Barnabas File

A t some point, I discovered that you learn more by teaching than by being a student in a course.  For four years, colleague Beth Kennett and I have taught an Introduction to Coaching class as part of Summit Coach Training from Pinnacle.  In teaching, I have rediscovered at least ten concepts that I think every coach should remember.  1.   1.   The client is central.     Coaching is really all about the client. The client sets the agenda, and the coach provides the process.     If you have any concerns about what to ask or how to proceed, ask yourself, “Does this serve the client?” 2.       Coaching is really a partnership.     It is a collaborative activity.     Bob Dale spoke about coach and client as “thought partners.”     It is a partnership that fosters creativity on the part of client and learning on the part of the coach. 3.       You are not a “...

Having a coach is a good investment for a client. A coach provides the client the opportunity to identify one’s growing edge and to live into it.     This involves discerning a desired outcome, action steps to pursue to get there, and measures of success.     The coach also helps the client identify the resources available to assist in that quest. Resources include time, relationships, abilities, and strengths.   Why should we encourage clients to work from their strengths rather than focusing on developing their weaknesses?  The client should take advantage of what he or she already does well in working toward a goal.  Generally, there is some innate reason that we are not strong in a certain area.  This may be natural inclination, lack of passion, or personal disposition.   Marcus Buckingham has noted:   “You grow most in your areas of greatest strength. You will improve the most, be the   most creative, be the most...

Having a coach is a good investment for a client. A coach provides the client the opportunity to identify one’s growing edge and to live into it.     This involves discerning a desired outcome, action steps to pursue to get there, and measures of success.     The coach also helps the client identify the resources available to assist in that quest. Resources include time, relationships, abilities, and strengths.   Why should we encourage clients to work from their strengths rather than focusing on developing their weaknesses?  The client should take advantage of what he or she already does well in working toward a goal.  Generally, there is some innate reason that we are not strong in a certain area.  This may be natural inclination, lack of passion, or personal disposition.   Marcus Buckingham has noted:   “You grow most in your areas of greatest strength. You will improve the most, be the   most creative, be the most...

I will be very transparent that I attend these meetings more for information than inspiration, but I came away wi th b oth.     Craig Groeschel, pastor of Life.Church, and Albert Tate, pastor of Fellowship Church, were the bookend preachers.     Both were inspiring and competent. Like most large events, the Global Leadership Summit went virtual this year. Although there were still some large group viewings across the country, the event was produced as an online event that could also be viewed by small groups and individuals across the country.     The production was well done, and I only experienced one brief service outage during the conference.  This is unusual for an event this large.  Of course, viewing from home is convenient and it is nice to be able to go back or pause as you wish, but there are a lot more distractions. Groeschel is an effective communicator who is informative and encouraging, but he goes more for the head than th...

For years we have talked about the uniqueness of every individual and the fact that “God has wired each of us” in a certain way. As a result, we have made efforts to help individual believers discover their gifts, passions, and personality types in order to serve more effectively. Is this idea also true for the church as well? Marcus Buckingham is the author of several ground-breaking books including First, Break All the Rules [1] and Now Discover Your Strengths. [2] While he was with the Gallup Organization, he helped develop the Strengths-Based approach to management. The basic idea is that we should spend more time using the abilities we already have than trying to improve upon our deficits or weaknesses. Out of that conference came the idea that this may be the best approach for churches to pursue as well. Contrary to the Natural Church Development approach [3] of discovering where your church falls short (“where it leaks” in NCD terminology), a chur...

The Willow Creek Association’s Global Leadership Summit brings together not only faith leaders but leaders in all types of organizations.   The slate of speakers intentionally includes not only those from churches and faith-based organizations, but corporate executives, consultants, and researchers who deal with people development. Speakers this year included Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, and author of Lean In and Option B (with Adam Grant); Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World and Good Sam, and host of the TV show, The Profit; Laszlo Bock, Senior Advisor at Google  and author of Work Rules ; Marcus Buckingham, consultant/researcher and author of StandOut 2.0 ; Sam Adeyemi, pastor of Daystar Christian Centre in Nigeria; and Angela Duckworth, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Grit:  The Power of Passion and Perservance. A common theme among these speakers was that people basically want to do good work and...