Leadership choices

This year we had a number of changes in leadership.  And by "a number" I mean the chair of EVERY major committee changed.  In some ways that was really stupid on my part.  Training all new leadership requires a fair amount of time and energy (not that it's not worth it) and that extra time should be allotted for.  In comparing (sometimes helpful sometimes not) the different folks from the two years, I have a couple of observations I offer for what they are worth:

• when you choose people for the personnel committee, they have to be willing and able to handle conflict with tact.  They need to be not only nice people who care about others, but also people willing to confront someone when they are not doing their job in all the ways they are required to.  People who run from conflict will not get the job done.  As a note, there are many (most?) people who hate conflict. Not many (healthy/stable) people run toward it, but the person who dislikes it is different from the person who refuses to engage it.
• when you choose the person who will lead the meetings, choose someone who can stay on task and get to the point (this might be a personal preference b/c I am task oriented and like getting the job done, but really who likes being in a meeting that lasts 2 hours when it should only take 30 minutes just so everyone can share a story?!?!) 
• The people on finance committee should be willing to ask hard questions (repeatedly if necessary) in order to clean things up (supposing they are messy), and should be committed to faithful stewardship personally and corporately, they should also be willing to do fundraising (and able to encourage and empower others to do fundraising).  
• Some people will require more training than others.  Their need for additional instruction is not a testament to how well they will do as a leader, only that they have received less instruction along the way. 
• Sometimes giving people a fresh start and not asking too many questions about their past is helpful, it can offer a new (grace-filled) opportunity where they don't have to fight an uphill battle just to get started. It can also be problematic if (negative) past behaviors are sure to re-present themselves.  

I'll leave it at that for now.  Feel free to add your own.