I recently taught a live one-hour webinar for a group of graduate students who have some type of experience or learning in a particular area that they want to pass on to others. They want to help others learn how to do what they have done. It’s a matter of translating your experience to magnify your impact.
Experience
The task itself didn’t need to be ministry-oriented. It could be a matter of someone having been a first-generation college student and wanting to share what they experienced and their learnings in order to help other first-generation college students navigate those challenges.
We took that goal a step further: to help them equip those new first-generation college students to turn around in their second or third year and mentor others. “Here’s what I learned. I want to share that with you so you can 1) move through the experience successfully, and 2) teach others how to move through the experience successfully. In this way, their contribution would become reproducible, greatly multiplying the impact.
Magnify Your Impact… for the Kingdom!
The system I laid out in this webinar has obvious implications for ministry: how to teach others to do what you do, so they can in turn teach others to do what they now do. It applies to absolutely any area of ministry. We all have something to share, something we have done, learnings we have gathered, that can benefit others. In this upcoming blog series, I will outline a principle-based approach that works for any context:
- Discern the core principles from your experience
- Design a process that works
- Empower others to make a difference
We will post a blog entry on each of these points above over the next three weeks. But before we get started, let’s talk about a few important assumptions. The most important of these is that every single person has unique and valuable experiences and learnings to pass on.
Your Experience
Your experiences are different than my own… and that’s the point. I cannot pass on your learnings. No one can except you. Mine your own learnings—including your own mistakes—and use the insight you have gained to help others. Even if 75% of the things you tried didn’t work, that leaves 25% that did work. As I once heard a ski instructor say, “If you’re not falling, you’re not learning.” Don’t let those perfectly good mistakes go to waste. Translate your experience to magnify your impact… for this generation and for the next.
Every single person has unique and valuable experiences and learnings to pass on. Share on X
Your Heart
God has placed within each person a motivation to do certain kind of work. You enjoy certain tasks more than others. We all do, and it always looks just a little bit different on everyone. Be aware of the natural abilities you have to engage in certain types of work. We often see these preferences at play early in life: a child may be musical, or may be mechanical, or may be a natural organizer of people. Pay attention to how you have been uniquely wired to enjoy certain kinds of work. A great book that explores this idea is Finding a Job You Can Love by Miller and Mattson.
God has placed within each person a motivation to do certain kind of work. Share on XYour Calling
For the follower of Jesus, loving connection with God brings about transformation. God gives each of us spiritual gifts—special abilities to serve God. He also gives us each a unique calling—a specific contribution for God’s Kingdom. Consider Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV) My father put that sentiment into his own words: “Success is finding out what God wants you to do and doing it.”
For the follower of Jesus, loving connection with God brings about transformation. Share on XYour Impact
We can look outward to see what needs to be done. In this way, we can find our calling or vocation, which Frederick Buechner has defined as “the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Where do we see great needs? What do others point out to us? Where do we feel great job? What works and can be repeated? What impact does that have on others? These are the kinds of questions that will point us in the right direction.
We can look outward to see what needs to be done. Share on XResources
Coaching is the single most powerful way to help you discern your calling, move forward toward your goals, and grow your impact. Dr. Bob Logan is currently accepting new coaching clients! Contact us to learn more with a FREE 30-minute introductory conversation with Dr. Logan!
If you read this post thinking, “Yes! I long to see people embrace this for themselves and for the Kingdom!” There is a good chance you are called to be a coach. Barnabas Ministry Training is an excellent kit for training yourself and others to be a ministry coach. You can explore additional coach training options at Christian Coaching Tools.
Photo by Clement Nivesse from Pexels