Coaching over training
by Steve Cordle
I had the privelege of traveling with Joel Comiskey to visit Elim Church in San Salvador, El Salvador. Often regarded as the world’s second largest church, Elim had a weekly cell attendance of 120,000 adults and 30,000 children.
Since cells are the heartbeat of the church, I was surprised to discover that their cell leader training consisted of only 4 simple lessons. Then I learned about their coaching practice. When someone completes the 4 lessons and begins to lead a group, a coach attends every meeting with the leader. The coach is present every step to give the leader confidence, feedback, and to avoid pitfalls. The coach may not always be present for the entire meeting, but for the indefinite future, the coach is present at every meeting.
The principle? Coaching is more important than training. This is not to minimize an equipping track (our church has more than 4 sessions of leader training!) But it is to say that strong leaders are formed more by guided experience and personal tranference than by instruction and theory. How personal is your coaching?
Jim Egli said,
March 23, 2007 @ 9:02 am
Thanks for a helpful post Steve. This is also what the statistical research that formed the heart of my doctoral research showed. Training is important but coaching is even more important.
Jim
Bill Joukhadar said,
March 25, 2007 @ 1:13 am
Steve
Thank you for your article. Our cells plan is good. Our cell principles are good. Our cells training is good. Our cells people are good. Our coaching suxs and is presently in ER, undergoing major surgery.
Cairo Bill
Iain Garrett-Benson said,
April 9, 2007 @ 4:03 am
Hi Steve
My own experiences as a small group leader have taught me that getting an effective cell leader coaching system up in place is very important. It’s not just structure but getting the ethos in place that is crucial. Calling someone a coach is just a beginning.
From Joel’s writings we know that cell coaching is not only important but there are plenty of skills involved in being effective in that role. Unfortunately in transitioning scenarios where everyone (including the Leader/Senior Pastor) is still learning to be a cell group leader, there can be very little coaching going on, because everyone is still learning how to lead a cell! My own experiences as a cell group leader in small transitioning churches (under 250 people) confirm this.
Luckily for me my wife has always been an excellent small group facilitator, developing her skills so much that she became a cell leader coach. Being married to a coach is excellent. I get immediate feedback when I ask for it and it’s usually quite incisive because my coach knows me so well! However it would have been better if I had the benefit of tapping into an established coaching situation that was already operating (not everyone has the benefit of living with their coach!).
Through the cell church movement I have learnt a lot about about how cell groups work, the need for prototyping and the effort required in transitioning leaders. This has all been good and helpful. However in the transitioning efforts that I have observed coaching has been neglected. In small churches, not only does the Leader/Senior Pastor got to be seen leading the charge modelling cell group leadership, but they will probably need to change aspects of the way they look after their small group leaders. They really need to lead the charge as far as coaching goes. That means reinventing themselves and their methods. Hard work!