SUPPORT: A Practical Framework for Developing Others

Helping Leaders Move Beyond Conversations Towards Transformation

Why Good Intentions Rarely Develop People...

Most Christian leaders genuinely want to develop others.

We preach about discipleship.

We encourage emerging leaders.

We invite volunteers into ministry.

We mentor.

We coach.

We offer advice.

And more often than not…we offer training.

And yet many leaders quietly admit that despite their best intentions, they often struggle to see sustained growth in the people they invest in.

Part of the problem is that many of us have conversations, but fewer of us have a process.

We encourage people, but rarely walk with them intentionally through a developmental journey.

We solve problems, but do not always create ownership.

We provide support but do not always empower people to take increasing responsibility.

In a previous blog series, we explored a process for raising and releasing leaders. If you would like to read more, click on HERE.

Jesus modelled something different.

He selected disciples.

He understood them.

He challenged them.

He sent them.

He debriefed them.

He refined them.

And ultimately, He released them.

SUPPORT is an attempt to capture that rhythm in a simple and reproducible framework.

It is designed to help leaders intentionally develop others while avoiding two common traps:

• Doing everything ourselves.

• Abandoning people before they are ready.

Training is still important.

Intentional relationships will never be replaced.

But I want to introduce you to something else we have developed over time…

SUPPORT provides a pathway between dependence and multiplication.

COACH and SUPPORT...

In our Level 2 People Development module, we use two frameworks.

These frameworks are not competitors.

They complement one another.

The framework that is most likely familiar to you is the COACH framework found in Keith Webb’s book ‘The COACH Model’.

But where…

COACH guides the conversation.

SUPPORT guides the development journey.

COACH helps leaders facilitate individual discussions.

SUPPORT helps leaders think strategically about a person's longer-term growth.

One SUPPORT journey may contain dozens of COACH conversations.

In fact, I would argue that it has to contain many COACH conversations.

In our module focused on developing others, the COACH framework is ideal as an approach for a leader to intentionally raise others.

But SUPPORT offers something different.

The SUPPORT Framework...

S — Select

Who will I intentionally invest in?

Development rarely happens accidentally.

Jesus selected the Twelve.

Paul invested deeply in Timothy.

Barnabas intentionally persevered with John Mark.

In our core training SHIFTm2M, we talk about ‘focusing on the few’.

Selection is not favouritism.

And I want you to hear this again as many push back on this in the churches that I often find myself working with.

Selection is NOT favouritism.

It is stewardship.

Leaders have limited:

• time

• energy

• capacity

And anyone who tells you otherwise is either a unicorn in leadership, or more than likely, they are lying to themselves. You cannot be all things to all people, and an important part of your leadership journey will be to understand what your capacity and your limits are.

And can I just add, this will be different for each person, and it can vary with the season of life you are in.

So don’t sacrifice yourself on the altar of appeasing everyone.

Selecting someone means prayerfully asking:

Who might God be inviting me to intentionally develop in this season?

This is exactly what Jesus did just before he selected the 12 to be Apostles. He spent all night in prayer…and then selected ’12 of them’.

So, who are you intentionally ‘selecting’?

U — Understand

What is happening and why?

Many leaders move too quickly to solutions.

And I mean that.

When one of my kids comes up to complain, cry or just ask a question, my first response is far too often a response to fix it or find the solution.

Coaching leaders slow down.

They listen.

They observe.

They ask questions.

They seek to understand:

• motivations

• fears

• opportunities

• assumptions

• context

People rarely need advice first, and that’s the same with my kids.

They often need understanding first.

How quick are you to pull the trigger on something, to react or to just make the ‘captain's call’ when something comes up?

P — Plan

What growth is needed?

Once understanding increases, development becomes clearer.

This stage asks:

What needs to change?

What could improve?

What opportunities exist?

Growth plans should not simply focus on tasks.

They should focus on becoming.

For those who have attended any of our training, but especially our core training.

You will have heard us often repeat the saying,

‘Become what you want to multiply’.

This is the same idea.

P — Proceed

What action will be taken?

Insight alone rarely produces transformation.

Growth requires movement.

It requires a plan.

It requires strategy.

This stage helps people identify:

• next steps

• experiments

• commitments

• habits

The goal is not perfection.

But it is progress.

This is often the hardest part for leaders…because it’s where the rubber hits the road. It actually means that we will or they will do something tangible.

We so often subscribed to the narrative that knowledge will alter everything…but that is just false.

If it were true, then our world wouldn’t have any problems anymore because we all carry around with us more knowledge then there has ever been throughout human history...and we access it through our phone!

Knowledge is important, but unless you put that knowledge into tangible next steps and action, then it won’t make a difference.

O — Observe

What happened?

Action creates experience.

Reflection creates learning.

This is commonly known as the Action Reflection cycle.

It sounds simple, and that’s because it is…but that doesn’t mean that we automatically do it.

Leaders help people ask:

• What worked?

• What surprised me?

• What challenged me?

• What might God be teaching me?

Without reflection, experiences are easily wasted. But by embedding this reflection process into your journey, you embed the Action Reflection cycle into those you are intentionally investing in.

R — Refine

What needs to change?

This is self-explanatory.

Growth accelerates through adjustment.

In other words, people become more effective when they learn to:

• seek feedback

• identify blind spots

• embrace coachability

• adapt their approach

Refinement turns their experiences into wisdom.

This can also be where other popular leadership tools, like a 360-degree survey, can be helpful.

T — Transition

What is the next stage of growth?

The goal of development is not dependence.

The goal is empowerment.

And this isn’t just for those you are investing in and raising…we all need to continue to grow and develop. But so often, we, us, the leader, can end up becoming the barrier for growth in others.

Leaders eventually release responsibility.

This also means the authority to match that responsibility.

I remember a merger between two organisations that ended up going poorly. The problem wasn’t that the idea was bad, or even that people were against it…

The problem was that the two leaders did a poor job of dividing the authority and responsibility. This ended in one of the leaders having all the responsibility and very little to no authority. While the other had all the authority, yet no responsibility. You don’t have to be a genius to realise that this was never going to work.

And that’s the same for those we are raising and investing in. We must make sure that we give both the responsibility to lead and the authority to lead well.

As you release the responsibility.

People begin serving.

Leading.

Coaching.

Developing others.

And the cycle begins again.

SUPPORT and Multiplication...

SUPPORT is not simply a coaching framework.

COACH is a framework that does this.

We’ve tried to suggest a framework that doesn’t so much guide the conversation, but rather, guides the journey.

And in doing so, we’ve moved towards a transformational process.

And if you start to embed this into your practices, you will have introduced a leadership multiplication framework.

It’s not a program…

It’s not a specific ‘how to’…

And it’s not completed in a day, a week or sometimes even a year. (yes, I can hear the Friends theme song in my head now as well…)

Whereby healthy leaders ask:

How can I help this person succeed?

We’re inviting you to ask a different question:

How can I help this person eventually develop others?

This is the question that multiplying leaders ask.

That shift changes everything.

Development moves from maintenance to mission.

And as we do this, we invite others to move with us towards His Kingdom agenda, and not our ministry requirements.

*Note: If you would like to explore this more, contact us HERE or explore completing our Leadership Competency Module on 'People Development' level 3.

Reflection Questions:

1. Which stage of SUPPORT comes most naturally to you, and which stage do you tend to neglect?

2. How might using SUPPORT help create a stronger culture of people development within your ministry or organisation?

3. Who is one person God may be inviting you to intentionally invest in during this season?

This article was written and created by Andrew Hodgson, ©2026

Published by The Emerging Leaders Program, 2026