You WILL risk something to connect with someone. Or even to be a new friend with someone. The question is what risk are you comfortable with? And that, my friend, is what no one is talking about. 

Think about the risk your spouse took on you. Maybe you'd say it was low risk. But what level of risk existed to add the in-laws the family? See, risk is everywhere.

We just often do so much dating that we lower the risk assessment with those we love. Then we gloss over this so quickly in the relationships that can build or sink the company. 

I'll share more about risk in the coming days. But to land the plane with good ole Dstrad ...

He was pretty high risk on the hot seat. As a sort of punishment and probationary measure, he was hired as my first direct report. Can you imagine the terror of having to report to me? And being assigned under me because you're high risk while the "low risk" guys are getting campus pastor or worship leader jobs? 

Dustin wasn't bad and isn't now. As a matter of fact, now people fly him around the world to preach and teach their teams. He's one of the few to preach on the Elevation main stage which other "low risk" people never have. BUT IN THE MOMENT all we could do was evaluate and accept risk. Then it was up to me to build into him accordingly. 

And if I may say, I did pretty well which is why he's surpassed me in every way except age. I aspire to be like him one day. He's low risk now, of course. You should have him preach and teach at your church or company. You'll thank me later. 

Risk. It's a thing. Don't discount it, deal with it.