A Coaching Culture Enhances Discipleship
Listening and asking questions are fundamental coaching skills. The ability to genuinely listen and understand what the Holy Spirit is doing during discipleship or leadership discussions can yield profound insights. Personally, I have dedicated myself to becoming increasingly skilled at recognizing the Holy Spirit’s voice – there’s no replacement for investing time and attention. Cultivating this ability in others to listen to and interpret the Holy Spirit’s guidance is both thrilling and transformative.
It blurs the distinction between spiritual guidance and coaching, but over time, disciples remain engaged and are more inclined to pass on their faith to future generations. Leaders embody authentic lives that align with their God-given identity. One leader who has integrated a coaching approach into his community has noticed a remarkable shift in how disciples participate in their journey of making disciples. One result has been an increased sense of “mystery” – a mystery surrounding Jesus’s longing to capture the hearts of all people, along with the unexpected discoveries they encounter along the way.
One area that has seen significant change is its outreach to “young adults.” By placing responsibility where it rightfully belongs, new disciples are taking initiative to align their lives in more fulfilling ways, which has transformed the culture. An emerging leader has risen to take the lead with a vision to guide others in listening and obeying!
Beyond Individual Coaching: Empowering Networks
If you’re a pastor or leader aiming to empower others through coaching, one of the most effective tools you can adopt is coaching itself!
As your demand for more coaches surpasses your individual capacity—transitioning from one to many—a crucial and essential step is to establish a standardized coach training program. This guarantees that all leaders employing a coaching approach, regardless of their previous experience, follow a consistent process and maintain uniform practices.
This establishes crucial quality control for your network and for the “clients” (disciple-makers, leaders, pastors, church planters, missionaries) you support.
Yet, standardizing practices is merely the starting point. To genuinely witness your coach network thrive, ongoing quality control and investment in your coaches’ development are essential.
The Challenge: Ensuring Coaching Excellence
Initially, your network may assess coaches based on their previous achievements, interpersonal skills, or formal education, such as Christian counseling. While these qualifications are beneficial, they do not always guarantee consistent coaching success. The truth is that leaders guided by “coaches” with diverse competencies will experience different levels of success.
Effective and consistent coaching is the “X” factor that will significantly influence your network’s success. Without dependable and valid assessment and development, it becomes challenging to determine where to concentrate your efforts for a coach’s growth.
Here are five typical challenges networks encounter when they fail to assess and develop their coaches:
1. Mixed Results: In the absence of formal assessment, a coach has a 50/50 chance of unlocking a leader’s potential.
2. Intuition Can Be Misleading: Many coaches, even those with some training, often depend on intuition for their own growth, which can be inaccurate.
3. Unreliable Feedback: Although client feedback is valuable, it is limited as a primary assessment tool.
4. Lack of Developmental Pathway: Without a systematic process, coaches do not have a clear roadmap for ongoing improvement.
5. No Guide to Walk Alongside: Coaches require mentors to assist them in effectively honing their skills.
Even as a solo pastor initiating a leadership training program in your congregation, you will face these challenges. In a team or network, the complexity of the problem increases with the number of coaches involved.
When was your last formal coach assessment?
Up until now, I’ve discussed everyone except for you. You may have completed a basic coach training program. You might have also undergone a competency-based assessment. If you haven’t, have you thought about taking the 360° Christian Coach Assessment?
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Maybe you completed coach training that ended with the 360° Christian Coach Assessment. Is it time for you to reassess your progress in your coaching development? This assessment will establish a new baseline, help you recognize the changes in your growth, and include up to seven clients you have coached. Generally, most leaders only have two assessors during their initial assessment.
We see the 360° Christian Coach Assessment as a sort of annual check-up for coaches, suggesting a timeframe of 12-24 months between assessments. The key point to think about is whether the next step in your coaching development should be the assessment or perhaps some other specialized training that aligns with your unique ministry focus.
What about you?
Think about what actions you can take to enhance your coaching effectiveness.
Download the FREE Action Planner.
Mark a date on your calendar for your 360° Christian Coach Assessment.
If not now, when?
Consider having a coach mentor support you along the way.
I can assist you in your coaching development journey and speed up your growth.
The added benefit?
The International Coach Federation (ICF) acknowledges the 9 Christian competency areas, 55 behavioral outcomes, AND coach mentoring with InFocus. In summary, 10 hours of coach mentoring fulfill the requirement for ICF certification.
Are you ready to advance in your personal coaching journey or to empower your team with truly exceptional Christian coaches?
Get in touch with us to begin today!
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