How to Help a HOST Become a Small Group Leader

If you've been following this conversation at all, you know one of my major themes is I want to make it as easy as possible to take first steps into leading a small group and nearly automatic for a new leader to step onto the leadership development conveyor belt.

I've referred to this idea many times as lowering the bar in terms of who can be a leader and simultaneously raising the bar in terms of the coaching and development the leader receives.

These are two very important ideas. Let me repeat them:

• Make it as easy as possible to step into hosting a small group and nearly automatic for hosts to take the steps that lead to becoming an authentic shepherd.
• Lower the bar in terms of who can be a leader and simultaneously raise the bar in terms of the coaching and development the leader receives.

These are two very important and interrelated ideas. I believe the primary way you make it nearly automatic for new hosts to take the steps that lead to becoming an authentic shepherd has very little to do with centralized training and everything to do with life-on-life mentoring. What we're really talking about is life-change and as we all know, life-change rarely happens in rows.

The primary way you make it nearly automatic for new hosts to take the steps that lead to becoming an authentic shepherd has very little to do with centralized training and everything to do with life-on-life mentoring. Click To Tweet

At its essence, helping a host become a leader, an authentic shepherd, is about modeling.

Helping a host become an authentic shepherd is about doing to them and for them whatever you want them to do to and for their members. And modeling is really what coaching is all about.

What does a coach model?

What if they started with the 8 Habits of a Life-Changing Small Group Leader? And don't forget, this will also inform what someone will need to model for your coaches (depending on your structure, that might be you).

When does it happen? It should be a combination of:

• one-to-one conversations (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending on the stage of maturity)
• group meetings with the other leaders in the coach's huddle (3 to 6 times a year), and
• centralized meetings will all leaders (once or twice a year).

You can see how this works on my Life Group Coach Job Description.

How long does it take? Can you see that this is something different than a course to be completed? Can you see that it's really a journey to be taken?  See also, From Here to There: The Preferred Future for Small Group Leaders.

What do you think? Want to argue? Have a question? You can click here to jump into the conversation.