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

Bill Donahue (Author), Greg Bowman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2006

Small groups transform churches---and lives. Small group leaders often feel the weight of shepherding their members. But who shepherds the shepherd? And what are the best ways to provide that support and guidance? These are the questions answered in Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders. When you're called to coach a small group leader in your church, your mind may be filled with questions: Am I godly enough? What do I have to offer? How do I begin? Although the challenge seems immense, this handbook breaks down the work into reassuring and achievable steps. Originally self-published by Willow Creek Community Church, this expanded and improved edition offers field-tested and biblically supported advice on such topics as modeling a surrendered life to those you shepherd gaining the tools and wisdom you need for coaching helping leaders grow spiritually nurturing the spiritual development and support of leaders. For those who want to coach with excellence and truly help small group leaders thrive, this go-to guide offers practical answers and inspiring examples. You'll find both challenge and promise in these pages as you learn to carry forth your God-given calling with confidence. 'We ask small group leaders to come alongside their group members, but often no one comes alongside them. This is a great tool from two people who have done exactly that for a long time. Small group leaders everywhere will benefit from this kind of coaching.'

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Bill Donahue served as the Director of Leadership Development andamp; Group Life for the Willow Creek Community Church andamp; Association for 18 years, where he designed leadership development strategies and resources for leaders worldwide. He has also worked for Procter andamp; Gamble and PNC Financial Corp. Bill has authored over a dozen books and training resources for leaders including the best-selling Leading Life-changing Small Groups, Coaching Life-Changing Leaders (with Greg Bowman) and the Equipping Life-Changing Small Groups DVD. Bill is a popular conference speaker and serves as an adjunct faculty at a number of institutions training leaders at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels. He resides in Dundee, Illinois with his wife and family. andnbsp; SPANISH BIO: Bill Donahue es director del ministerio de grupos pequenos de Willow Creek Association. Previamente se desempeno como miembro del personal de Willow Creek Community Church colaborando en la planificacion e implementacion del ministerio mundial de grupos pequenos. Reside en West Dundee, Illinois, con su esposa Gail y sus dos hijos.

Greg Bowman, a twenty-five-year veteran of small group ministry, serves as associate director of small group ministries for the Willow Creek Association. In this role, he develops resources and training events, and serves as a consultant to churches around the world. Greg lives in Elgin, Illinois with his wife Connie and their two children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders Part One A Vision for Coaching What is coaching? Why is it so essential to have people in the church who are willing to guide and encourage leaders? What does it look like when someone takes on this role and invests in the life of a leader? In order to become and build effective coaches in the church, first we need to embrace a vision for the practice of coaching. It is often a misunderstood role, mistaken by some to mean 'boss' or 'fault-finder.' But that's not coaching, at least not when the spiritual growth of leaders and church members is at stake. It is different from mere oversight or supervision. Coaching is personal, developmental, and supportive. Coaches bring out the best in leaders. So let's take a few moments to get a clearer picture of what is means to coach leaders in the church. John Donahue, Bill's dad, was in his forties when he became the head swimming coach of George Washington High School in Philadelphia. For fifteen years, the teams he coached remained undefeated in league competition. Think about that for a moment --- fifteen undefeated seasons in a row. Obviously he had everything needed to establish such a winning tradition: years of swimming experience on a nationally ranked college team, the fastest swimmers in the league, and the greatest training facilities in the city of Philadelphia. With all of that, one would expect him to win. Except he didn't have all of these advantages --- actually, he had none of them. John was an unlikely swimming coach, and Washington High was an unlikely place for a swimming dynasty to take root. The team practiced only three days a week at a rented facility, because that was all the school budget allowed. The swim team also had the same challenge every scholastic sports program faced --- constant turnover. A successful tradition was hard to establish as experienced swimmers graduated and were replaced by a cohort of skinny, wideeyed freshmen who thought the 'backstroke' was a massage technique and the 'butterfly' a transformed caterpillar. New challengers also threatened the tradition of winning. The teams Washington defeated one year often hired new coaches the next, who were eager to make their mark. These former college swimmers came to coaching armed with the latest training techniques and filled with the energy Donahue had twenty years earlier. The competition had studied his poolside techniques and practice regimen for one purpose only --- to be the first team to defeat Washington High School in a dual meet. But for fifteen years, no one ever did. Standing 6' 2' and weighing 265 pounds, Donahue was hardly the prototype for a championship swimming coach. He was a heavyweight wrestler in college, and prior to that, he was in the US Navy, where he re-fitted airplane engines on the USS Hornet. Throughout his entire life, he never swam competitively. What generated this success in swimming and in other sports he coached? I believe there were several likely factors --- factors that apply to sports, business, ministry, or any endeavor that requires the development and support of people. Consistency: I believe that consistent coaching ensured the same discipline, values, winning attitude, and solid work ethic throughout those fifteen years. Donahue developed a rapport with swimmers and an enduring reputation of almost legendary stature. Students called him John 'the Duke' Donahue, after screen actor John 'the Duke' Wayne. New swimmers on the team gazed at him with awe and respect (as one might do to Penn State football icon Joe Paterno, or former Indiana basketball legend Bobby Knight). Love: Though he could be hard on swimmers in practice, demanding their best and pushing them to their limits, Donahue also had a tender side. The team knew from the stories that circulated around school that he would do anything for swimmers or their families in times of need. There were the cold, rainy winter nights that the Duke took stranded swimmers home from practice. Or the times when a few dollars for lunch money helped a struggling student make it through the week. He balanced a tough, courageous personality with a tender, loving heart. I think that is why his swimmers were willing to work so hard for him. He loved them, and they knew it. Courage: Years before working at Washington, Donahue coached at a troubled inner-city school in Philadelphia. A large, brawny student --- known fondly as the 'Caveman' --- jumped the Duke one day in the lunchroom, knocking him to the ground. Unfortunately, this colossal tyrant had no idea that the guy he just attacked had recently completed four years in the navy during World War II, followed by three years of wrestling in the heavyweight class at Temple University. In a few moments, the Caveman was tied up in knots, a pain-filled pile of twisted limbs in the arms of the Duke. Students would later speak of the incident with awe. When word of the event traveled to Donahue's new school, students asked, 'So whatever happened to the Caveman?' The Duke calmly replied, 'I put him back in his cave.' Though he kidded about the incident, it took courage to walk into that school each day. Crime ridden and drug infested, it was truly a dangerous place, even for big guys like John Donahue. Coaching was in John's blood; he was made for it. Though he appeared an unlikely swim coach at times, in reality he was exactly what a coach should be --- consistent and disciplined, a lover of those he coached, and courageous enough to do what was right and stay the course in the face of overwhelming odds or intense opposition. Today, at over eighty years of age, he is living in a retirement community made up mostly of people who are over sixty years old, and he is still coaching people. (He taught a woman to swim for the first time in her life --- in just three lessons!) He would never say that he was qualified to be a championship coach --- just that he was called. And he took that calling and learned all he could to be the best coach in the city. What will you do with the calling God has placed on you? The Underwhelmed Need Not Apply God doesn't usually call people to easy jobs. Try finding someone who ever felt competent for the service God demanded of him or her.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (March 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310251796
• ISBN-13: 978-0310251798
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Leadership Resource!, February 25, 2007

