the G sides

How important is RAFT?

RAFT must be a non-negotiable for an organization to have long term success in developing people. There really should be no compromising on these four traits – responsive, available, faithful, and teachable. If we cheat on these early, the consequences get steep even fatal later.

The plain truth of the matter is that these are in fact unavoidable. You WILL deal with them one way or another. It’s inevitable. Choosing to ignore them out of the gate is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. (Which is both a worn-out cliche and a horrible movie.) General rule of thumb is the more you compromise early, the more you’ll have to compromise later. An entrenched non-RAFT person is miserable, makes everyone around them miserable and CAN infect the whole system. And we’re not doing them any favors either because whatever missing piece they have is hindering their effectiveness. No amount of gifting and training will compensate for a missing RAFT piece.

So what’s the answer? Only accept those RAFTs? What about someone who is only missing a letter? What if you’ve got a RFT or a AFT or a FAR? (I’d make more acronyms but it’s getting dangerous.) Instead of punting them to the curb, I’d start with the missing letter. If Joe is an awesome candidate for a leadership role but he’s just so busy with work, then that’s the first thing we approach. “Joe, I see a ton of potential. Faithful, teachable, and all around responsive and pleasant to be with. But your schedule…what’s up with that? To be effective, you’ve got to be available. How are we going to tackle this?”

And we stay on that issue until it is resolved. I’ll stay on the journey with them as long as I’m seeing some progress and we stay working on that foundational issue.

However, there is a tipping point. This is when the potential is seen, a taste of what could be is had and the potential monster leader realizes that to go any further and deeper is going to require a significant personal change. Will they take the plunge or walk away? Will you as a leader take them to that point ON PURPOSE or will you avoid that point? Will you hold loosely and allow God to deal in His time and His way? Will we have the same courage to do as Jesus did and watch them “walk away sad because he was a man of great wealth?”

In that moment – I try to do everything I can to not compromise RAFT as well as keep the door open for them to return, to try again.

Next up: Where does gifting fit in developing people?