Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Practical Guide for Those Who Lead and Shepherd Small Group Leaders

144 Pages·2006·1.8 MB·English

by  Bill Donahue

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C O A C H I N G
L I F E - C H A N G I N G
s m a l l g r o u p
L E A D E R S
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Also by Bill Donahue
Building a Church of Small Groups
(with Russ Robinson)
Leading Life-Changing Small Groups
(with the Willow Creek Small Groups Team)
Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry
(with Russ Robinson)
Walking the Small Group Tightrope
(with Russ Robinson)
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A P R A C T I C A L G U I D E F O R T H O S E W H O L E A D
A N D S H E P H E R D S M A L L G R O U P L E A D E R S
C O A C H I N G
L I F E - C H A N G I N G
s m a l l g r o u p
L E A D E R S
B I L L D O N A H U E
G R E G B O W M A N
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ZONDERVAN
Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders
Copyright © 2006 by Willow Creek Association
All rights reserved under International and Pan -American Copyright Conventions. By payment of
the required fees, you have been granted the non -exclusive, non-transferable right to access and
read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down ­
loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known
or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
AER Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-31689-3
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Donahue, Bill.
Coaching life-changing small group leaders : a practical guide for those who lead and shepherd small group leaders / Bill Donahue and Greg
Bowman.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25179-8
ISBN-10: 0-310-25179-6
1. Christian leadership. 2. Small groups. 3. Church group work. 4. Personal coaching. I. Bowman, Greg. II. Title.
BV652.1.D66 2006
253'.7 — dc22 2005031941

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: Today’s New International Version™. Copyright © 2001 by Interna-
tional Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible
Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publish-
ers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by
permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic,
mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an
endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.
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Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Part 1: A Vision for Coaching
Section 1: The Call to Coaching. . . . . . . . . . .12
Section 2: The Need for Coaching. . . . . . . . . .16
Part 2: The Essence of Coaching
Section 1: Embrace a Vision for Transformation . .20
Section 2: Nurture Your Love of Community . . . .23
Section 3: Cultivate a Passion for Developing
Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Section 4: Develop the Heart of a Shepherd . . . . .26
Part 3: A Coach’s Key Practices
The Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Key Practice 1: Modeling: Pursue Christ-likeness . .31
Key Practice 2: Guiding: Shepherd Intentionally . .37
Key Practice 3: Envisioning: Dream Together . . . .43
Key Practice 4: Equipping: Develop Skills. . . . . .48
Part 4: The Coach’s Toolbox
Section 1: An Overview of Coaching . . . . . . . .54
Understanding Your Role
An Overview of the Tools
Where Should I Begin?
Section 2: One-on-One Conversations . . . . . . .57
Relationships First
Guidelines for Effective One-on-One Conversations
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How Do I Do This?
Helpful Questions
Sharpen Your Skills
Men and Women in Coaching Relationships
Guiding Spiritual Growth: Developing a Shepherding Plan
(Development Aid)
Guiding Skill Development: Eight Guides for Conversations
between a Coach and a Leader (Development Aid)
Section 3: Leadership Huddles . . . . . . . . . . .82
A Learning Community
Biblical Examples of Huddles
Planning a Leadership Huddle
Leadership Huddle Planning Guide (Development Aid)
Conducting Huddles
Evaluating Huddles
Coaching Huddles: Eight Guides (Development Aid)
Modeling Personal Growth
Shepherding Your Leaders
Building Authentic Relationships
Resolving Confl ict in a Healthy Manner
Extending Care and Compassion
Becoming an Inclusive Community
Reaching Out to Seekers
Developing Future Leaders
Section 4: Visiting Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
The Purpose of Group Visits
Keys to Effective Group Visits
Making the Group Visit
After the Group Visit
Planning a Group Visit (Development Aid)
Observations during a Group Visit (Development Aid)
Section 5: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Confl ict Resolution
The Open Chair: How to Add Members to a Group
Helping Group Leaders with Apprentice Selection
and Development
Group Multiplication (Birthing)
Raising Up an Apprentice Coach (Development Aid)
Birthing Your Huddle (Development Aid)
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Part 5: A Coach’s World
Section 1: Establish a Sustainable Pace . . . . . . 118
Section 2: Create Care Covenants. . . . . . . . . 121
Care Covenant (Development Aid)
Section 3: Maintain Clear Communication . . . . 123
Section 4: Live in Community. . . . . . . . . . . 124
Section 5: Know When to Step Down . . . . . . . 125
Part 6: Building a Coaching
Structure
A Guide for Small Group Ministry Point Leaders
Section 1: Clearly Defi ne the Coaching Role . . . 128
Section 2: Recruiting Coaches. . . . . . . . . . . 128
Section 3: Choose and Establish a Structure . . . 129
Section 4: The Transition from Group Leader
to Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Section 5: Skill Development for Coaches . . . . . 130
Section 6: The Care and Nurture of Coaches . . . 131
Section 7: Factors That Help the Longevity
of Coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Section 8: Alternative Coaching Models. . . . . . 132
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
About the Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Share Your Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
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