Barnabas File

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...

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...

A man rushed up to a woman standing beside a road and asked, “Did a large group of people just pass by here?”  She replied, “Yes, they went that way,” as she pointed over her shoulder.  “Good.  I’m their leader.” We have heard some variation of this story many times.  One thing it teaches us is that people will often move ahead even if a leader is not involved.  Whether they are moving in the right direction is another matter. My experience tells me that staff teams—in churches, denominations, and not-for-profits—really do want leaders.  They expect the leader to identify a direction, set the pace, and provide the resources and encouragement needed to move forward.  If the leader fails to do these things, then the situation can become very chaotic. This is especially true of pastoral leaders or the person we identify as the “lead pastor” in a congregation.  Although the people that he or she works with may be more talented and experienc...

We all know pastors who are wonderful friends, good in pastoral care, and effective preachers, but they are not good team leaders.  Maybe you are one.  These individuals find themselves in a church of 150 to 350 in attendance and find that “they are not in Kansas anymore.”  They are now in a church that has so much going on that they cannot keep up with it all.  What has worked for them before does not work now. What has changed? When a church passes the 150 mark in Sunday worship attendance, programs and ministries have multiplied.  The pastor can no longer be the coordinator of everything but must depend on others to take the lead in specific areas. This requires a different leadership style. Some consultants refer to this as the program-sized church.  I would welcome another title because I believe that this term fails to describe all that a church this size does.  Such a church is not just running programs, it is developing people, growi...

As parents who have faced the task of putting together a toy on Christmas Eve can attest, “some assembly required” is an understatement.   The job usually takes much longer and produces more sweat and frustration that we expect.   My friend David Cates used this illustration in his sermon yesterday, challenging us to the task of “being builders.” David’s sermon and illustration got me to thinking about the fact that all of us have the opportunity to build something—a life, a family, a church.   Often we have the chance to do all three.   As we do so, we discover that there are both internal and external aspects to building. Internally, we have to do the hard work of clarifying our purpose in life—as a person, a family, or a church. This comes as a result of knowing our values, discovering our strengths, and then setting our course.   As we do the hard internal work, we achieve external results. At the same time, there are external concerns we must...

“God expects nothing more from you than to live that life for which you were created.   He [sic] wants you to be yourself.”    This is the simple but profound message of Living Your Strengths , a book based on the Clifton StrengthsFinder ® and the research of the Gallup Organization. I was first introduced to the idea of Strengths Psychology through First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman and Now, Discover Your Strengths by Buckingham and Donald Clifton (the designer of the inventory).     My attention was focused on the concept once more when I heard Marcus Buckingham speak at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit several years ago and began thinking about this in relation to the church.   Living Your Strengths by Albert Winseman, Donald Clifton, and Curt Liesveld makes the application of the idea directly to the believer and the   life of the church. The approach is summarized in this way: “God has created the one...