Coaching for Leadership

How would you describe leadership? I'm a empowering leader. I use the phrase "multiplying ministers".

As a pastor, I try to encourage people with their God given gifts, to test them out. I cheer them on and support them in any way I can. But it's their baby. Whatever they need to get started and feel confident is key. I like working with "low directive" people. They are go getters. They just need permission, cheering on, and someone to accompany them until they are ready to fly.

What does it mean to lead well? To lead well for me, is to "make, mature, and mobilize apostolic disciples for Jesus" (my D.Min. Dissertation. That each leader/church member is living to the fullest what God created them to be.

How can coaches help leaders raise up new leaders, not just more followers? "multiply yourself" equip and empower someone to do what you are/were doing and let them do it their way, not your way. This takes patience, some guidance (depending on diligence and determination and confidence of the one you are raising up). Equip someone to do what you are doing so you can do something else.

How will you help the leaders you coach have greater impact in the future? I will have them begin with the end in mind. What would it look like if you were thriving as a leader? Kickin' tail in doing what you do best? What would it look like building a team of leaders in sync and thriving synergistically together>

Confirm a client's readiness for coaching & which coaching energizes you is really causing me to think! I understand 'trigger points' as we've discussed them - 'deal breakers' where you would need to refer a client to someone else. But this is different - assessing what is also best for you as the coach, which admittedly is not something I've been very good at!



In my opinion, leadership is just applying the right skills to help unlock the potential a person or group already has accessible to them.



Helping folks see, and also embrace, their own leadership gifts helps raise new leaders .

I am intentional about employing transformational leadership. If people aren't inspired to grow in some way, what's the point? I don't have to be the key growth agent, but in leading others well, I want to be part of the growth climate on the team.



The book "Followerfirst - Rethinking Leadership in the Church" by Dr. Rusty Ricketson and the writing of Peter Northouse have influenced my thinking about following-leaders and the ability of people who may not naturally lead in one setting to lead effectively in another situation.



I enjoy helping people see what their "superpower" is, though I have not, up to this point, use that term.

Leadership is about equipping others to carry out tasks. I have always firmly believed it was important to be clear with everyone involved what one is doing and why, to engage their input in the process, and to invite them to use their gifts and skills to enhance what is being offered. This kind of equipping all members of a team meant that I could take vacation and continuing ed time without worry and without working myself into a tizzy to be able to do it. People were in place who had the knowledge about how to carry out our collective ministry without my constant oversight. Leading well means, at worst, one could theoretically work one's self out of one's job, but at best, that leaders are being trained to lead using their own gifts and skills in exciting and innovative ways.



Leaders raise up new leaders by inviting the input of those they are leading, helping them discover and understand and internalize the core values and supporting structures, and encouraging experimentation in leadership whenever and wherever possible. On Mission Trips, I led worship each day, Sunday through Thursday. We worshiped in a variety of ways, and the youth were taught about the elements of worship and how they came together on regular occasion in our Christian Education programming. Friday night's final worship was their responsibility. I would answer questions, but I would not give input. They created it completely on their own, and often met to plan it in a separate room, so that what they created was a total surprise to me and to the adult chaperones. Most of the time, it was a delightful experience of worship and community. On the rare occasion when it did not quite hit the mark, it was an educational experience that was covered in grace.



Helping leaders release control, equip team members, and foster a communal sense of support and enthusiasm for raising up leaders will help coachees I work with have greater impact in the future.

How would you describe leadership? What does it mean to lead well? I am a leader who will never ask someone to do something I am not willing to do myself. I tried to lead by example, own my mistakes, and state clear expectations for others. I hope I not only inspire others to lead, but teach them along the way.



How can coaches help leaders raise up new leaders, not just more followers? Coaches help clients realize they already have the answers. Giving clients the confidence to recognize they have what they need inside of them by affirming their gifts will help clients become leaders.



How will you help the leaders you coach have greater impact in the future? I hope that those I coach begin to see how coaching works by asking good questions that are not based in shame and blame, but simply open up possibilities and allow the clients to take small steps forward. Once our clients recognize the pattern that small steps and lead to big changes, they will begin to make an impact in every aspect of their lives!

In pondering the question on describing leadership, I immediately think if my friend and Neighbor Jeanne, who described her daughter when she was an elementary age child as, "a leader without any followers". We would laugh at Val's determination and vision as well as her tactics that sometimes lacked the finesse of a true leader! Shame on us, as Val grew into the president of her graduating class! And yet, how many people who are given leadership roles are like elementary aged Val--enamored with the idea of being a leader without grasping the finesse, compromise and listening skills to gain and retain people willing to follow? I love the questions in this post--particularly the ones with a strong future orientation that focus more on the things that undergird our core values and hopes for the future rather than fleeting issues of authority, recognition or power.

