Coaching in Dallas -Leveraging strengths, dodging shadows.

I have been in Dallas since March 3rd, and a good deal of that time has been in coaching sessions in our leadership training department. I should specify that I am being coached and not the one giving the coaching.

This has been a really beneficial time for me and God has been reinforcing things he started teaching me last year in N. Ireland. It's odd how the lessons keep coming around cyclically, deeper each time until you get them.

In N. Ireland, the Corrymeela folks spoke of finding a "well of healing" - a place that we could go to draw strength for ourselves allowing us to then draw out or provide healing for others. In reflecting on scripture, I learned that I needed to sit at Jesus' feet like Mary did and like Ps 27 says.I started on a journey of keeping Sabbath (more on that in another blogpost).

Here I learned a similar lesson: God has given me strengths and abilities that I can use to serve others and specifically advance the work in Mali.  One of my strengths also has a "shadow" or flip side: my strong responsibility  drive, coupled with my strong beliefs in the importance of the work, push me to work too much work to accomplish what needs to be done in a difficult setting.

To compensate for this, I need to make time for rest and reflective time and prayer, and time to think about the non-urgent but important things like strategy and effective delegation. Making that time will allow me to better leverage my strengths and increase my ability to serve others and actually energize me rather than sapping my strength. This will help me do and be what God created to be.

I also have the adaptability strength which means I live in the here and now and tend to be drawn to whatever is right in front of me. So I respond instantly to whatever comes through the door or into the mailbox. This may make me a good multi-tasker, but also means I do not take the time to prioritize or reflect and so work less efficiently.

I need to guard this reflective time as a holy sanctum. I should "write myself a prescription" to take this time that I need, and be so serious about it, that if urgent events force me to miss it, I "make it up double".

Some of the things that energize me are: 

• Cycling
• Analyzing and organizing information
• Being creative (art, music, design/layout/color)
• Language learning
• Being alone in nature
• Music (listening to and playing)
• Downtime
• Reading
• personal retreats - whether that be in N. Ireland, Abbé David or Selingué in Mali. . .

I have learned a lot about my strengths from the Strengths finder test. But also looked at other inventories: Myers Briggs, Belbin Team roles, communication styles. It's been an enlightening process.

It is odd that in Christian circles we tend to be so focused on humility that we rarely focus on what our God-given strengths are and affirm them, reflecting on how best to use them. Why are we embarrased to say "God gave me gifts in this area?" After all, 1 Peter4:10  says, "Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms".
The idea of finding healthy ways of working so as to leverage my stengths and those of my team to better accomplish God's work - well, that is just exciting.

We have worked up a growth plan help me with some of these things. I am anxious to put it in practice when I get to Mali.I will be asking some of you who are closer to me there to keep me accountable! Do feel free to ask me how it is going when November rolls around.