Coach a New Leader to Thrive

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? How do you handle a new leader in your Sunday School? Every year, we develop new leaders to help us in Sunday School. How familiar do these ideas sound?

• You hand them a job description.
• You provide training opportunities for them.
• You take the time to lay out a plan of action.

For some reason, though, you still wonder if they have caught the vision and understand the role. Have you done what you can? Now, will they own the vision and  commit to the needed steps and actions?

WHAT DO I DO? How about using a coaching approach with the new leader? The leadership coaching approach encourages you to do the following:

• Listen to their thoughts about what they think they should do. Hear their ideas and thoughts about ways to accomplish their goals. Listen for their fears and concerns.
• Ask powerful, open-ended questions that get them to define their goals, their options to complete their work, and ways they can meet their goals. Here are some examples:
  • What do you want to accomplish in your class?
  • What are your options for completing this work?
  • Who else can you get involved with you?
  • What is one step you can take to accomplish this goal?
• Help the new leader decide specific steps they can take and how they can create an accountability structure to get the work done.

This approach can lead to action, accountability, and growth of the new leader. Try it this year!