A goal of mine is to become a better coach. I’ve been reading many books on coaching. I’ve been through two coaching training programs which offered different skill sets. Not to long ago, I went through a 360 evaluation of my skills which involved self-testing, interviews of some people I was coaching, and having my coaching sessions evaluated by a professional coach. All these were invaluable in my learning process. (more…)
This past week I had a great coaching appointment where we were discussing the task of casting vision as a leader. As a veteran pastor I thought I really have nailed this piece and had a grasp of all of its implications. Vision drives ministry. If you are like me, you could come up with 100 ways to cast vision. We’ve done it before. My thoughts went immediately to verbal communication in a large group setting (for me this is conference and pulpit supply). I also think of print communication such as newsletters and the website. (more…)
Before we could roll out coaching to District pastors, there were some things that needed to be done. First, we needed to develop excellent coaches. In order for that to happen, we believed that potential coaches needed to experience coaching themselves and recieve training. We have been actively doing this since District conference in October. Six coaches have been recieving… (more…)
After two disappointing appointments with my coach, I was beginning to wonder if my time investment in meeting with my coach every other week was beginning to wane. I brought this up with my coach with some fear of offending him. After all…no one likes to here that their interaction as a coach is not producing what was expected! I was surprised at his response. He was very open and wanted to explore the potential reasons for the discouragement. (more…)
My coach hit me between the eyes this past month. I told him that I didn’t get my assignments done because I was overwhelmed with commitments that I had made earlier in the year that now seem impossible to achieve. He then gave me an assignment that seemed at the time easy, but ended up being very difficult to carry out. He asked me to make a list of demands that I have said “no”. More… He also asked me not to commit to anything additional in my schedule until I spoke with my wife first! (not something that I am accustom to doing). After two weeks I still have nothing on my “no” list! (more…)
Successful leaders frequently evaluate what is the best use of their time and resources. So often, I am so busy with the urgent things - calls, email, problem solving - that I don’t stop to consider whether or not I am being effective. A question worth considering is, “What would be the three top activities that I could do that would move us forward in the vision God has given to us?” If I could get to those things and let other things past me by, my leadership could be so much stronger. The question is not easy to answer and the answer may shift from time to time, so I have to keep asking it. I have a coach to help me process many questions, but this question has great potential to impact my ministry, I believe, right now. (more…)
