A Plan For Growing As A Leader Pt. 2

An important component of growing as a leader is to have a coach who will walk with you, teach you, and hold you accountable. This is called coaching. Coaching is a process of imparting encouragement and skills to succeed in a task through a relationship. A coach helps a person do more than they think they can do. The success of the coaching process is dependent upon the mentee’s (one being coached) desire to learn. In the coaching relationship, the mentor generally knows how to do something well and in turn imparts those skills to the mentee who wants to learn them. The function of a coach is to empower the mentee. There are seven steps in this process, they are:

• Impart skills (frequently knowledge is involved also).
• Impart confidence and understanding in the use of those skills.
• Motivate people so as to bring out the best in them, usually stretching them beyond what they thought they were capable of.
• Model the importance of learning the basics of a skill, a process that will prove valuable in all of life.
• Point the mentee to other appropriate resources and link them up with them.
• Observe the mentee in action.
• Evaluate the mentees experience and give feedback to enhance self-learning and development.

As a coach, I will coach my leaders with a hands-on approach that I might be involved in helping them to succeed. There are certain distinct values that I embrace and will build them into the foundation of every coaching assignment I undertake. These values are:

• Winning and excellence
• Teamwork
• Individual players
• Discipline
• Fundamentals

Since coaching is also a volunteer act, the strength and effectiveness of the coaching process are only as strong as the covenant that we build into it. To that end, I will establish a coaching covenant with each leader that will involve our covenant values and expectations. I will use the following coaching covenant as our guidelines:

Values – Our coaching relationship will be characterized by the following values:

• Honesty – We will speak the truth in love.
• Confidentiality – Issues and concerns will not be shared outside this relationship without permission.
• Vulnerability – We will openly share both life and ministry issues with each other.
• Punctuality – We will be prompt for all appointments and calls in respect of each other.
• Preparedness – We will seek to complete assignments and be prepared in advance of each coaching appointment.

Expectations – The answers to the following questions will establish our expectations:

• How often will we meet face-to-face?
• How often will we communicate by phone or e-mail?
• How will appropriate information be shared with others?
• How often will we review our relationship?
• What are the minimum achievement levels required of the coach?
• How and when will we pray for each other?

I will conduct bi-weekly coaching sessions with each leader. Each session will last between sixty to ninety minutes. My goals and objectives will be those that I have previously listed. Our session will be conducted at a public place such as a bookstore with a coffee shop, restaurant, library, etc. I choose a neutral site because I want to get them into a neutral environment and out of their normal comfort zones.

I have seen tremendous results of growth in the lives of leaders that have used the formats presented in this blog and the previous blog. You too can experience a growth spurt by embracing this model or something similar. My wife often says to me, "Plan your work and work your plan." That is my advice to you as you continue to develop as a leader.

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