I’ve been coaching church planters for over twenty years now. Church planters are a unique breed, often presenting distinctive challenges to their coaches. I know this because I’ve also been—and currently am—a church planter. I know firsthand how challenging we can be, and I also know what we need from our coaches.
Our international qualitative research project shows the outcomes of what good coaching accomplishes. We have isolated the competencies and microskills a coach needs to accomplish those outcomes. But one question I’m often asked is this: To coach a church planter effectively, what else is needed besides the basics of being a good coach?
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Ego Trap #2: "If I don't stay on top of their work, mistakes will be made." Translation: "I'm a control freak." 
Convincing the Big Kahuna...How important "he" is to implementing coaching: I received an email from a friend who participated with me in a recent tele-class. "I appreciated hearing the speaker," he wrote, "but I expected someone to ask a question about coaching in the church...and no one did. What do you make of that?" In my answer, I agreed that this was an extremely vital topic and that, although it didn't fall inside that speaker's expertise, it was part of the ongoing conversation we are trying to foster in the Christian Coaching Magazine.
I went on to comment that, in my opinion, the church is the new frontier for coaching--the place that has been perhaps least impacted to date, yet holds some of the greatest potential to be seen in our field...
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Leadership, when it's good and strong and true, isn't about ego. It's about stepping boldly into a larger story, and inviting other people to come along with you. It's about surrendering your life to a Power and a purpose greater than yourself, and serving those who have chosen to follow you into that great adventure. It's most definitely not about you. But Ego is a subtle demon... 
The 18 risk factors for pastors shown below are given with statistics that show where pastors are at today. You may be surprised or even shocked at some of the realities of ministry leadership. But… 
What's the fuel that runs your life? What actually "powers" you into action day to day? I've become convinced that there are only two primary fuels for the human soul:
Fear. And Love... 
Anyone who's worked on a church leadership team knows the spiel about team values: Here's what we believe is important; here are the behaviors and attitudes we promote in our organization. Although often borne out of a noble desire among the leaders, these "organizational values" often fail to enlist or even inspire the people within the organization, and are typically perceived as an attempt to control them rather than free them up, a vaguely threatening reminder that "Big Brother is watching." So why does this happen? 
In the Spring of 2007, I asked for “Coaching” to be put on the agenda a week prior to our next senior pastoral staff meeting. Then I got really scared. My colleagues on the senior staff knew I was into this “new coaching thing,” but it was still just my thing that I had been getting trained on and theorizing about a lot. I was fearful that they would not take me seriously. But then something wonderful happened... 
In coaching we talk a lot about honoring the client's agenda--in other words, letting them lead the way forward. And that's good, but any practiced coach will tell you, it's not complete. Your own heart--the best part of your compassion and hope--has much to say about each person you coach. Here's why you should listen... 
Whether you know it or not, rank is a powerful force on your leadership team. Here's what every leader needs to know about rank and how it works.