Coaching Triads for Success
Hi All,
I've been in a 'coaching triad' for a while now, and have found it extremely helpful for my own personal success in the ministry.
Here's how it works: myself and two other Executive Pastors get together once a month for coaching. In this triad we each commit to coach and to be coached. We have all studied Bob Logan's book, "Coaching 101", found here. It is a fabulous intro primer to coaching, which uses Logan's model for coaching.
Let's pause a moment and explain that.
What is coaching? Sometimes it's easier to explain something by what it is not. Coaching is NOT counseling, consulting, mentoring, or discipling. Coaching is a separate type of activity which is extremely useful for helping people to develop ownership for their own progress, spiritual or otherwise. Coaching is a non-directive exercise which draws out the inner motivations and desires of the person, as well as their own action plans for their life. Through powerful thought-provoking, and action-inducing questions, the person being coached assumes responsibility for making the plans and taking actions for success. The coach simply serves as an objective third-party sounding board for feedback and questions. It is a powerful methodology for success.
So we three meet monthly in a coaching triad. For the first half hour, one person coaches, the second person is being coached, and the third person serves as observer to keep time, and to make pertinent observations afterwards. Then during the next half hour the roles shift; and again, for the third half hour portion. So in an hour and a half the coaching triad is complete and we are set for another month.
That is the mechanics of it. How it feels is another thing. It feels like a really useful way to spend my time once a month. I don't know about you, but I have found the usual pastoral gatherings to be fairly unhelpful. Yes, it is great together for fellowship and sharing, but not a lot is learned or accomplished in these ministerials usually. However, in my coaching triad there are three distinct advantages. First, I come away with powerful action plans for my month which are directly relevant and useful for my ministry because I have spent a half-hour of out-loud thinking with another pastor who has pulled these ideas and plans out of me through powerful questions. So they are relevant plans because they are my plans. Second, I learn something about how other pastors handle their own situations in their ministry. In learning how they approach problems, I gain another model for problem-solving in my own ministry, using a style which I would never have known unless I had spent a half-hour listening to another man share his approach to solving them. Third, there is Christian fellowship, connection, and prayer.
The result of this monthly coaching triad is that I come away motivated to make some plans happen. Why? First, because they are my plans which I myself have developed. But secondly, because I know that I will be facing my two partners in ministry and have to report to them on progress made. And that also has its own motivations.
So, since I have started my monthly coaching triad, I have been just a little more sharper and on my game. I have been a bit more productive. I have felt a bit more connected to ministry with some other guys. Put it all together, and the benefits accrue, month-by-month, into a much more successful ministry than I would otherwise have had.
You can't do it alone sometimes, and through coaching triads you can get the support, encouragement, and clear direction you need to succeed. There are a bunch of useful coaching resources on the HighPowerResources.com site. Take a look.
God's best to you and your ministry,
Dr. Bill
I've been in a 'coaching triad' for a while now, and have found it extremely helpful for my own personal success in the ministry.
Here's how it works: myself and two other Executive Pastors get together once a month for coaching. In this triad we each commit to coach and to be coached. We have all studied Bob Logan's book, "Coaching 101", found here. It is a fabulous intro primer to coaching, which uses Logan's model for coaching.
Let's pause a moment and explain that.
What is coaching? Sometimes it's easier to explain something by what it is not. Coaching is NOT counseling, consulting, mentoring, or discipling. Coaching is a separate type of activity which is extremely useful for helping people to develop ownership for their own progress, spiritual or otherwise. Coaching is a non-directive exercise which draws out the inner motivations and desires of the person, as well as their own action plans for their life. Through powerful thought-provoking, and action-inducing questions, the person being coached assumes responsibility for making the plans and taking actions for success. The coach simply serves as an objective third-party sounding board for feedback and questions. It is a powerful methodology for success.
So we three meet monthly in a coaching triad. For the first half hour, one person coaches, the second person is being coached, and the third person serves as observer to keep time, and to make pertinent observations afterwards. Then during the next half hour the roles shift; and again, for the third half hour portion. So in an hour and a half the coaching triad is complete and we are set for another month.
That is the mechanics of it. How it feels is another thing. It feels like a really useful way to spend my time once a month. I don't know about you, but I have found the usual pastoral gatherings to be fairly unhelpful. Yes, it is great together for fellowship and sharing, but not a lot is learned or accomplished in these ministerials usually. However, in my coaching triad there are three distinct advantages. First, I come away with powerful action plans for my month which are directly relevant and useful for my ministry because I have spent a half-hour of out-loud thinking with another pastor who has pulled these ideas and plans out of me through powerful questions. So they are relevant plans because they are my plans. Second, I learn something about how other pastors handle their own situations in their ministry. In learning how they approach problems, I gain another model for problem-solving in my own ministry, using a style which I would never have known unless I had spent a half-hour listening to another man share his approach to solving them. Third, there is Christian fellowship, connection, and prayer.
The result of this monthly coaching triad is that I come away motivated to make some plans happen. Why? First, because they are my plans which I myself have developed. But secondly, because I know that I will be facing my two partners in ministry and have to report to them on progress made. And that also has its own motivations.
So, since I have started my monthly coaching triad, I have been just a little more sharper and on my game. I have been a bit more productive. I have felt a bit more connected to ministry with some other guys. Put it all together, and the benefits accrue, month-by-month, into a much more successful ministry than I would otherwise have had.
You can't do it alone sometimes, and through coaching triads you can get the support, encouragement, and clear direction you need to succeed. There are a bunch of useful coaching resources on the HighPowerResources.com site. Take a look.
God's best to you and your ministry,
Dr. Bill
posted by Dr. Bill at
5:54 AM
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