|
Testimonials:
"Coaching
was an excellent experience for me. I was still fairly
new to my job and was about to begin planning a large
event. Jerry was able to help me discover where to start
and how to start planning. I have just finished this
event and it was a lot of fun! And I know that is due in
part to the help Jerry offered me through coaching. "
~ Andrea
"Jerry's
ability to help one process thru personal goals and
strategies is enlightening, as well as inspiring! He
does a great job of helping one walk thru-step by step-
to the best person one can be spiritually, as well as
professionally! "
~Nancy
"I
am an individual that is highly driven and extremely
occupied, but the problem was that I understood
“busyness” as being productive. I desperately needed
someone to help me take a good look at where I was
headed and help me to achieve some goals that were very
important to me. The coaching process allowed me to
slow down and offered me some one that I could talk with
that would assist me in identifying significant goals in
my life and ministry. The coaching process caused me to
list those goals and then to be held accountable to a
plan to meet them. Just one of those very clear and
measurable results of the coaching process has been the
completion of a book that I have been trying to write
for years. The coaching process also gave me some
evaluating skills that I now apply to other goals."
~Don
Articles
Coaching Leaders
and Congregations…
Not long ago
I introduced myself to someone as a “coach.” There
immediate response was “What team?” This is not an
unusual response because most consider a “coach” as
being a person who coaches an athlete(s) in some sport.
It may surprise you but many people are trained and
certified as coaches who help people in a wide variety
of ways. Some of these coaches may present themselves as
Executive, Management, or Team coaches, and others as
Life, Leader, or Congregational coaches.
“Coaching”
has become of growing interest to many leaders, secular
and faith based, in resent years. Gary R. Collins in his
book Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential
Into Reality says “At its core, coaching is the art and
practice of guiding a person or group from where they
are toward the greater competence and fulfillment that
they desire.” Edward H. Hammett in his book Spiritual
Leadership in a Secular Age says “Coaching offers hope,
focus, accountability, and a pathway of leadership
development and discipleship that produces quality for a
postmodern culture, and guidance for churches struggling
to be relevant in a rapidly changing and challenging
world.”
Coaching
should not be confused with counseling, mentoring, or
consulting. Coaching does not involve making a diagnosis
or even giving advice. Coaching is about action and
moving forward. Coaching can be reduced to three parts:
getting a handle on where the person is at the present,
focusing on what he or she wants in the future, and
finding ways to get there.
As a coach
you do not need to be an expert in the areas that would
concern the person you are coaching. You do need to be
able listen, understand, and guide a person as he or she
looks at their own situation, reaches conclusions about
what to do, and then takes action as you guide as an
encourager and cheerleader.
The coach
never works off his or her own agenda. Coaching is
always about what the person being coached wants to be
coached around at that particular time. Coaching is
about asking powerful questions that help the person
being coached begin to move forward one step at a time.
The coaching process is a great tool to unlock maximum
potential for greater performance. Coaching raises
awareness and stimulates responsibility.
Why would
someone use a coach? Gary R. Collins lists the following
simple reasons: a guide in your spiritual journey, to
grow through some of life’s transitions, build skills,
build team, stimulate vision, speak the truth in love,
and facilitate improvement. What benefits would a
Christian leader or congregation receive from a coaching
relationship? Edward H. Hammett suggests the following:
coaching helps the Christian leader to achieve more, in
less time with greater life and ministry satisfaction;
go where they have not gone before; grow forward in
faith and function; reach their full kingdom potential
in life and ministry. It moves the leader and
congregation from dialogue to action by accelerating the
pace and depth of learning, transitioning in areas of
ministry, and clarifying spiritual and strategic
journeys.
The Coaching
leader is really a servant leader. It takes a lot of
time, and is hard work. Out of the leadership and
discipleship models I have tried over the years nothing
has given me more satisfaction than “coaching.”
If you or
your congregation would like to know more about coaching
contact Jerry Essary at 615-351-8355.
Back to Top
Coaching worked for us…
Sometimes
meeting with a “coach” could sound a little like making
a trip to the psychologist office. None of us enjoy
admitting that we need help. And we certainly don’t
like hearing the suggestion from someone else. That’s
exactly our story.
We moved to
Nashville to begin Green Hills Church. As a Southern
Baptist Church receiving Tennessee Baptist Convention
financial support, we were instructed to choose a coach
and begin meeting regularly. We scheduled our first
meeting and expected to jump through the necessary hoops
in order to satisfy this requirement. Our expectations
were low to say the least.
To our
surprise coaching was far different than we had
expected. Instead of showing up and operating on
someone else’s agenda, we were told that we would set
the agenda. Although our coach had church planting
experience, he told us that we were the experts. His
job was not to tell us what to do or regulate our
performance. Instead he came alongside us in order to
help us think toward the future and work well together.
