Leadership Reminder

I just found this list presented by Scott Hodge. It is a great reminder for leaders on the difference between coaching and just the "gitter done" mentality. Read these and see where you fall some of the time and/or most of the time.

A few differences between a "tasking" mentality and a "coaching" mindset.

1. Tasking focuses on WHAT. Coaching focuses on WHY. A good coach always explains the "why" behind the "what." If a person is only in tune with the "what", they will never catch the vision and purpose behind it and therefore will not be able to fully reproduce themselves and the type of culture that we value.
2. Tasking focuses on a job well done. Coaching focuses on WHY it was done well. A coach explains WHY the job was done well. The impact of being specific in your praise towards someone else increases the impact more than we can imagine.
3. Tasking sees people as a tool to get a job done. Coaching sees every opportunity as a chance to better others and to build relationships. The relational aspect is huge! Because........people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
4. Tasking focuses on HOW the job was done wrong. Coaching always corrects by going back to the vision/mission.

If we can help people identify for themselves where they went wrong or dropped the ball by bringing them back to the vision/purpose of the environment, the response will almost always be more positive. This can be accomplished by asking two simple questions: "Did we hit the target?" and "Why or why not?"

Blogger Outline

Here's the link for the blogging breakout session from the ICC this past week. Good stuff.
http://www.tonymorganlive.com/Blogging_Breakout_Outline_22sept06.doc

Character Building

As many of you know, I am coaching for Latrobe soccer this season. Earlier this week, our team and I had the opportunity to learn the importance of character development. I was reminded that I have a responsibility in my day job (pastor) to help develop the character of Jesus in the lives of the people of Charter Oak Church. But I also have that responsibility as this team's coach. I may not be able to say that is what I am seeking to do in these boys' lives, but the reality of my position and my world view is that our character should find it's foundation in the life of Jesus. I can't change who I am.

I was challenged on that this past week. Not that someone challenged me on my faith, but I believe God challenged me through an incident that I could have just let go or I could take the extra time, energy, and focus to deal with it. I could have easily just said boys are boys, but I knew that was just a cop out. Instead I challenged the boys and the team with a higher standard of expectation and character on their part. It was not easy. I lost sleep over it. I'm sure I gained a few more gray hairs too!

In the end, I think it was well worth it. I have had the chance to talk to some great parents and see them step up beyond what I thought they would do. We have great parents on our team! I hope that this week will be a defining moment in these boys' lives. I hope and pray that they will realize that the things they say and the things they do matter and have implications. Part of the implications will be lived out in today's game. It may hurt the scoreboard for us, but I believe it will be a win for them in the long run.

Blogging Breakout Session

About a dozen people from our congregation went to the Innovative Church Conference in Granger, Indiana. There were a couple of break out sessions that I would have gone to if I was able to go, but I was here coaching and preparing for the weekend message.

One of the breakout sessions I was very interested in was led by Tom Morgan on Blogging. I was disappointed that I couldn't pick his brain, especially since I have not been posting over the last month. I felt like I needed an inspirational message on why I should blog.

This morning I received my RSS feed and low and behold, Tony sent me all of his notes from the breakout session. I am pumped! He shares the why and how of blogging. I have just briefly read his notes, but I am looking forward to going deeper and maybe even shooting him an email with some questions.

This may be just what I needed to inspire me to keep on blogging.

New Information

We have new contact information at Charter Oak Church...

449 Frye Farm Road
Greensburg, PA 15601

(724) 805-0355
(724) 805-0359 (fax)

All of our extension numbers have changed as well...

Barb Bobula - x 249
Cindy Jonczak - x 252
Maxine Wilson - x 253
Andi Farrell - x 254
Betsy Hunt - x 255
Bill Gates - x 256
Tim Toohey - x 257
Pastor Mark - x 258
Pastor Dave - x 260
Pastor Chris - x 261

The website is still the same - www.charteroakumc.org
The student ministry website is still the same - www.charteroakstudents.org
All of our email addresses are the same.

August at a Glance

I try to give a "Monday Morning Quarterback" each week on the happenings from the previous weekend worship services. Since it has been a while since I have posted, let me just give you a glimpse of August...

August 5/6 - Pastor Dave preached
493 in worship (24.5% increase from 2005)
153 in Sunday school (61.1% increase from 2005)

August 12/13 - Pastor Dave preached
548 in worship (31.4% increase from 2005)
155 in Sunday school (53.5% increase from 2005)

August 19/20 - Last worship service in old building
596 in worship (50.9% increase from 2005)
No Sunday school

August 26/27 - First worship service in new building
748 in worship (68.3% increase from 2005)
No Sunday school

I'm Back

Okay, so it's been over a month since my last post. Yes, I have heard you asking me when I was going to start posting again. I think things have settled down enough around here that I can get back to the blogging world again. The last month or so has been a wild ride, more to come...