Peer Coaching
The bible teaches us that committing our works to the Lord establishes our plans and brings success on God’s terms (Proverbs 16:3). Jesus likened the application of His teaching in our lives to building a house upon a rock solid foundation (Matthew 7:24). Our platform for sustained personal success is a relentless pursuit, week-in and week-out, to put first things first. It’s a battle to keep the urgent things from distracting us from the important steady plodding that creates a solid foundation for the rest of our lives.
System 16:3 is about leveraging the power of peer coaching to help us stay focused on some important proactive measures of a life well-lived. It’s not all-inclusive, it’s just a simple system that helps create a platform for the rest of our lives. The premise of System 16:3 is that success can be defined as building one’s life on a foundation of biblical truth AND the core relationships that express these truths. As we build upon this foundation, innovations and solutions for life’s opportunities and life’s challenges will become clearer.
The goal is to consistently get the core things right as we tackle the broader opportunities and challenges of life. The five System 16:3 Dynamics are:
- Connecting with God
- Investing in Family
- Serving our Neighbors
- Developing Ourselves
- Empowering Peer Coaches
The glue of System 16:3 is structured meaningful dialogue called peer coaching. This coaching dialogue is formed when a person empowers a trusted advocate to coach him or her around the five 16:3 Dynamics referenced above. The system is simply responding to five questions that speak to the five 16:3 Dynamics via a simple form on this website.
After reviewing the coaching questions and related explanations below, there are three practical steps to take:
- Complete the electronic 16:3 Form that’s linked below the Peer Coaching tab on jeffreyjeffords.com. The completed form will automatically be emailed to you.
- Forward your completed form to your peer coach before you meet with him or her. When forwarding the form to your coach, be sure to schedule your face to face meet.
- File your completed forms to measure progress between coaching conversations.
Connecting with God
- Related Coaching Question: What revelations have you had over the past two weeks through reading your bible and prayer?
If we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, then it’s important that we consistently read the bible and contemplate how to apply biblical truth in our lives. God speaks to us through our time reading scripture. A good starting point is to read and study one passage of scripture per week. To drill down on what we’re learning, it really helps to journal our thoughts and discuss them with another person. This question can evoke revelations about the larger issues of life or everyday stuff that we just need to bounce off of a trusted advocate.
Investing in Family
- Related Coaching Question: How have you invested in your core family relationships over the past two weeks?
It’s important that we take time beyond the business of family related tasks for unstructured quality family time. We seem to excuse ourselves from temporarily missing the mark in our core family relationships sometimes by pointing to some future date when we will make up for it. Core Relationships should be the foundation to build our lives and our careers on, not the reverse. No matter what season of life we’re in, we need to make weekly investments into our families. More specifically, each core family member needs individualized attention from you. We should take steps with them that engages their uniqueness.
Serving Neighbors
- Related Coaching Question: What people have been on your heart and mind over the past two weeks? Why?
When we come to know God we begin to learn that people are what matters to him. People are on the heart of God. People are on our hearts. When we expound on or coach around this question, we should consider what God desires to do through us for the people on our hearts and minds. This is about becoming more relationally minded people. Actually, it’s about being true to our core because we are already wired to do this. Throughout life, we cross paths with a variety of people in a variety of different settings. Through these seasons of life, we have the unique opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. Like making consistent deposits in core family relationships, this pursuit is about taking steps. Whatever season of life we’re in, there are relationships developing around us. When we sense these relationships are emerging, we should become intentional about fostering them and seek to understand the needs of the people around us. Look for small and large opportunities to serve others.
Developing Ourselves
- Related Coaching Question: How are your personal development activities and goals progressing?
This question speaks to learning more about our gifts and abilities and taking action to develop them while also using them to serve. Setting measurable and attainable goals here is key. It often takes some work to clarify personal goals. This question should create discussion around two areas; educating ourselves and specific mechanisms or steps to use one’s gifts and abilities beyond vocation (usually volunteering). Establishing long term personal development goals and establishing incremental steps that move towards that goal is the desire of this question. It’s key to keep these goals focused, measurable and attainable.
Empowering Coaches
- Related Coaching Question: What personal wins and/or struggles have you experienced over the past two weeks?
It’s important to celebrate our wins and share our struggles within a Small Group and/or with a Coach. You don’t have to run a marathon to celebrate something. There are weekly steps to celebrate. We should celebrate movement in the direction we want to go. Attentive coaches can help us do just that. Sharing our struggles is an arena where Christian peer relationships like Small Groups be- come very important. This is where trust, authenticity and care are realized and growth can occur. Don’t underestimate the power of authentic coaching relationships, or the authentic community of small groups, to help us move through our struggles.
