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How often do you use affirmation to encourage others?
Your client is sharing the results of the 2 action steps she’s taken to get better life balance. She walked for 30 minutes each day and is feeling more relaxed. And when her supervisor asked her to design a newsletter, she responded with, “I’m happy to design a newsletter. What would you like me to stop working on in order do this?” Her supervisor said she should stop work on a promotional video!
 
You look at your client and say, “You’ve made real progress on getting better life balance. You accomplished your 2 action steps. You’re more relaxed, and you took on a new task without increasing your overall workload. Good for you!” Your client has a big smile on her face. She looks encouraged.
 
My point: Use affirmation to encourage others.
 
Question: How often do you use affirmation to encourage others?

• Consistently?
• Usually?
• Sometimes?
• Rarely?

Make sure you consistently use affirmation to encourage others. And when you give affirmation, make sure your affirmation is:

1. Growth-centered
2. Relevant
3. Authentic
4. Client-focused
5. Energizing
6. Specific

Question: What will you do to ensure that you consistently use affirmation to encourage others?

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How can you use key performance indicators to achieve your mission?
You feel good about the past several months. Your organization has identified its God-given mission, identified the goals it needs to achieve to carry out its mission, decided to use key performance indicators to monitor mission achievement, and is now field-testing its key performance indicators. Wow! Real progress.
 
You want to use the progress you’ve made to close the gap between the words of your mission statement and the reality of your situation. So, you talk about the mission, discuss the goals, tell success stories, and analyze survey results. Good. And you’re thinking about using key performance indicators.
 
Question: How can you use key performance indicators to close the gap?
 
I use key performance indicators to help me focus on what to do next. For example, to achieve my mission during this school year, I need to have 30 coaching clients who are making progress toward their goals. Right now, I have 26. So, I know I need to help 4 more clients make progress.
 
Here’s another example: To achieve my mission during this school year, I need to help 40 leaders build capacity and/or get better results from using resources I provided. So far, I have helped 55 leaders in this way.
 
By using my key performance indicators, I know I need to help 4 more coaching clients, and I know that I don’t need to focus on using resources to help leaders build capacity and/or get better results. Using key performance indicators helps me know what to do next.
 
Question: How could using key performance indicators help you close the gap?
 
Focus on using key performance indicators to close the gap. Today.

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Reflect on your goals
I think it’s true. I think it’s true that what you pay attention to gets done. So, if you want to get your goals done, pay attention to them.
 
How?
 
Take 30 minutes each week to review what your goals are, track the progress you’ve made on each goal, and determine the action steps you’ll take in the next week.
 
Take 30 minutes. Go somewhere you won’t be disturbed. Bring along whatever you need to help you reflect on your goals—paper, pens, computer, post-its, whatever. Then reflect on your goals in order to determine what to do next.
 
Reflecting on my goals has helped me achieve them. I think it will help you, too.

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To what extent do you provide value-added content?
If you want to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, provide value-added content. How? By providing new Biblical teaching. And by providing new connections between what they study and what the Bible teaches.
 
Question: Why valued-added content? In other words, why “new” Biblical teaching? Why “new” connections?

• Because students attend Christian schools to learn new things.
• Because in my experience, students are more likely to get engaged when studying new Biblical teaching and are more likely to get turned off by going over the same Biblical teaching.
• Because students like learning about new connections, like making new connections, and dislike overusing the same connections.

Target Biblical perspective. Provide value-added content. Today.

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How committed are you to using questions?
For me, commitment results in action. So when I want to know how committed I am to something, I look at what I’m doing. At Christian schools, we’re committed to helping students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. And in my experience, teachers who are committed to using questions to help students make connections take action:

1. They have identified effective Biblical perspective questions like “How can you relate to culture?”
2. They ask their Biblical perspective questions.
3. They frame each of their classes (and each of their units) around their Biblical perspective questions. 
4. They use one or more of their questions to start a unit. 
5. They have their students journal on a question. 
6. They use questions as a springboard to having their students read the Bible and articles by Christians.
7. They use their questions to review a unit.
8. They use Biblical perspective questions as the basis of unit and semester assessments.
9. They post their questions on a bulletin board. 
10. They prominently feature their questions on their course syllabi and Web site. 

Question: How committed are you to using questions? (In other words, how are you using questions?)
 
Help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. Use questions. Today.