Unabashedly I love Patrick the Patron Saint of Ireland.

He may be one of the best and brightest examples of a truly missional leader: humble, fearless, compassionate and grace-filled.  Thus it is only fitting that, despite not knowing his story, he is the cause the for this one day each year when everyone wants to be Irish. 

Most people do not know that he wasn’t even Irish, he was English!  Captured by pirates as a young man and sold into slavery to a hard and sometimes cruel Irish Chieftain and made to herd cattle. During this time he crossed the line of faith and became a follower of Jesus. Led to escape by way of a dream and a superstitious ship’s crew he fled to Gaul and eventually to Rome. He became a priest. Fueled by a genuine love for his former captors and their culture he approached the Pope and was ordained the first ever, missionary bishop. With a small band of priests, nuns and seminarians he journeyed back to land of his captivity.  Their his band would establish camps just outside villages where they would serve and befriend the people thus earning their trust. Patrick and his band knew the “Wild” Irish loved stories, poetry, song and imagination. They also had deep reverence for life, nature and love. They were enchanted with the number three These along with a more or less unified language empowered Patrick to reach deep into the soul of the Irish people and eventually to the conversion of most of Ireland, Scotland, England and many parts of northern Eurpoe. 

In “A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus,” Patrick wrote: The Confession of Saint Patrick. 

I am Patrick, yes a sinner and indeed untaught; yet I am established here in Ireland where I profess myself bishop.

I am certain in my heart that “all that I am,” I have received from God.

So I live among barbarous tribes, a stranger for the love of God.

He himself testifies that this is so.

I never would have wanted these harsh words to spill from my mouth; I am not in the  habit of speaking so sharply.

Yet now I am driven by the zeal of God, Christ’s truth has aroused me.

I speak out too for the love of my neighbors who are my only sons;

for them I gave up my home country, my parents and even pushing my own life to the brink of death.

If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples;

even though some of them still look down on me.

Patrick Patron Saint of All Missionaries.  The more I learn of him the more I want to be just like him.  Most people have no idea who he was or why we celebrate the anniversary of his death.  Suffice it to say he was while not even Irish he was and is the greatest of her men.  Do some research you will be astounded…truly.  I have now written two short biographies in an attempt to tell his story and deleted them both from my blog as I think you will be amazed at what you find if you dig for his story on your own.  George Hunter III’s excellent little book, THE CELTIC WAY OF EVANGELISM is a great place to start.

Patrick, it is said, once wrote:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me, 

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me, 

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

from The Lorica.

Tomorrow let us celebrate the life of this missional man. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

“We don’t need another program,” Mark said gloomily, his voice matching the grey slanting rain pelting the window of the conference room. Several others in the meeting shook their heads in agreement as they looked at Vivian. Anger and frustration rose in her throat as once again her passion for coaching was dismissed out of hand as merely a ‘program.’  With much effort she swallowed and replied, “Mark I whole heartedly agree, the last thing we need is another program. So you are simply misunderstanding, coaching is not a program it is a way for all of us to become more effective at what we are called to do,” her voice sounding more strained than she wanted. “How many times do we have to go over this?” she thought to herself.

“It sure has all the markings of a ‘program,’“ Carl interrupted. “After all, you are talking about training events, meetings, assessments, on-line gizmos and budget dollars. If that’s not a program then I don’t know what is!”  His voice seemed to get much louder than necessary.  

“Why is this upsetting to you?” Vivian asked with fleeting courage.

“It is upsetting, Vivian,” Carl retorted waving his hands his hands for effect, “because we are all already way over-budget, over-programmed and overwhelmed as it is! And now you are suggesting we make time to attend training, learn to change everything we are doing and to top it all off need to find money to do it!”   

“Carl and Mike I respect you both,” Vivian said calming herself before she went on, “am I hearing you say, even though coaching has been proven to increase ministry effectiveness, more quickly develop leaders and greatly increase fruitfulness. You would choose to not engage in developing coaching skills and a coaching system because you haven’t got the time, energy or resources to invest in that which can give us back time, energy and resources?”

“Not in those words no, of course not,” Carl intoned.  

“Well, what’s the real problem? Do you not understand what coaching is or do you not believe it actually works?”

“Look Vivian I appreciate your enthusiasm but we’re not going to argue about this or take up any more time from our meeting today.” Carl said as he pushed the topic aside. “Besides we’ve got real work to do today.”

