Course Creator Information
This course was written by Ken Guenther. Ken has served in three countries with SEND – the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine. We have been involved in church planting, training church leaders, and field leadership. He is currently based in Canada after living cross-culturally for more than 30 years. Ken leads the International Office Services (departments) and heads up SEND U, the training arm of SEND focused on developing its missionaries and mission leaders throughout the world. Much of his coaching and training is done online, but he also travels a lot. Ken is passionate about mentoring and coaching younger missionaries and SEND leaders. Over the years in both the Philippines and in Russia, he has frequently taught courses or seminars on leadership to church leaders and aspiring church leaders.
Course Description
This is the second online course that Ken has developed for mission team leaders. The first one was entitled “SEND Team Leader Orientation”, and focused on the role, character, job description and ongoing growth of the team leader. It has been offered several times since 2010 and dozens of SEND leaders, as well as leaders from other missions, have completed the course.
This course is focused on the team leader as a supervisor or manager of people. One of the most difficult transitions most mission leaders face is moving from being a peer and co-worker to being a boss to one’s co-workers. The training at the SEND 2014 Directors’ Council explored what it means to be a supervisor based on Bruce Tulgan’s video, “It’s OK to be the Boss”. Many of the concepts from that training have found their way into this second online course.
Outline of course
- Week 1 – Serving as a Steward. What does it mean to be a supervisor?
- Week 2 – Clarifying Expectations. How do I help each team member figure out what they are to be doing?
- Week 3 – Connecting Regularly. How do I provide regular assistance and accountability to my team members?
- Week 4 – Providing Feedback. What do I do when a team member is not meeting expectations?
- Week 5 – Promoting Growth. How can I help my team members develop?
Course Mechanics
The key to successful learning in this course is interaction. This takes place both between the facilitator and each participant and among the participants. It is vital that each participant is faithful to post responses on time and reply to the posts of other participants.
You should plan to participate in the course several times each week, on at least every second day. We want you to engage with each other as well as with the subject matter. Don’t be afraid to articulate your unique ideas, think critically, or ask challenging questions of others in a godly manner. Of course, your words of encouragement to fellow participants are always welcome.
You will not receive a grade or mark from your facilitator. Your success in learning will be measured more by the impact of the lessons learned and tools adopted on your future leadership of your team.
The course is estimated to require about five to six hours a week of work. All the material is presented online and will be a mix of text, audio, and video. The course is designed to be very practical, and the assignments are focused on real leadership issues and creating plans to address those issues. Please work through the assignments and forums in the order that they are listed, from top to bottom in each week.
This is an asynchronous course, so there are no specific times you need to be online. Participants will be in several different time zones around the world, so there is no one set time when everyone is online at the same time. The assignments have due dates, and within the boundaries of those due dates, you are free to complete those assignments according to your schedule (i.e., you can do them at night, in the morning, at lunch, etc.).
