Your boss is probably a narcissist. Your pastor too. It’s not intrinsically their fault. The events and cultures that brought them to that situation are more responsible.

A team of researchers reported in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology that chronic self-promoters tend to be given the most positive job interview evaluations. Those best able to highlight individual accomplishments while downplaying group failures are more likely to successfully navigate a job interview.

Controlling for ethnicity and ingratiation tactics in a Western setting, the researchers were even able to specify those chronic self-promoters as “European-heritage narcissists.” Face it, not only millennials are self-centered.

Even in religious organizations, this probably doesn’t come as a surprise. A job interview is intended to identify the best candidate. Credentials being equal, hiring and promotion decisions will often come down to salesmanship.

Still, this has implications for how we as Anabaptists look for leaders. We tend to eschew priestly exceptionalism and hold leadership suspect, resulting in a surplus of committees.

There is a paradox in searching for pastors and other staff with a finely tuned capability to lead in humility. Even Jesus said “the student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master,” and “whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:24, 38). Maybe Anabaptists prefer hiring “wolves” in sheep’s clothing — those most skilled at transmitting their selflessness.

A notable exception does exist: The most conservative groups among us set the issue aside by casting the lot, putting faith in God to select just the right man for the job.

For those who employ a professional pastor, just as academic psychological research tends to tell us what we already know, so too can a pastoral search. The question is whether a congregation allows that information to indicate where it has been or where it should go.

Some congregations don’t just desire but need a strong shepherd who boldly leads from the front. Others prefer a quieter approach, nudging support and facilitation from the sidelines. There are, naturally, examples in between.

In either case, bodies should be intentional and specific about what they seek, doing everyone a favor by being up-front within themselves and with candidates. Still, the process is prone to procreation as searchers tend to hire leaders like themselves. But it is possible to break away from this self-replicating loop, by seeking out and reflecting the talents of the humbler ones among us. This is a two-way street. Even the most modest should be able to step forward and meet the shoulder tappers halfway.

Otherwise, a search committee — and its pastor or executive — won’t be representative of the church, just a collection of European-heritage narcissists.