The last words stung. Vivian’s jaw dropped. Carl’s careless words had hurt her unnecessarily. None the less she persisted. ”Ok Carl, answer this I will let the matter rest for now, what will it take to help you to at least become open to the idea of coaching?”

Carl looked up blinked and said, “results.”

One of the more difficult obstacles coaches for those who serve inside organizations, i.e. churches, denominational structures and mission agencies, etc. view coaching merely as another program to be layered upon an already burdensome day-planner.

So put yourself in Vivian’s shoes, what would you do?

 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go!…” Luke 10-2-3

In two sentences Jesus Christ identified the barrier and the solution for His church to “bring in the harvest.” It is all about numbers of people willing to work, to serve…to lead. 

The ever increasing number of leaders is critical to the health of a church and it’s capacity to minister to people.  

The above ground church in western culture suffers from a number of maladies: irrelevance, distraction and decline just to name a few.  None of these could not be solved with a rapid increase of the numbers of leaders.

For the church to grow and to continue to serve more people through its various ministries we must increase our numbers of leaders.  Only a few people doing almost everything is not sustainable over the long haul. More people doing a fewer things is what can make the difference. It is not money, not talent, not even spiritual maturity…it is numbers of leaders that determines everything. 

This is why I make it a point to intentionally invest in lives of those God is calling to serve and lead in a monthly meeting of the Ministry Team of our church. In these monthly gatherings we learn from each other about what it is to be a disciple and a discipler of others.  We talk about things related to what goes on in the heart of a leader as Jesus shapes and molds him or her. We also deal with what goes on in a leaders head as we learn to think more strategically about  ministry. We also deal with the very practical things we can do with our hands as we earnestly look to serve our community and each other just like Jesus would. We invest in building leaders because we want to keep making a difference in our community for a long, long time. Long after I’m dead and gone.

The Ministry Team is not the hot shots or the most talented elite leaders it is for everyone who will simply say yes. That means it sometimes get messy and sometimes isn’t easy to deal with since, in the end, I believe church should be like little league and everyone gets to play. We can’t afford to invest in only the elite if we want the message of the kingdom to make much of a difference in our world.  

So who are you investing in for the sake of increasing the numbers of those who are serving others in Jesus’ name? How are you going about increasing their harvest capacity?  I’d like to hear what’s working in your world?

You’ve probably heard the preflight announcement so many times you have it memorized. ”In the unlikely event of sudden cabin depressurization an oxygen mask will drop down in front of your face. Pull down firmly on the tub to start the flow of oxygen. Place the mask over your nose and mouth. Pull on the elastic tabs on the side of the mask to adjust the fit and breathe normally. Put on your own mask before helping those around you with theirs.”

While I’ve always had to suppress a chuckle at the line “and breathe normally,”  like THAT is going to happen, there is wisdom for coaches in the next line. “Put on your own mask before helping those around you.”Unheeded  the words could be deadly.  Helping all those around you and unable to breathe would soon lead to hypoxia, impaired judgement, unconsciousness or worse.

The obvious application is clear. Self care is critical to providing quality care for those you are trying to coach.  

So, how is this year starting out for you in the area of self-care? How’s your emotional, physical and relational health? How are you doing spiritually? How are you managing your time? Are you consistently living out your core values? Are you being a good steward of all of your resources?  

What is your most formidable obstacle to improving your self-care?  What do you intend to do about it? 

Log on and take the Coaching Assessment to create a plan to increase the quality of your coaching it might be a good place to start. For your sake and those seated around you.   

You can follow this link to access the Assessment Feature: https://www.coachnet.org/v.4/module/Network/action/Index/n/422 

While it was bitter cold outside this afternoon but it was getting warmer by the minute in my appointment. I was meeting with a leader who had asked me to consider becoming that leader’s coach. As we were getting to know each other and this person was explaining their ministry I asked him a straight forward question, “to whom are you personally accountable?”

This leader’s reply was quick and loaded, “ I believe if someone asks me who you are accountable to, that I should avoid them. They are only trying to control me.” He then went on to quote a well known celebrity leader’s position on the topic to give further justification to his position.  

I swirled my coffee and asked the same question several different ways but the answer was consistent.  I was both dumbfounded and heart-broken.  Obviously their is much, much more to this leader’s story and why this issue is so emotionally charged but in the end it represented a far too common posture taken by struggling leaders and it is a pity. 

