There's a common leadership principle that suggests we attract who we are.John Maxwell calls it the Law of Magnetism. Maxwell suggests that leaders must work hard to add people to their team who don't merely mirror themselves.
Here's at least one application of this law in the world of Guest Services in your local church or organization. You have a dyno-leader who's 62. Professional in every way. Sharp image. Mature leadership. Formal, but personable, presentation. This leader will naturally attract others like her. That's not a bad thing.
Nor is it a bad thing that the leader of another team is 34. Sharp, but hip. Untucked, frayed jeans, no socks. Mature leader. Laid back and personable. He will attract others like himself. And that's not a bad thing either.
Except for this reality. Each of these leaders leads a greeter team. On different weekends. Which means on weekend one, when the mature 62-year old is leading, the majority of team members greeting at doors and assisting guests are mature 60-somethings. Again - there's nothing wrong with that, except that there will likely be younger people attending the service this weekend. When they arrive they're likely to assume - "I don't know if this is my church, because..." don't miss this... "there's no one here like me."
The same thing will happen next week when the team is comprised of late-20 and 30-somethings. Older people will arrive and wonder if this church is their church, because "everyone seems younger."
People want to fit in. They want to sense that they belong. Remove those barriers. Diversify your teams.
Your leaders will have to work hard to do so. They'll have to empower other younger - or older - team members to invite and involve others like them. Then when guests arrive, on any weekend, they'll sense at first glance that they just might belong.
