[featured_image]I’ve been reading a great book on coaching for Christian leaders called Coaching for Christian Leaders. It’s very practical!

Here are a couple of good thoughts so far:Coaching for Christian Leaders | missionalchallenge.com

Christian Coaching is a focused Christ-centered relationship that cultivates a person’s sustained growth and action. (p 10)

Christian Coaching always, without exception, results in action. (p 12)

Here are some excellent coaching questions (p 15):

  • How can this conversation help you move forward?
  • What specific actions are needed right now?
  • What other options need to be considered before you take action?
  • With that outcome in mind, what actions will you take?

In Developing Coaching Excellence, Bob Logan emphasizes the need for continued development to avoid stagnation and mediocrity. If you want to increase your coaching effectiveness, I would encourage you to consider some of the following ideas that Bob suggests: (p 12-13)

  • Increase your understanding of coaching.Check out coaching seminars, workshops and books. (check out Bob’s book Coaching 101: Discover the Power of Coaching or Coaching for Christian Leaders by Linda Miller or Chad Hall)
  • Evaluate your coaching effectiveness regularly.Self-assessment can be a useful starting point. Also ask for feedback from those you are coaching.
  • Work with a coach mentor to help facilitate your coaching development.Have a coach mentor observe you as you coach and provide feedback afterwards.
  • Obtain a formal assessment.This would include an extensive interview process that produces an objective assessment of how strong you are in each area of coaching competencies. (Note: behavioral interviews provide numerous advantages, such as focusing on actual behavior, avoidance of vague generalities, and a careful mining of the coach’s own experiences.)
  • Write a Personal Development Plan.After you have evaluated your own coaching skills, develop a personalized plan for improvement. First, clarify what you want to accomplish. Second, set goals that will help you address your objective. Third, develop a strategy to achieve the goals you’ve set.
  • Implement your plan and evaluate your progress.After writing a plan, some form of accountability needs to be built in to help you follow through. Involving others in teh process will help you move forward in your implementation.
    • In what ways could someone hold you accountable for continuing to develop as a coach?
    • Who might be a good person to do that?

Becoming a good coach takes effort. Becoming an excellent coach takes even more effort. For the past six months I’ve been working at becoming a better coach. Today I reviewed an assessment of my coaching competencies with my mentor coach. It was encouraging to get feedback and to evaluate myself. Yet, I’ve got a ways to go! Now I’m working on my Personal Development Plan.

What steps should you take to become an excellent coach?

See Also: Good Coaching Questions and The Power of Coaching

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