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Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth: A Book Review

Although we may have learned clear definitions of coaching that guide us as coaches, we are always seeking ways to build upon those definitions to practice our craft effectively.        The common aspects of the definitions tend to focus on the person being coached, the collaborative nature of the process, and helping the client achieving his or her potential.     Undergirding these definitions is the expectation of change on the part of the client, even though change is one of the greatest challenges each of us faces in life.   Helping People Change   provides the coach with deeper insights and suggestions about how to pursue change with our clients. The authors face the potential and challenge of change head on.  Building on the insights of positive psychology, neuroscience research, and extensive coaching experience, they provide an effective framework for guiding a client through the process of personal change, one based on the Inten...
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Lead with Quiet Confidence: Networking

A friend had lost his job.     We were having coffee together and he was outlining his options.      I asked, “What about your network?”     He gave me a puzzled look and said, “What do you mean?”     I followed through by asking about his contacts with peers in similar positions, professional organizations, and so forth.     No, he couldn’t really think of anybody!    Somehow this had never been on his radar.   Networking is a core leadership skill.  The basic idea of networking is to connect with people in in your professional community for encouragement, knowledge sharing, and broadening your presence.  Networking is important not just for finding a job but for contributing to your field.  It has been vital in my growth and service as a minister.   In  Lead with Quiet Confidence , Jennifer Marcou identifies networking as a skill vital for every professional, including introve...

Three Core Disciplines of the Pastor as Coaching Leader

Most of us got into ministry because we wanted to help people and be problem solvers.  As a coaching leader, we exercise skills that assist staff members in learning how to help themselves and develop their gifts to solve their own problems.  Transitioning from institutional “boss” to developmental companion requires mastering three fundamental practices: 1.          Ask Powerful Questions Instead of Supplying Instant Answers   Pastors are conditioned to provide answers. When a staff member walks into your study describing a breakdown in youth ministry, a worship conflict, or an administrative bottleneck, the natural reflex is to solve it. A coaching leader resists that impulse. When you provide the immediate answer, you keep the staff member dependent on your problem-solving capacity. When you ask powerful, open-ended questions— What options have you explored? What does wise stewardship require here? What outcome are you seeki...

The Paradigm Shift: Supervisor vs. Coaching Leader

A coaching leader invests in others by encouraging, challenging, and supporting them. It begins with seeing the other person as a capable and gifted.  A friend who took a coach approach as a supervisor used his planning sessions with staff members to ask questions like:    ·        “What did you learn from this experience?” ·        “What can we celebrate about your work?”   ·        “These are great ideas, but what will you have to give up to pursue them?”  ·        “How can I help you to accomplish your goals?” Both supervisors and coaches bear ultimate responsibility for mission execution, but their core postures toward people differ fundamentally.   Conventional Supervisor Pastoral Coaching Leader Operates out of fear of failure or reputational risk Views failure as a threshold for reflection and discipleship Maintains s...

Pastor as Coaching Leader: Moving from Supervisor to Coach

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV)   If you serve in ministry long enough, you will eventually find yourself moved into administrative oversight. For many lead pastors, this transition comes as an unexpected tension. You were trained to preach, care for souls, and guide a congregation spiritually; now, you find yourself managing staff, directing ministry teams, allocating budgets, and overseeing staff performance.   Managing is not an inferior calling. Faithful stewardship requires directing resources to meet kingdom needs and advance ministry goals. Yet the most challenging element of pastoral administration is not mana...

Lead with Quiet Confidence: A Book Review

I love this book.     And it is not just because I am an introvert.     I love it because Jennifer Marcou does not attempt to change introverts into extroverts. She recognizes the inherent strengths and abilities of being an introvert and provides guidance for leveraging those attributes into successful leadership.      In Leading with Quiet Confidence:  A Practical Guide to Success for Introverts , Marcou states that “Introverts can be leaders by changing their behaviors, not who they are.”  One doesn’t have to give up the gift of being an introvert to become a good leader. Becoming a leader is not just about our capabilities, it is about how people perceive our capabilities.   There are four parts to the book:   Awareness:  What do I need to know to be successful as an introvert? Confidence: How to build and exude confidence. Behaviors:  Practical guide to being successful as a leader. Impact: ...

Harvesting the Past

Do you know the story of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order?      A nobleman, he spent his early life as a soldier.    He was severely wounded in battle. While recovering from surgery, he underwent a spiritual conversion and discerned a call to the religious life. After times of pilgrimage and spiritual discernment, he founded the Jesuits as a religious order to create schools, colleges, and seminaries across Europe.   As a former soldier, Ignatius paid particular attention to the spiritual formation of his recruits and recorded his method in the  Spiritual Exercises  (1548). In time, the method has become known as  Ignatian spirituality .    “In God’s economy, nothing is wasted” is a statement   popularized largely through Alcoholics Anonymous (often attributed to co-founder Bill W.) to express how personal struggles, failures, and hardships can still serve a purpose in growth and recovery.  ...