I'd love to explore the idea of feedback loops more, particularly in the context of our coaching work.

Good leaders inspire, empower and act. I have worked with leaders who only do one or two of these, but I think all three are critical to leading well. For a leader to see coaching, we would hope they would be open to self discovery, committed to the process and the work and seeking change. As a coach, we have an opportunity to be heard differently. We are not their supervisor so there is no there is no fear of consequences for saying the wrong thing. We are not their client so there is no need to impress. We are not their employee so there is no power imbalance. We acknowledge their expertise in their own lives and they acknowledge our expertise as their coach. This unique relationship can hopefully create a space where leaders who have often had to build up walls or wear masks, can just be themselves. They can share their hopes and fears. They can receive affirmations as well as challenges. And through the coaching process they can discover the kind of leader they really want to be, and take steps to reach that. What a gift.

Leadership is an act towards a common goal. Leaders set the example to their Team can follow through. As a leader, you have to be able to provide the tools to empower clients to become a leader, in this case through coaching, facilitating their development, while they look for ways to grow.

The world have change after COVID and it is important co help develop a new type of leader for the new times we live in. The next leader will see the past, and recognize how to move forward with resources and learning. The coach will accompanying them in the mourning process, but reminding them that change fosters growth.

The questions about feedback loops got me wondering what (if any) feedback loops I have built into my own systems and how often I've seen other leaders implement the same. I think a lot of leaders, myself included, miss this step as we lead, either for fear of negative feedback or from a perceived lack of time, and that doing so hurts both our credibility and effectiveness.

How can coaches help leaders raise up new leaders, not just more followers?

I think the key to helping coachees raise more leaders is to encourage them to empower those they lead to take on responsibility and leadership - to delegate and support rather than take everything on themselves. I see this over and over as a really hard thing for leaders to do; support and encouragement in that area would both take pressure off of them and empower those they lead to lead as well.

Leadership is essentially inspiring and guiding others to work toward a worthy goal. To be a good leader, you need to be able to follow first... otherwise you will lack humility and empathy to communicate well, understand others, adapt, and know how to work with someone's strengths and weaknesses.



If you're a coach, you can help leaders raise up new leaders by teaching them how to coach others, giving their team members the chance to grow and learn, and empowering them to take responsibility for their own development. You can also help them identify potential leaders on their team and come up with plans to help those people develop their own leadership skills. Disciples make disciples who make disciples.



To help the leaders I coach make a bigger impact in the future, I'll focus on helping them understand themselves better, improve their emotional intelligence and communication skills, and keep a growth mindset. I'll work with them to figure out their strengths and weaknesses, and help them create a plan to improve. I'll also help them figure out how to build great teams that work well together and are always looking for new and better ways to do things.

How would you describe leadership? What does it mean to lead well?

Leadership is a kind of service in my mind. A leader might provide vision, but comes along side others in work and support as everyone carries out the vision. A lot of my own leadership is listening to others, and making sure they have what they need from me to be successful and empowered to continue to move forward professionally or personally.



How can coaches help leaders raise up new leaders, not just more followers?

Another aspect of leadership is actually managing relationships and expectations. Helping people see their own story inside of a vision helps them take ownership of it. In addition to that, acknowledging that other people have expertise that I do not and yielding to their expertise as a leader is very empowering. It helps them build their own toolboxes of skills they'll need when the time comes for them to flex their muscles in their next opportunity.



How will you help the leaders you coach have greater impact in the future?

I think asking them these questions as well as helping them identify the next leaders in their churches and organizations can help them have meaningful impact. Realizing that the baton of leadership eventually passes is helpful for me and others to keep in mind.

How would you describe leadership? What does it mean to lead well?

I describe leadership as acknowledging, developing and using your unique gifts and strengths to build up your community. Leading well means seeing yourself as a part of a whole, understanding your role, and encouraging/giving space for others to find theirs.

How can coaches help leaders raise up new leaders, not just more followers? How will you help the leaders you coach have greater impact in the future?

Coaching is powerful because the model is based on helping leaders identify the power they already have and supporting their quest to become wholly themselves with the result of increasing their positive impact on the world around them. This work in itself is transformative and those impacted by it even indirectly will be inspired to find their own power and not cede it to others.