Listening and asking questions are fundamental coaching skills. The ability to genuinely listen and understand what the Holy Spirit is doing during discipleship or leadership discussions can yield profound insights. Personally, I have dedicated myself to becoming increasingly skilled at recognizing the Holy Spirit’s voice – there’s no replacement for investing time and attention. Cultivating this ability in others to listen to and interpret the Holy Spirit’s guidance is both thrilling and transformative.
It blurs the distinction between spiritual guidance and coaching, but over time, disciples remain engaged and are more inclined to pass on their faith to future generations. Leaders embody authentic lives that align with their God-given identity. One leader who has integrated a coaching approach into his community has noticed a remarkable shift in how disciples participate in their journey of making disciples. One result has been an increased sense of “mystery” – a mystery surrounding Jesus’s longing to capture the hearts of all people, along with the unexpected discoveries they encounter along the way.
One area that has seen significant change is its outreach to “young adults.” By placing responsibility where it rightfully belongs, new disciples are taking initiative to align their lives in more fulfilling ways, which has transformed the culture. An emerging leader has risen to take the lead with a vision to guide others in listening and obeying!
Beyond Individual Coaching: Empowering Networks
If you’re a pastor or leader aiming to empower others through coaching, one of the most effective tools you can adopt is coaching itself!
As your demand for more coaches surpasses your individual capacity—transitioning from one to many—a crucial and essential step is to establish a standardized coach training program. This guarantees that all leaders employing a coaching approach, regardless of their previous experience, follow a consistent process and maintain uniform practices.
This establishes crucial quality control for your network and for the “clients” (disciple-makers, leaders, pastors, church planters, missionaries) you support.
Yet, standardizing practices is merely the starting point. To genuinely witness your coach network thrive, ongoing quality control and investment in your coaches’ development are essential.
The Challenge: Ensuring Coaching Excellence
Initially, your network may assess coaches based on their previous achievements, interpersonal skills, or formal education, such as Christian counseling. While these qualifications are beneficial, they do not always guarantee consistent coaching success. The truth is that leaders guided by “coaches” with diverse competencies will experience different levels of success.
Effective and consistent coaching is the “X” factor that will significantly influence your network’s success. Without dependable and valid assessment and development, it becomes challenging to determine where to concentrate your efforts for a coach’s growth.
Here are five typical challenges networks encounter when they fail to assess and develop their coaches:
1. Mixed Results: In the absence of formal assessment, a coach has a 50/50 chance of unlocking a leader’s potential.
2. Intuition Can Be Misleading: Many coaches, even those with some training, often depend on intuition for their own growth, which can be inaccurate.
3. Unreliable Feedback: Although client feedback is valuable, it is limited as a primary assessment tool.
4. Lack of Developmental Pathway: Without a systematic process, coaches do not have a clear roadmap for ongoing improvement.
5. No Guide to Walk Alongside: Coaches require mentors to assist them in effectively honing their skills.
Even as a solo pastor initiating a leadership training program in your congregation, you will face these challenges. In a team or network, the complexity of the problem increases with the number of coaches involved.
When was your last formal coach assessment?
Up until now, I’ve discussed everyone except for you. You may have completed a basic coach training program. You might have also undergone a competency-based assessment. If you haven’t, have you thought about taking the 360° Christian Coach Assessment?
Maybe you completed coach training that ended with the 360° Christian Coach Assessment. Is it time for you to reassess your progress in your coaching development? This assessment will establish a new baseline, help you recognize the changes in your growth, and include up to seven clients you have coached. Generally, most leaders only have two assessors during their initial assessment.
We see the 360° Christian Coach Assessment as a sort of annual check-up for coaches, suggesting a timeframe of 12-24 months between assessments. The key point to think about is whether the next step in your coaching development should be the assessment or perhaps some other specialized training that aligns with your unique ministry focus.
What about you?
Think about what actions you can take to enhance your coaching effectiveness.
Consider having a coach mentor support you along the way.
I can assist you in your coaching development journey and speed up your growth.
The added benefit?
The International Coach Federation (ICF) acknowledges the 9 Christian competency areas, 55 behavioral outcomes, AND coach mentoring with InFocus. In summary, 10 hours of coach mentoring fulfill the requirement for ICF certification.
Are you ready to advance in your personal coaching journey or to empower your team with truly exceptional Christian coaches?
Thanksgiving reminds us to pause for a day and give thanks for our loved ones, nearby and away.
To the InFocus Community…
Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with family and friends. We are thankful for what this year has brought, and are excited to see what next year has in store. We truly feel like our cup runs over. As you reflect on this past year, what things make you feel like your cup is running over?
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Get ready for a genuinely feel-good story about self-discovery and intentional growth!
For those unfamiliar, the Harrison Assessment is a powerful tool designed to pinpoint the behavioral traits an employee enjoys and doesn’t enjoy in their specific job—it’s all about matching activities with enthusiasm. (If you want to dive deeper, you can explore the concepts further in this blog: [CLICK HERE].)
