I entered LEAD Coaching with some hesitancy. A year later, I’m thrilled to say it was just what I needed.
My coach was Ed Boschman, and we started by going through a couple different personal evaluation tools. While this was my least favorite part of the process, it identified some strengths and weaknesses. Next, we jumped into evaluating my “life plan.” This looked at my passions and core values and practical things such as planning an ideal week.
This was much more beneficial and helped me put on paper many things that had been rattling around in my brain. It has been very helpful to refer back to my plan for an ideal week. Because in ministry the weeks are always fluid, seeing an ideal plan has helped keep me on track. It was also helpful to write down my vision statement and core values, which helped focus my overall time and energy.
Next, we dove into practical ways to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks in my life. I always have known that I struggle to “get things done‚” and reading David Allen’s Getting Things Done was especially helpful. I have gained tools to combat my natural struggle with dropping the ball. I now have a systematic plan for dealing with tasks as they come to me. I have put in place numerous strategies to juggle my responsibilities and make sure I’m following up on necessary things. I still have a lot of room to grow here, but I’m thankful for much growth in the past 12 months.
From here, we jumped back to my ministry vision. This was by far my favorite section. This is what I enjoy doing and working through this with Ed gave me the tools to work with more clarity, more focus and more strategies for implementing a vision. Patrick Lenceoni’s The Advantage was very helpful with overall vision planning and Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley was huge in helping me work on getting vision to stick. This section became the impetus for our church’s vision planning and has proved most helpful in moving us toward a more focused and Spirit-filled future. I will forever be grateful for what I took away from this section of the coaching.
The final section may not have held the glitz and glamour of the previous section, but it was the nuts and bolts needed to keep our vision planning on track, and I believe it will be very helpful in the future. Vision planning is natural for me, but actually driving that forward to results is the more difficult part. This section kept me focused and taught me how to clarify vision and put together a real plan to implement it. During this time, we also talked through making time and space to engage those far from God and to have a strategy for increasing my personal evangelism. This has been very helpful.
Through this entire time, the thing I’ve valued the most has been building a relationship with Ed. Not just a friendship but rather coming to know there is a godly and gifted leader who is fighting for me and willing to invest in me. This has been huge in pushing me forward in ministry and life. I am so grateful for Ed and this time we’ve had together.
As I look back on the last 12 months, I’m amazed to see what all we’ve covered and what God has taught me. I’m amazed to see how God has carried me through the goals I set early on. Our church now has a discipleship and spiritual growth track and a vision and plan for multiplication. Personally, I have a plan for personal outreach and have implemented a plan to eliminate areas where I drop the ball.
While none of the areas of focus were new to me, I’m amazed at how being a part of LEAD Coaching has helped me to simply and clearly address these areas. I’m so grateful for this ministry and grateful I got to be part of it.

Jeremy Jordan has served as the lead pastor of Cross Timbers Church, Edmond, Oklahoma, since 2012. Prior to that, he was the church’s associate pastor for two years. Jeremy and his wife, Amy, live in Edmond with their five children.