By 

Jim Danielson (Liberty, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Practical Guide for Those Who Lead and Shepherd Small Group Leaders (Paperback)

I've read a "bunch" of leadership books during my 30 years as an Associate Pastor-Education in churches ranging from 300 to 3,000 in weekend attendance.

I would rate the workbook,Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders, in the top 10%.

It's an "easy read" with many practical ideas for not only coaching small group leaders, but for coaching people in both church and secular settings.

Try it! You'll like it! (and you leaders will be glad!)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars small groups coaching - crucial piece in sustainability, March 8, 2007

By 

A. Follower "Director, Small Groups Ministry" (Sonoma, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Practical Guide for Those Who Lead and Shepherd Small Group Leaders (Paperback)

One could choose to 'learn by doing'. Very tiring and stressful. Coaching small group leaders is, not surprisingly, as essential to success as coaching any athletic team. No coach? Enjoy the chaos. There will be blood on the field very soon. It's self-destructive to avoid this resource if a church is hoping to employ small groups. It is as good as the 'Leading Small Groups' book reviewed close by. Forms to use, goals toward which to strive, step-by-step pathways to follow, meeting agendas to fill in... what will you address with your leaders? What are the goals specific to each leader? How does the leader monitor the life of his or her group? What are the personal goals of the leader for 5G development (Growth, Gifts, Good stewardship...)? What are your goals as Coach? Where do you even find a list of possible goals? This is organized, educationally sound, Biblical, realistic. Thank you, Willow.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical Handbook, February 6, 2008

By 

Gail C. Britt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Practical Guide for Those Who Lead and Shepherd Small Group Leaders (Paperback)

The essential relationship of small group coaches as those who embrace, develop and nurture church leaders "over time" rings true in "Coaching Life Changing Small Group Leaders". With relationship building as the foremost attribute of coaches and small group leaders, authors Donahue and Bowman accentuate authentic interaction as the first step to intentionally shepherd leaders.
The authors attest that leaders want to be "fed" by their coaches, to be cared for, loved, to establish a mutual trust and open communication . Coaches are advised to listen deeply to their small group leaders, actively engage in their story, ask for clarification, keep the focus on the leaders and fight the temptation to move too quickly to solutions. In fact, Donahue and Bowman also indicate that coaches should not intervene with small group leaders, or sit in on their meetings, until a meaningful relationship is established with each leader. "As trust develops, coaches are enabled to help leaders gain an accurate picture of their gifts and abilities."
In an easy to follow workbook format, the authors take the reader through the various coaching elements; to be visionary, to guide and encourage, to be personal, developmental and supportive, and to effectively bring out the best in the leaders. In essence, coaches have a heart for leaders, with an avid responsibility to equip them in key skills to become effective in meeting the needs of group members. Donahue and Bowman also advocate that the coach and small group leader "dream together" about the effect on group members, the church as a whole and the community.
Specific key equipping skills include modeling and envisioning. Through modeling, coaches and leaders share what God is doing in their lives. They learn together how to live and lead by the Spirit. Healthy spiritual fitness entails prayer, worship, solitude and reading and listening to the Word. Envisioning involves space for the leaders to think or dream about their group. Donahue and Bowman advise coaches to work with their leaders to create a clear and compelling vision that captures their heart and motivates them to action. The authors assess that when the small group vision is clear and compelling, the "best thinking and energy come into play."
The authors also caution that churches can interfere in the relationship, modeling and envisioning stages of coaches and small group leaders when they insist that coaches serve as a "conduit" for the overall church vision. "If that happens, the vision will not capture their (the group's) heart, and there will be little connection to the day-to-day activities of small group leaders." Instead, Bowman and Donahue suggest that coaches assist leaders in keeping their vision alive, to empower and to eventually enthusiastically "own the dream".
Overall, the church vision must have broad enough tenets to allow small groups to function earnestly and effectively within the church and its surrounding community.
Life changes in small group leaders often occur when the interaction with their coaches has become deeper, yet retains a delicate balance of continued shepherding and equipping by the coach on behalf of the leader.
I would recommend this practical handbook for those who lead and guide small group leaders.