So you're stuck ...

We've all been there. Maybe you're there right now.

Maybe things are going well. Giving is stable, the calendar has been planned for the year, your staff and ministry leaders are leading well, and worship attendance is solid. And yet, you can't figure out what the next step is. You feel like there's so much potential to be built upon, but it's hard to see how to move to the next phase of your church's life. 

Or, maybe things aren't going well. There are some physical issues with your church building, giving is stagnating, you're barely keeping up week to week with sermon writing and funerals and all the other administrative tasks you have to do now because you're still trying to replace the administrator who quit just before Christmas. It feels like there are so many holes to plug that you can't figure out where to turn your attention, so you keep moving along, just keeping your head above water. 

Either way, you feel stuck.

While I'm a big-picture thinker, and I love dreaming big, what I spend a lot of time working with churches on is actually very small - the next right step. 

Figuring out your next right step is always the first step to overcoming that stuck-ness, but when you are so deeply embedded in your context (as any good leader should be!), it can be hard to discern which of the myriad things in your field of view should get your valuable attention.

When I've hit this point, I usually go to a clergy colleague for support and conversation. We have lunch, talk it over, they ask me some pointed, challenging questions, and I can usually move forward. That day. But then there's the next week, or month, or project, or the next crisis that comes along. 

This is why a coach can be the most valuable investment a ministry leader makes in her career. 

That conversation I have over lunch with my colleague is a version of coaching; only that colleague doesn't have the time or energy to coach me week in and week out, to keep motivating me and challenging me, to ask the hard and pointed questions to help me move beyond stuck. 

That's why I became a coach - I love helping you figure out the next right step, and the next one, and the next one. I love thinking big, and keeping you connected to what you're really about, even when you have to deal with the day-to-day details. 

Your time is valuable; your ministry is even more valuable. And what I love about coaching is, it acknowledges that you know best, but sometimes it's hard to do that deep work of discernment on your own. That's what I'm here for, so let's figure out your next right step together!

Have you considered hiring a coach? What are the things you're unsure of? Or have you had a coach and have experiences to share in how coaching helped you get "unstuck?" Share in the comments!