When A Good Idea Meets A Good Coach

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

We often meet pastors with good ideas who are struggling to make their dreams become reality. The reasons vary...

• Their plate is so full there is no room for anything else

• Church leadership is resistant to change

• Too many good ideas (trying to do them all)

Several months ago a capable pastor approached us seeking to sort out his good ideas, but his church had no funding to support our coaching. Because of our existing donors, we coached him anyway.

Our conversation made it clear that this pastor was in the “too many good ideas” chapter of his life.  On the positive side, his ideas were in writing so we began to plow through the ideas with clarifying questions.

-Where do you hope to be in 3-5 years?

-What is most important to you?

-What is the church ready to tackle?

-What might you do in the next year?

-What do you start?

These and other questions led to using what we call the 1–4-1-4 planning tool.  He says,

“This tool has helped me gain clarity, focus, and organization.  Thank you.”

This pastor has never been one who lacked good ideas, but it was through the interaction with an objective coach that he was able to quit spinning his wheels and gain traction.