Coaching has
enabled us to function more effectively as Co-Pastors
and leaders because we have been able to think
strategically toward the future. Unlike counseling
coaching isn’t focused on solving issues from the past.
Coaching focuses more on how to plan for the future and
be effective in moving toward success. Every coaching
session we have attended has yielded valuable results
that have enabled us to experience encouraging wins in
the life of the church and positive steps for the
Kingdom of God.
Some of the
areas our coach has specifically helped us is thinking
about what steps we need to take to reach our preferred
future. As a church plant it is vital for us to get our
people invested in serving the church and committed to
inviting outsiders to join us. An example of how our
coach helped us think though our challenge of getting
our people excited about serving and inviting occurred
last summer. We had been puzzling over what we needed
to do to make a significant push in the fall of 2008.
After laying
out our struggle and frustration to our coach he asked
us if we had any ideas that were volunteer driven and
had been suggested by some of our members. An idea that
we had kicked around several months earlier was a
hosting benefit concert. We hadn’t done it earlier
because we had been overwhelmed getting ready for our
Sunday morning service launch. Because of our coach’s
prompting we decided on doing a concert benefiting kids
in Bogotá Colombia. We had 3 bands and hosted it in a
local music club downtown Nashville. Our entire church
rallied around it and we ended up having a large turn
out with many new guests and contacts. We even were
able to raise over 1000 dollars to give away to a
community center in Bogotá. The event was a rousing
success.
Coaching has
been a positive experience. In retrospect, having
someone who is solidly behind you encouraging you and
helping develop your ministry is valuable resource. I
can honestly say that our church would not have the
people who are coming and the stability we enjoy today
without our coach.
~Brad and
Mike Church Planters
Back to Top
Coaching
was the Answer
Sometimes
the most exciting journeys are those that begin without
a clear destination in mind. The Sunday afternoon drive
on a crisp fall day. The wrong turn that takes you on
the longer but more scenic route. Or the journey that
begins with the inevitable change that accompanies a new
season of life. Such was my situation as my children
grew and one by one began heading off to college. For
many years, my life had revolved around them and the
call I had received to home school. I had been happily
busy with teaching and had felt a lot of satisfaction in
my work. This time had always seemed so far in the
future that I had not given much thought to what I would
do when I finally worked myself out of my job. But as
my first and then second child moved to college and I
was left with only one child at home, I felt a growing
restlessness in my heart and more than a little despair
at seeing my “life’s work” drawing to an end. Surely
that couldn’t be it. I felt as though I stood at a
crossroads without a map, and all I could think to do
was ask, “Now what, God?”
Thankfully
that was the perfect question. You see, just as He
promises, God heard my cry and answered with a response
that has sent me on a surprising journey full of new
discoveries. His timing is always perfect and on my
oldest child’s senior recognition day at our church, God
sent a friend to help me find my way. On that day, a
new interim pastor arrived and preached a sermon on
receiving a fresh touch from God. Yes! That was just
what I needed to hear, and as his tenure as our interim
progressed, the pastor shared more with our congregation
about his own journey and his passion for a process
called coaching. I was not very familiar with the term
at that time, but I have come to learn that coaching is
a process that encourages self discovery,
accountability, and forward movement through a
relationship that is safe, non-judgmental, and extremely
supportive.
Even though
our pastor had offered his services as a coach to our
entire congregation and I had asked God for the help, it
took me some time to work up enough courage to enter
into coaching. It was about six months after my oldest
son moved to college that I had my first coaching
session, and within a few short weeks, I began to get a
glimpse of the new things to which God might be leading
me. I am not sure, but I think it was within the first
month of coaching that I rediscovered my desire to write
and felt as though a dam had burst. I almost couldn’t
stop writing as so many thoughts were struggling to come
out. I had been an English major and done writing and
editorial work before the births of my children, but my
interest in writing had been put on the back burner for
many years. This rediscovery has led me to many new
opportunities as I continue to seek the Lord’s direction
and to serve Him. He has given me space to write
devotionals for two websites, and I have been able to
work on several other interesting writing projects. I
can see a little further down the road now and feel
encouraged that God still has work for me to do. And it
is good!
Would I have
made these discoveries without a coach to help me
along? Perhaps. But I doubt that I would have made so
much progress so quickly. Having a coach has helped me
to learn more about my gifts and abilities, to see my
situation from a new perspective, and to accept that God
has great things waiting for me to do. Coaching has
been an awesome motivator when I have felt like giving
in to despair, and it has held me accountable to keep
seeking after the good work that God has prepared for me
to do. My coaching experience is not finished yet, but
I thank God for hearing my cry and sending someone to
lift me up when I was down. “Two are better than one
because they have a good reward for their efforts”
(Ecclesiastes 4:9). Such has been my experience with
coaching.
~Lisa
Huddleston
Lisa is a freelance writer/editor and coach
living in the Lebanon, TN area
Back to Top
|
