Coaching In Ministry, only .99¢ on Kindle

A significant percentage of my readers are involved in ministry in one way or another. Just like those working in the marketplace, ministry leaders are trying to get things done. Developing leaders should be a major priority, but often gets buried under more pressing tasks. Sound familiar? I wrote a short book called Coaching In Ministry to help. And I’m making it available for .99¢.

Coaching In Ministry focuses on two questions I’ve been asked many times: What is coaching? and Why coaching? Actually, the book is a prequel to my popular how-to book, The COACH Model for Christian Leaders.

I present a radically different approach to developing leaders. One that doesn’t require

101 Ways to Make Training Active by Melvin Silberman


As a professional trainer and coach I know my subjects well. That’s my problem! It’s too easy to stand up and lecture. The trick is to involve participants in meaningful ways. “101 Ways to Make Training Active” is just the ticket.

101 Ways To Make Training Active

Silberman begins with 20 “top 10” lists of training tips. For example, “Ten assignments to give learning partners” and “Ten suggestions for activating a lecture” and “Ten options for role playing”, etc. Each of the 200 tips are written in brief bullet-point style that stimulates creativity. Every list gave me ideas of how to improve my training – and that’s the point!

The bulk of the book, 244 additional pages, are 101 ways to make training active. The activities are grouped together into 15 sections according the flow of a training program: How to Get Active Participation from the Start, How to Teach Information, Skills, and Attitudes Actively, and How to Make Training Unforgettable.

I love these ideas! These are some of my favorite.

Leadership and Self-Deception, A Review


A shocking look at how we create our own problems and then blame others for them! Leadership and Self-Deception is a solid, much-needed look at leadership. Read it. Apply it. And see your own leadership and personal satisfaction go up.

Leadership and Self-Deception Review

This book begins with stories of a manager, a CEO, a father, and a 19th century scientist who while searching diligently for their problems “out there” find that the problem was within themselves.

The best way to illustrate the premise behind the book, without revealing its secrets is by retelling the story of the 19th scientist, Dr Ignaz Semmelweis. As an obstetrician in the maternity ward at Vienna General Hospital he observed a high 1 in 10 mortality rate, while next door where the midwives delivered babies the mortality rate was only 1 in 50. Semmelweis researched and tested and experimented, only to discover to his horror that

“Coaching for Performance” by John Whitmore


Coaching for Performance is the grandfather of coaching books and coaching approaches. Thousands of high performing organizations have tapped into its wisdom.

Much of what has come to be known as professional business coaching came from Timothy Gallway and Whitmore’s sports training techniques. As such, the book provides a simple foundation for coaching based on the context of awareness and responsibility through asking questions and listening. He presents the G R O W model of coaching – Goal, Reality, Option, Will – as a format for coaching sessions.

The book begins with a few foundational beliefs of coaches. Unlike old models of management that work from the “carrot and stick” approach, a coach believes in the potential of the client.

“Open Space Technology” by Harrison Owen

How many conferences or seminars have you been to where the most stimulating parts were the coffee break discussions between sessions?

Harrison Owen, the originator of Open Space Technology, designed a strategy to power the whole event with the energy and learning of coffee break discussions. After reading this book I dove in and successfully facilitated two Open Space events myself.

Open Space is a facilitation strategy that enables groups of 5 to 2000 people to create their own agenda and self-organize to dialogue about the important issues of large complex theme.

“Senior Leadership Teams” by Ruth Wageman, et al

Do we need another book on teams? This one is just enough different from the rest to make a significant contribution to your leadership team.

The focus of this book is senior executives as a team. These highly skilled individuals have the dual responsibilities of managing their departments and the enterprise as a whole. The management function of senior leadership teams often feel like a distraction from their “real work”. Yet, senior leadership teams provide a key function that every organization desperately needs – leadership.

Senior-level leadership is needed for high level strategy, cross-functional initiatives, building organizational capacity, capital acquisition, and enabling mission-critical performance.

“Active Training” by Melvin Silberman


Mel Silberman is the master of active training. Just skimming his book gave me a handful of new ideas I immediately applied in my training. Reading the book helped me to revamp my training courses to include many more participatory training exercises.

What is active training? Everybody loves being involved, talking, interacting, and exploring during a training event. Lecture, however, is too often the default delivery methodology. In some ways lecture takes less time to prepare and is less risky, but studies show it is not the most effective learning style.