Open vs closed questions

I’ve noticed that people who ask closed questions are most often trying to lead the other person, trying to anticipate the answer, or trying to validate their own perspective. Essentially, they are trying to control or steer the conversation to a predetermined...

The Practices of a Barnabas

I talk about Barnabas a lot. He’s one of my favorite biblical characters… probably because he functions as a behind-the-scenes coach empowering others. I heard a talk that Bubba Justice gave on the practices of a Barnabas, taken from his study of the book of Acts....

Who can benefit from coaching? You might be surprised

I recently ran across this quote from Tom Boasberg, the Superintendent of Denver Public Schools: The number one overwhelming focus that we have is the quality of our teaching. We’ve significantly increased our investment in teacher leaders who give one-on-one...

When seeing is the first step

Sometimes when you’re coaching someone and seeking to develop them in their leadership, they run up against some kind of blockage. If you probe a little further into their background, you might find the roots of the blockage. What have they experienced in ministry?...
Christmas shopping? Consider Becoming Barnabas

Christmas shopping? Consider Becoming Barnabas

If so, check out my latest book: Becoming Barnabas. This would make a great Christmas present. Becoming Barnabas is a book designed for ordinary people– short and eminently readable– that drills down in practical ways on communication skills in the church...

Coaching clusters

The most common way to do coaching is one-on-one. Yet I’ve found that another strategy that works well is coaching one-on-three– what I call coaching clusters. As a coach, I have each person prepare individually. Then during a 90-minute session, I coach each...