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

Simple Church Synchronicity & Coaching

HI All,

Last week I discussed the problem of how you line up the Simple Church concept of "Focus" (eliminating ministries which are not aimed at your goal), especially in the matter of how you handle announcements. Now I would like to offer a long-term solution to the problem. I say 'long-term' because it takes a long time to turn the ship around if your church has been around for more than seven years. You need to go slow and easy. While it may be difficult to make changes to existing ministries, you have a lot of control over the start of new ministries. And the way you do this is through new ministry coaching.

What is your plan for the start of new ministries? Do you have a guide or a help, or some form of instruction for people who want to start something new? If not, then your church will continue as a free-for-all, with anybody starting anything they want. This will violate all four principles of Simple Church: Clarity, Movement, Alignment & Focus.

Here's two steps you can take to make sure that new ministries, at least, will be in harmony with your Simple Church strategy:

First, create a written guide for new ministries. Whenever anybody wants to start a new ministry, require that they read through and answer the questions in the new ministry guide first. Your new ministry guide needs to teach the principles of Simple Church, and ask the right questions so that your people learn the implications of their ministry before they begin it. Too many people give no consideration or thought to how a new ministry will impact the already existing ministries in the church. For example, they will use space in the building, they will cost money from the budget, they will take time up in the church calendar. And they will ask for notice either through bulletin announcements or up-front announcements. All of these actions impact the other ministries in the church. People need to understand this. So make sure that they learn about all of these implications by completing the "New Ministry Guide" which will teach them Simple Church concepts. Take a look at this New Ministry Guide from HighPowerResources.com.

Second, establish 'new ministry coaches', who walk people through the process of starting a ministry in harmony with your church's philosophy of ministry. These coaches can not only help them start the ministry, but they can be there to help them through the problem solving and other issues which arise. Then at your monthly leadership community meetings of all your ministry team leaders, the coaches can meet with their teams and check in on progress and needs. That way you have a ministry lifestyle system which will help your ministry start well, and also excel.

God's best to you for growth and health in your ministry,

Dr. Bill

Simple Church Synchronicity

Adopting a simple church philosophy is the easy part. Making it work with your already existing ministry systems is the challenging part. Unless you are a church planter with no currently existing ministries to deal with, you must consider this factor if you hope to adopt a simple church model at your church.

(“Simple Church” is a reference to the book by Thom Rainier & Eric Geiger, Simple Church.)

Here is a recent discussion about applying Simple Church concepts to your announcements:

Simple Church Advocate: we don’t do any announcements unless they relate to our two core distinctives

Listener: “What about your men’s and women’s ministries? What do you do when they want to announce a new Bible study or a men’s retreat?”

Simple Church Advocate: “I ask them what the purpose is. If they say, ‘The purpose is because we’ve done it every year for the last 10 years,’ then it’s denied.

Listener: “Why would you do that?”

Simple Church Advocate: “We don’t think it is fair to our newcomers and seekers to distract and confuse them with too many messages and options. If we provide 10 different options during announcements, what are we saying about the discipleship ministries we believe will give them the most help spiritually?”

Listener: “Sounds like you are going to organize yourself simply out of existence!”


So, who is right in this exchange? It presents the challenges of synchronizing the Simple Church principle of Focus (Clarity, Movement, Alignment, Focus) with any church which already has programs in existence.

What is the best way to handle this dilemma? Is it a free-for-all for anybody who wants to promote their ministry event? How do you decide which ministries to promote or not promote, or (the unheard of), cancel a ministry that has been in existence for years?

Just a thought….

Dr. Bill