If you are implementing an initiative—in any area of ministry—you’re probably finding it hard to answer the question, “How are we doing?” Often measuring progress can be challenging. Try taking the following questions and applying them to the particular plan or...
I ran across this great post recently from coach Scott Eblin: Five questions for leaders who would rather be effective than right. He makes a great point about the tension we sometimes feel when we’re trying to advance an agenda. We most often want to get credit for...
I have a new book out that’s especially geared toward laypeople. Short and readable, Becoming Barnabas zeros in how listening well and asking good questions can help them in all areas of their lives: relationships, groups, and ministries. Imagine what a difference it...
I was recently coaching someone who had a staff member leave their position. Instead of immediately looking for someone to fill the empty position, he took the opportunity to think through more clearly what was actually needed. These were the five questions I used to...
An interesting concept from Jeff Norris: “assum-a-side” — death by assumptions. Assuming we know what’s going on rather than asking leads to a slow death (or sometimes instant martyrdom). Sometimes we think we know what people are thinking,...
People can listen to the Holy Spirit better than you think they can. At a recent consultation I did, I started out the way I usually do: meeting with the leaders to unpack their strengths, concerns, and vision. Then I led them into a time of questions and listening to...
As someone approaches learning a new skill, coaches need to approach them with three types of questions. These different types of questions are progressive, building on one another, and people aren’t able to process all of them at once. The “what” questions: ...
One challenge we face in coaching is to learn how to ask open-ended questions. From an early age we are exposed to closed questions. Parents, for example, usually ask closed questions: Did you do that? Are you ready to…? In school we are given true/false or multiple...
Consider how much you can help people by guiding them toward discovery of their own solutions as opposed to giving advice. It’s far more empowering for people to discover solutions themselves. So what makes doing that so hard? What blocks us from guiding people toward...
