Talk with your counterpart in another international Christian school! Why?
- Because it helps you flourish.
- Because in my experience, talking with a counterpart is energizing, gets me thinking about new ideas, and helps me make a friend.
- Because it’s an effective practice.
You might be thinking, “Sounds good. How do I connect with my counterpart?” Here’s what I did: I contacted a person I had enjoyed interacting with before to see if he’d like to talk. I got a “yes,” so we started talking. Later, we added 2 more people to our conversation.
But what if the conversation doesn’t go all that well? I wondered about that. It helped me when I thought of the conversation as an experiment and when I wrapped up the first conversation by open-handedly asking, “How was this for you? Might you like to do this again?”
Image by Freepik
You might also be wondering, “What do we talk about?” I also wondered about that. So, I developed a set of 7 questions to use as a flexible guide, and they worked pretty well:
- Connect: For you, what’s 1 recent high and 1 recent low?
- Share: What’s 1 thing you’re learning?
- Celebrate: In your ministry, what’s an example of someone flourishing that you want to celebrate?
- Grow: What 1 or more questions do you want to ask?
- Reflect: What are your highlights/insights for today?
- Pray: How can I pray for you?
- Schedule: When are we talking next?
Note: For me, these 60-minute conversations happen 6+ times each school year. (Originally, I was thinking 3+ times, but the conversations proved so beneficial that we wanted to meet more often!)
What will you do? What’s 1 thing you can do to explore talking with a counterpart in another international Christian school? How about reviewing this 1-page conversation protocol I designed to help you? It includes tips for helping your conversation to go well.
Get flourishing!
Michael
P.S. Be sure to check out the conversation protocol!
Get Flourishing 