From Senior Doer to Senior Leader

Metro Philly pastors and directors · Friday, October 23, 2026 · Blackhawk Coaching with Joe Holland

A senior leader is not the most capable pair of hands in the room. A senior leader stands before God for the people, charges others with the work, and builds a team that can shepherd souls.

The day

Opening: what “done” looks like by the end of the day

Module 1: From senior doer to senior leader and strategist

Module 2: Ministry design at scale

Close: team decisions, next steps, and prayer

Module 1: From senior doer to senior leader and strategist

Exodus 18:17–23. “The thing that you do is not good… For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself… Stand before God for the people… Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.” (NKJV)

Plutarch on Pericles. “…offering himself like the Salaminian trireme, as Critolaüs says, for great emergencies. The rest of his policy he carried out by commissioning his friends and other public speakers.” Plutarch, Pericles 7.5–6, trans. Perrin, Loeb vol. 3, p. 21.

Key ideas

Task, goal, team. A task is what your hands do this afternoon. A goal is what the work is for this season. The team carries it with you.

Intent, not scripts. Write a one-sentence charge to the team leader: the charge, the constraints, and the picture of done.

Clear ownership and metrics of success. Name who owns the work, what success looks like, and which decisions the team lead makes, which they check with you on, and which come to you.

Disciplines of a senior leader. A minimum schedule, a weekly look at other people’s work, a corrective and fatherly conversation, a written charge for every ministry, and a refuse-list.

Your one-pager: Team · Charge · Ownership · Refuse-list

Module 2: Ministry design at scale

2 Timothy 2:1–2. “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (NKJV)

Xenophon on Cyrus. “…the sergeants care for the ten men under them, the lieutenants for the sergeants, the colonels for the lieutenants, the generals for the colonels, and thus no one is uncared for…” Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.1.14, trans. Miller, Loeb vol. 2, p. 313.

Key ideas

Leadership multiplication math. How many people are under care, how many one leader can actually father in a year, and the gap.

Leader pool. Name what team leads must be able to do, who is close, and who is a few months of sitting in away. Training the leader pool is the work.

Build all at once, or launch and refine? Ask whether it will serve the congregation in time, and whether you will tell the truth when it doesn’t.

Measures that fit the office. One gap measure and one whole-formation measure.

Your one-pager: Math · Leader pool · Vehicle · Build approach · Measures

Take home

One ministry, one written charge to the team leader, one refuse-list item that starts next week.

As a team: which decisions no longer need to come to the lead pastor unless souls or doctrine are at stake.