The high jump

Coaching, Leadership

Where should we set the bar in training people to do ministry? It’s tempting to set the bar too high too fast. An athlete training for the high jump wouldn’t start with the bar seven feet high. He or she would start much lower and then work their way up with...

Bring your team

Leadership, Teambuilding

I attended a conference recently where some people came as individuals and others came with teams from their churches. One group came with a team of seven people. Although they did some arguing along the way, they will go back with quite a bit of focused interaction...

The cost of release

Leadership

As leaders, we are tempted to take our best people and keep them tied into institutional responsibilities, which more often than not keeps them away from the mission. We take our business people and put them on boards and committees. We enlist our artists to help...
The soapbox derby

The soapbox derby

Leadership

When I was 12 years old, I wanted to build a car to race in a soapbox derby. My dad sat down with me and gave me this choice:  “You can do it to have fun or you can do it to win. If you want to do it to win, here’s what it’s going to take….” And he laid out the hours...

How to fail at coach training

Coaching, Leadership, Training

Here’s a fool-proof way to fail in your coach training endeavors:  Train everybody, right now, in big groups. In so doing, you’re denying the very methodology that makes coaching powerful. You can’t produce coaches on a factory assembly line. Good coaches are more...

Dear Bob,

Leadership, Missional

I just moved to a church with a 50 years history and a predominant population of senior adults with the mentality that the pastor should primarily acts as a chaplain. They love God but have decided they are done serving. I want to model and move toward an...