The Parking Lot
As a senior pastor of a church with multiple staff members, sometimes it feels like a large chunk of your job is devoted to managing your staff. Hiring, firing, improving skills, tweaking job descriptions, sending people off to conferences, etc. Often it seems like the people on your staff may not be quite the right fit for their jobs. Sometimes that’s the case. But other times, it may be a matter of development and guidance. What would it look like if you approached your staff from the role of a coach or guide rather than the role of supervisor or boss? You investing in developing them, as they in turn invest in developing others? How can you best work with, develop, and coach your staff?

One of the biggest parking lot issues that will need to be dealt with in order to get on the path of staff development is the question of hats. Which hat am I wearing when? How can I be an objective guide, allowing staff members to set their own goals and try out their own ideas when I have a vested interest and responsibility to ensure that they succeed? True, there are times when you’ll need to wear the supervisor hat. Certain standards do need to be met, and certain guidelines within a church are not a matter of individual choice. That said, you can likely wear the coach hat about 80% of the time.

Another key concern in the parking lot is ensuring that you are competent in coaching skills. Even people with a great deal of ministry experience can find that coaching skills look quite different from the way they’ve been taught to approach leadership development.

Once you’ve learned coaching skills and gained initial commitment to begin coaching—both from yourself and from your staff—you’re ready to move to the trailhead.

The Trailhead
So how will this look different from supervision? You’ll need to clarify to your staff members how the arrangement will work. You’ll need to meet with them regularly, either one-on-one or in triads or clusters, and they’ll need to understand that they bring the agenda. This is their time to bring in concerns, questions, strategy decisions, etc. and have time to process those ideas. It is not about you checking in on how they’re doing.

Also, you’ll both need to be aware of the limitations of coaching within a supervisory relationship. Although there is a degree of confidentiality, they will not be able to speak with complete candor, as they would to an outside party. Be clear on what is—and what is not—confidential. And be aware that certain issues cannot be overcome by coaching, namely: poor staff selection, unclear job focus and outcomes, and differing core values. If these issues arise, they’ll need to be dealt with separately.

And finally at the trailhead, clear goals must be set. If you are coaching the youth pastor, ask her what she would like to accomplish over the next six months. Help her think through how realistic those goals are and decide on where she wants to focus. Try to help staff members think through how they can work not only in their ministry, but on it. How can they streamline the big picture and improve overall effectiveness?

The Trail
As staff members set out toward the accomplishment of their goals, they’ll use their time meeting with you to process their experience. They’ll need you to serve as a sounding board, a source of encouragement, and a fresh perspective. Without ever telling them what to do or doing the work for them, focus on these key coaching issues for staff:

• Focus time and energy on the truly important
• Cultivate a clear and compelling vision
• Discover leverage points
• Process change wisely
• Empower others consistently

Keep in mind that your goal during this time is not to ensure that your staff members are doing the ministry right, but that they are developing as people and as leaders. Coaching is not about the task, but the person. This perspective will help you demonstrate patience and grace in times of stumbling or failure.

As your staff members begin experiencing successes, celebrate with them. Encourage them and challenge them to continue moving forward. And when things don’t go so well, ask them how they would like it to look differently. Ask yourself regularly what resources might help them as they continue to grow.

Remember that now is the time to begin encouraging them to think about coaching others. As they see and experience the value of coaching, help them think through ways they could pass that value to the leaders they are developing.

The Campfire
Especially if you are coaching your staff one-on-one, they’ll need time to get together with each other for mutual support and encouragement. Consider how you can use staff meeting times or staff retreats more effectively. How can you incorporate longer times of prayer and the sharing of stories? Although it’s tempting to try to cram in more content or training or directives, don’t underestimate the power of time spent praying together and encouraging one another. Often that’s an energizing experience—one that allows staff members to come out more rested and productive rather than more tired and dispirited. Throughout these campfire experiences, and the simultaneous along-the-trail stage, you’ll likely start noticing improved relationships between staff members, and increased ownership of the common vision.

End of the Trail
Although the trail may not seem to end unless either you or the staff person leaves their position, you can create distinct paths as you go. Every six months to a year, start over again with a new goal or a new skill area to develop. People need the sense of closure, celebration, and reflection that the end of the trail brings.

Once staff members reach a certain level of development, you may even consider different roles for them. When people reach a certain level of competency, they can begin to feel bored or burned out. Feeling like they haven’t reached the ceiling is important. At one very large church, a small groups pastor did such a phenomenal job of positioning and growing the groups ministry that his senior pastor began moving him from department to department to help other ministry areas more closely align with their goals. When he had succeeded at that as well, the former small groups pastor then moved into a position where his primary role was coaching staff.

Keep moving your staff people forward until they find their own ceiling—even though that means you may need to replace their roles. In fact, let that be another task for them to tackle: multiplying themselves.