Focus – The Gift A Coach Gives A Leader
Leadership means keeping a lot of plates spinning. It’s easy to lose focus on the mission in the management of the urgent and day-to-day.  When you coach leaders, you have the opportunity to help them keep their focus on the mission. 

Written By Gary Reinecke

ICF Master Certified Coach, Resource Designer, Mission Strategist : InFocus

3 Ways Coaching Helps Leaders Focus

Clarifying the Vision. 

Leaders often have a general idea of what they are called to do. They can clearly see the results but can struggle to communicate how to get there. Vision needs to be clarified to include the how. Focusing on the how provides them with a strong foundation on which to build essential buy-in. By asking good questions, coaches help leaders clarify their vision until it can stand on its own.

Identifying the Starting Point.

All directions have a beginning and an end. Without a clear view of where you currently are, you are bound to take a long and winding road. Walking leaders through an honest survey of current realities allows leaders to plan the best possible route to their desired results.   

Empowering Forward Movement.

Even with clear vision and a solid plan, leaders can stall. They can’t find the time because they are weighed down by day-to-day realities. Just as they are about to pull the trigger, another emergency pops up. When this happens, coaching can help a leader refocus priorities. Coaching catalyzes forward movement helping leaders take their next best step toward seeing their vision become reality. 

maintain focus on the vision

Maintaining Focus

Once you have forward movement, it’s time to safeguard the leader’s focus through leadership development. Creating a coaching ministry frees leaders up to maintain focus on the mission. With a coaching ministry in place, lay leaders or staff pastors will help others discover their role in the mission and empower them to live into it.

I have been honored to train leaders who are making disciples and planting churches in under-served and under-reached regions of our world. The job was to train them how to coach other leaders and spark discipleship making movements (DMM).  My goal was to help them understand how coaching compliments their disciple making efforts, effectively allowing them to stay on mission.

I like to use the analogy of a train track.  Think of one rail representing the “strategic” (DMM in this instance) aspect and the other rail representing the “relational” (coaching) aspect.  Together, these two rails provide a path for leaders to travel – keeping the focus on fueling a movement of making more and better disciples.  

Coach Ministry Training

Effective strategy in conjunction with a comprehensive coaching process helps keep leaders focused on the mission. This was a key outcome when Bob Logan developed the Barnabas Ministry Training Kit. 

Barnabas was an encourager. The few bible verses that refer to him, show us that he was instrumental in developing key leaders in the early church. We see his process as similar to coaching. If you are looking for a simple but effective process to start a coaching ministry in your church, the Barnabas Ministry Training Kit is for you.

Maybe your context is more specific and you want to ensure your coaches are equipped to support your mission and your particular community. Contact us to learn more about how we can come alongside you so see your vision become a reality.

Photo by Matt Noble on Unsplash

Cover Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Coaching to Develop Problem Solving Skills

Your clients come to you because they are stuck and need help moving forward. Often, because you are experienced and have the benefit of objectivity, you can pinpoint the problem and have a good idea where the solution lies. It’s tempting just to provide that help, knowing that clients will find it helpful. 

22 Questions to Ask the Mid-Sized Church

On the surface, finances might be healthy, facilities appear sufficient and staff are content. Underneath the veneer however there may be a high level of dissatisfaction – and reason for concern! What strategies do you use when coaching pastors of mid-sized churches? 

6 Strategies for Landing New Clients

You are poised and ready to help people and you are getting a lot of interest in coaching. Now you need to turn those potential clients into contracted clients.

Coaching the Small Church Pastor

There are wonderful things about working with small congregations, but just as with any church, there are potential pit-falls to be aware of from the perspective of a coach.

6 Ways You Can Upgrade Your Coaching Questions

You don’t just want to get your clients talking, you want the conversation to get deep, meaningful, and actionable. Upgrade your coaching questions from good to powerful.

5 Challenges Every House Church Faces

House Churches are becoming more common. Are you ready to coach their leadership toward effective ministry?

When church planters need coaching the most

No one likes feeling stuck. Coaching church planters when they are at critical sticking points helps them move forward with clarity and confidence. 

How to reboot your church board

If you feel like your board is tying your hands from moving forward effectively in ministry—or if your board members feel like you are tying their hands—there’s need for a reboot.

The best investment you can make in your church

It’s not a building or hiring additional staff members. And it’s not coming up with a new program. The best investment you can make in your church is to help develop the innate leadership skills in the people who are already there.

Slow Your Roll and Establish Disciple Making DNA

One of the pitfalls of launching small groups after the corporate gathering is established is that the DNA of disciple making can become secondary rather than primary.  This is a common problem when coaching church planters who, in their compulsion to “go public”, have found themselves relaunching two years later.  You as the church planter coach have influence in this decision.