💖 From “Possible Fit” to Passionate Performance
I recently had a conversation with a wonderful new hire—let’s call her Kim—in a denominational role. Her interview process included the Harrison Assessment, and she shared a poignant, powerful story about how she leveraged the report’s insights to transform her experience. With her permission, I’m thrilled to share her journey.
When Kim took the Harrison within the last year, her initial Composite Score landed her as a “Possible Fit” with a score of 70%.
💡 Job Performance Theory suggests that when an employee enjoys 75% or more of their job, they become a “Probable Fit” and are generally three times more productive. The higher the score, the deeper the enjoyment!
A 70% fit is good, but Kim saw an opportunity to get to that “Probable Fit” level—a chance to find more joy and boost her productivity.
🎯 Identifying Key Growth Areas
The report offers a high-level view (the 30,000-foot view is seen in the image of the actual scores at the top of this blog), but its true power lies in breaking down Essential Traits. These are the key traits where high performers in that exact job (tied to Key Performance Indicators or KPIs) typically score 75% or higher.
For Kim’s position, 12 such traits were identified out of the 125 evaluated overall. The top two, listed in order of importance to the job, were Takes Initiative and Analytical.
Kim’s experience after getting the job is where the story truly shines:
“I saw the initial score, and I was motivated to increase my enjoyment in my new role. I immediately asked my supervisor, Mike, to coach me. I wanted help increasing my enjoyment in the lower traits.”
This is the relational core of the story: taking ownership and engaging a coach in her personal growth journey.
🌱 The Power of Intentional Development
Let’s look at the specific traits Kim targeted for growth:
Takes Initiative: The tendency to perceive what’s necessary and proceed on one’s own.
Kim’s Score: Landed on the Negative Impact side of the scale, bordering on “Slight to Moderate.” This indicated that proactively starting tasks wasn’t a natural source of enjoyment for her in this role.
Analytical: The tendency to logically examine facts and situations (separate from analytical ability).
Kim’s Score: Landed on the Positive Impact side, in the “Moderate” column. This was a relative strength, but it still had room to grow toward a higher level of enjoyment.
The report’s color coding helps Kim understand whether she naturally derives a positive or negative impact/enjoyment from this trait while doing the job.
🎉 Embracing the Joy of Work
After working diligently on these Essential Traits—especially “Takes Initiative”—through focused coaching and self-awareness, Kim shared her enthusiastic update:
“When I first started, I saw the opportunity to grow, and my supervisor, Mike, was so gracious and supportive in helping me! The detailed information in the Harrison report, combined with the coaching I received, motivated me to change my approach. Now I am absolutely loving my work! I truly experienced the value of this process.”
Kim’s journey is a beautiful testament to the fact that a lower assessment score isn’t a limitation—it’s a roadmap for growth. By intentionally focusing on areas where she could increase her enjoyment, she not only improved her performance but also transformed her daily experience, turning a “Possible Fit” into a genuine source of professional joy.
What part of the story resonated most with you—Kim’s response to the Harrison information, or the supervisor’s supportive coaching?
Last year, around this time, I participated in the 4th Lausanne Congress in Seoul, Korea. Originally, the Congress was established to harness missionary efforts around the world to evangelize and complete the mission Jesus set out to accomplish. You can read more about my experience in this blog post: With Sincere Gratitude… It was a privilege to be a participant in this “by-invitation-only” event. My takeaways are shared in this blog: Three Highlights from Lausanne 2024. A year on, and I wonder if the Church, the body of Christ, is making real strides towards fulfilling the Great Commission:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
How are you tracking your disciples, who are making disciples?
The Great Commission isn’t just a suggestion; it’s the defining mission of the Church. This leads to the crucial principle: You track what matters.
I coach leaders who take disciple-making seriously. These leaders track the development of disciple-making movements in their ministries. They have discipleship trees to show the expansion and growth from one generation to the next. Others work with apps like Waha. No matter the method, the point is: you track what matters.
It makes me wonder what business the church is in.
This isn’t about running the Church like a secular corporation, but about recognizing the vital “business” it is in—the business of people transformation and Kingdom expansion. The metrics we track should reflect the health and growth of discipleship, not just attendance or budget.
One of the hardest things in local church ministry and missions is to keep the main thing, the main thing! It doesn’t matter if you serve in a co-vocational ministry, restricted-access context, or a local church; keeping the main thing the main thing is challenging.
What gets in the way of disciple-making?
Finances: The necessary time spent on financial spreadsheets and fundraising can easily overshadow the time needed for personal, intentional discipleship. We must constantly remind ourselves that money is a means to a much greater end—the multiplication of disciples.
Facilities: The model of ministry often dictates the focus. When a building (a prevailing church model) is the central gathering point, its maintenance and programs can consume energy, time, and resources. Conversely, a network of organic, micro-churches shifts the focus from property to people.
Ministry Busyness: In the Apostle Paul’s letters (addressing issues of worship in 1 Corinthians and identity in Christ in Ephesians), the early church was constantly dealing with relational and doctrinal distractions. If Paul, the ultimate church planter, faced this, our challenge is compounded across 2,000 years of cultural drift and complexity.
