This blog prompt came to my inbox and it just didn’t sit right. I react most negatively when someone tells me what they assume I don’t know. Maybe you are something like me, but hang with me for a moment because I do think there is something most people don’t know.
Coaching is not consulting. There is a difference in what each brings to the table. A consultant is an expert who brings their experience and knowledge to bear on a specific situation. Coaching, on the other hand, is a person whose skills help unlock the potential with the person or organization being coached. It is the give a person a fish or teach a person to fish scenario.
What I think most people don’t know is that the solution, or way forward for them as a leader is already within them. The job of the coach is to ask penetrating questions to help a person or organization to discover the answers that God is providing to them through the Holy Spirit. Coaches might skill build or provide information, but the goal is to grow the person or organization in their capacity to problem solve and discern strategies that accomplish the vision for ministry.
We all need a little help from time to time unlocking our God breathed potential. There are all kinds of sabotage that present. Self doubt, past failures, pressure of urgent problems that are not strategic, fatigue and a host of others. You are probably thinking of one that plagues you or your organization. These roadblocks can seem insurmountable in the moment. They combine to keep us from listening to God and recognizing our unique giftedness.
You are in your current role at this time for a reason. God has not set you up to fail, but to prosper. Everything you need to succeed as a leader and as a church is already present. The role of the coach is to help you to recognize your assets, opportunities, and roadblocks and then develop strategies that take what you have and do what God is calling you to do for the Kingdom.
You know more and are capable of more than you think. The way forward is within reach and with a little help from an experienced guide you will dismantle roadblocks and discover the joy of serving from a place a tremendous, unrealized capacity.
Principled Leadership Coaching 