Pity because it is either the dumbest or scariest statements I’d heard from a leader in a long long time. After alI isn’t accountability part of what it means to lead in the name of Jesus Christ? 

Leaders are immediately accountable to the people they serve, to the leaders they serve with and to the leaders they are raising up. And ultimately they are accountable to God.  Simply put, it’s called servant leadership and it finds its genesis in Jesus’ statement here:

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 NIV

Unaccountable leaders live down to the cliche’ that absolute power corrupts absolutely - even the very best of people can be corrupted by it. Strong leaders surround themselves with strong people who are unafraid to confront the leader with truth. Weak leaders surround themselves with “yes-people” who live in fear for there jobs.

Strong leaders create a culture of high-trust leadership where all people are valued equally - and where creativity flourishes at all levels. In a genuine leadership culture, people are viewed as equals even if they are in different roles. Roles are based on the development of individuals’ callings, giftings, maturity and capabilities and are not a reflection of the complete value of the person. As a result, people at all levels are acknowledged and appreciated as individual members and contributors — even those who sometimes break the rules in order to deliver value to the organization as a whole. The culture of leadership can tolerate its occasional “mavericks” because it can see the innovative power of nonconventional views of the world, their work or the overall mission of the organization.

As the coffee shop started to empty out this afternoon I looked at this leader and asked, “so how could I hold you accountable to the things that come out of our coaching conversations?” 

“You can’t and I’m not interested in accountability only in successfully implementing my vision,” he replied.  At least this leader was being utterly honest and refreshing as that may be it indicated a philosophical impasse and cultural disconnect that caused me to respectfully decline his invitation.  

What would you have done?

How do you establish mutual accountability with those you are coaching? 

What lessons emerge from this account?  

Such wisdom from people on whom the concepts of time, agenda, calendar, rush and hurry were largely lost. Many a day I yearn for that same approach with its easy pace. My culture is very often wrapped up in the tyranny of the urgent and the press for speed, efficiency and acceleration. Many of the people I am coaching are telling me that life has been nearly manic for the past 30 days and now the holidays are here. No chance of turning back the hands of time…another year has just flashed by and many days perhaps you too feel like you are chasing time.

I think it is very ironic that this phrase comes from the part of the world that is home to the world’s fastest long-distance runners. This year’s men’s Olympic marathon gold medal went to a Kenyan. The Kenyans have another profound proverb that says, “If you want to run fast run alone, but if you want to run far run together.” Coaching helps us cover ground we would not have alone. Further for greater fruitfulness.

This next year how are you planning on using the time you are given with each person you are coaching? How are you planning to make the most of every opportunity? Every relationship? Or will you to be merely chasing time? And I wonder what would i do with him if i caught it?

From your friends at CoachNet, have a very Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!

Why do projects fail to be completed? There could be a number of reasons. There could have been a failure to raise adequate funds to complete it. There could have been a fall-out among management. The project could have been simply ill-conceived. Whatever the reason it simply wasn’t seen through to the end.

Earlier in the week I read from the new testament: “Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.’” (Col 4:17). Runners call it a “kick.” That reserve of energy held for the final leg of a race. Someone wise called it “finishing well.” What does it take to achieve a ‘kick’ or strong finish for you?

How do you help those you are coaching maintain energy through the finish of a project, deadline or other challenge?

I believe many people are learning or, at least, hearing about the power of coaching and therefore conclude they need a coach but don’t actually know why. Herein is a quality coach’s hard word: to help a person discern what is most important to them, their degree of commitment to that which is most important to them, the nature of the obstacles they are facing, the quality of the resources they have at hand and the beginning of a feasible strategy to act upon that which is most important to them. This is arduous work. And this may be some of the most important and over looked work of quality coaches. To empower someone to discern and act upon what God is calling them to do.

You’ve all heard of Bob’s dad Sam’s maxim for success, “Find out what God wants you to do and do it.” The problem with many leaders is they simply do not know what it is God want’s them to do. Sometimes they will turn to a coach in hopes that coach can tell them what to do. And, in so many words, look to the coach rather than to God for their direction. A quality coach will keep the individual pointed to God and to inwardly reflect on His direction. Again, this can be very hard work. Especially when God may be silent during a coachee’s desert experience. I’ll save desert experiences for another blog entry so I end with this: what questions do you employ to help the ones you are coaching discern what it is they want to do in the first place? Or how do you help coachees develop goals?