For the past few years I have had the privilege of coaching a number of bivocational and fully-funded pastors. It has always been exciting to see these pastors experience break-throughs in their ministries, their home lives, and in their own personal lives. One of the things I enjoy about coaching is that we always work on the issues the person being coached brings to the session. We always work from the agenda of the person being coached, not the agenda of the coach. There are two reasons I enjoy this aspect of coaching. One is that it means we are often dealing with different issues in each session. The second reason is that I know that the coaching will be helpful because we are addressing the most pressing issues the minister is facing at that particular time. I don't have to guess what the pastor needs; he or she has already told me.
How does a person know he or she is ready for a coach? There are several, and I will just touch on a very few in this posting. The first is that the minister feels stuck. He or she feels stuck in some aspect of their lives. It may be ministry related; it may be work related; it may be relationship related. Try as he or she might, they just can't seem to be able to move forward with some aspect of their lives. A coach can help break through roadblocks and enable the individual to get unstuck and begin to move forward again.
Coaching can also be very helpful when an individual is sensing a change in his or her life. When I was receiving my training in coaching we were required to have a coach through the training process. That happened to be a time when I was contemplating some major changes in my life and career. My coach helped me work through the direction some of those changes would take, and it was my coach who helped me decide that God was calling me to return to school and work on my doctorate. I was very concerned about what I needed to be doing, and my coach helped me work through that confusion so that things could become more clear.
Sometimes the best candidate for coaching is the person who isn't struggling with any issues in his or her life. It may be that the individual is enjoying life, work is going well, and good things are happening in the ministry. But, the individual is wants to grow and become even more competent in his or her career or ministry or wants to take his or her relationships to a higher level. Such persons are often highly motivated to experience an even more rewarding life, and motivated persons are always the best candidates for coaching.
Are you in a place in your life where a coach could be beneficial? Are you wanting to experience more out of life or ministry than you are currently experiencing? If so, you might be ready for a coach to come alongside and help you become more of the person you want to be. If this describes you, I would enjoy working with you in a coaching relationship. My fees are very reasonable; much less than most life coaches and executive coaches charge. I would encourage you to see these fees as an investment in your life and ministry, an investment that will pay rich dividends over the next few years.
If you are considering working with a coach, please contact me and let's set up an initial discussion to see if coaching would be right for you.
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