It’s truly ironic that with all the resources available today—technology, education, communication—we still struggle to keep disciple-making as the primary mission.
✅ How to Keep Disciple Making the Main Thing: A Relational Approach
The shift is often simple in concept but challenging in execution. It requires moving from a ministry-as-event model to a ministry-as-relationship model. Here are five steps to make disciple-making the main thing:
Identify what to track: Move beyond counting attendees or dollars and start tracking spiritual generations (disciples who are making disciples, and their disciples).
Communicate what you are tracking: Make the importance of spiritual lineage a core relational value of the ministry. It gives purpose and direction.
Invite your team to participate: This is the key relational step. Discipleship is not a solo act; it requires shared vulnerability, accountability, and partnership across all levels of leadership.
Track it! Use simple or sophisticated tools (like discipleship trees) to visually celebrate the multiplication.
Review, assess, and modify: This is a cycle of relational health check. Are we truly investing in people who are capable and committed to investing in others?
The Relational Reward
When you begin to track disciples who are making disciples, the benefits are profoundly relational and spiritual:
Energizes people: Leaders and participants move from being program consumers to mission contributors.
Priorities change: The focus naturally shifts from maintaining structures to multiplying relationships.
Resources are redirected: Funds and time are allocated to training, mentoring, and relational development rather than just maintenance and events.
That’s a great idea! Presenting the information on the practical metrics for Disciple-Making Movements (DMM) in a table will make it much clearer and easier to reference.
Here is the requested table outlining the DMM metrics:
Practical Metrics for Disciple-Making Movements (DMM)
Metric Category
Specific Metrics to Track
Why It Matters (Relational Impact)
Generational Growth
Generations Reached: The highest number of sequential spiritual generations produced in a movement.
Measures multiplication and sustained effort beyond the initial group, indicating reproductive health.
New Believers & Baptisms
Number of new believers who are baptized and immediately integrated into a discipleship group.
Measures obedience to Christ’s command and the first key step of relational integration/discipleship.
Group Formation
New Groups Started: The number of new reproducible small groups or house churches started within a given timeframe.
Measures expansion and capacity for others to lead, shepherd, and host the movement.
Leadership Development
New Leaders Emerging: The number of individuals in one generation who successfully start and lead the next generation.
Measures the effectiveness of leadership training and the empowerment of new believers.
Obedience/Health
Obedience Metrics: Tracking adherence to specific “Commands of Christ,” such as sharing one’s testimony, starting a new group, or consistent prayer.
Focuses the team on obedience (Matthew 28:20) as the primary indicator of discipleship, not just knowledge.
Worship/Gathering
Worshiping Gatherings: The number of gatherings that demonstrate the 7-10 essential elements of a healthy, reproducible church or group.
Ensures new groups are fully functioning, healthy expressions of the Body of Christ, ready to reproduce.
Have you ever faced a situation where you needed to deliver tough feedback?
What did you say?
How was it received?
What lessons did you take away?
These are valuable questions to reflect on with yourself or a trusted colleague.
Recently, I found myself in a sensitive discussion with a coach trainee. As I got ready to review his coach assessment report, I found it challenging because the profile was significantly low. In my experience, this was the lowest profile I had ever seen. So, I had to think about how to approach the conversation as it was coming up. In your ministry, you might face a tough issue that you need to discuss with a leader. While the context may differ, the necessity to prepare and process thoughtfully remains the same.
Define the Objective
It’s crucial to clearly state the goal of the conversation. For example, I wanted to ensure we were on the same page, so I said, “We will review his assessment and the feedback from those he coached to help him pinpoint areas for growth.” Keep it straightforward and uncomplicated.
It’s also beneficial to remind everyone that we all have areas for improvement. The aim is to continually enhance our skills – to keep getting better!
Emphasize the Positives
At first, I recognized the reality of his profile and pointed out that there are positive aspects we can glean from his report.
Before diving into the negatives, I focused on the positive elements from his report. It’s easy to overlook the good contributions the leader made to coaching and get caught up in the negatives. This is crucial when entering a challenging conversation.
Pose Questions
Ask plenty of questions. However, ensure that your questions are purposeful and significant. You’re not just asking questions for the sake of it.
The more you can center the discussion on their reflections of the positives, the better.
Pause
Let the discussion come to a natural halt before proceeding. It’s simple to do, but you might feel tempted to rush the conversation. Once you bring up the negatives, it’s hard to revert because the attention will inevitably shift back to the negative aspects. It’s interesting how that happens, but it becomes quite challenging to return to the positive once the negative has been revealed.
Reiterate the Goal
It’s crucial to emphasize this before diving into the more significant details. Keep the spotlight on the leader. Make this entirely about them.
Have you personally experienced either receiving or delivering difficult feedback? What strategies or suggestions would you add to this list? What did you discover worked, and what could be changed?
Check out these resources to discover strategies for handling tough conversations!
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