Life Coaching

As a small group coach, I'm always looking for ways to support my leaders and help them succeed. If you're a pastor reading this blog, you're probably thinking the same thing about your leaders and your coaches.

My friend in ministry, Tony Stoltzfus, has taught me many things in the last year or two, but recently I've learned just how important life coaching is to any relationship. Tony has invested years of his life not just being a life coach, but teaching others how to be life coaches.

I'm now using my newfound life coaching questions when I meet with my leaders. I ask them what they want to accomplish, what's in the way, what kinds of plans they've made to get those things accomplished, the obstacles in the way of achieving those plans, when the person wants to get a preliminary goal accomplished, etc. It's all about asking the person to articulate a plan of action that is doable and achieves something in a defined period of time.

Folks just don't have people in their life like this, and too few are organized self-starters. Without someone who will serve as an encouraging life coach, they're stalled in many areas of life and are reactive and not proactive.

As I visit with other small group coaches, I find they do not maintain this mindset with their leaders and don't help them in this way. This is sad. It does not take a lot of time or energy, and when done right there's no advice to offer or expertise required. A ten year old kid could life coach someone if they understood why they were asking the basic questions!

If you are not helping coaches and leaders create their own plan of attack, it's time to meet with them and ask them what they want to get accomplished and how they're planning to go about it. This kind of coaching is what turns static leaders into dynamic ones with a direction in life.

So let me ask you, when you meet with coaches or group leaders, what's on your agenda? How do you help them succeed? What kinds of questions do you ask, and most importantly, what are the results?

2 comments:

Hugh said...

Your post makes a good point. Life coaching questions can be beneficial for everybody regardless of the life role they are currently playing.

Zen Benefiel said...

Absolutely a gem for using with anyone that has a thirst for getting better results in life.

I think the term 'life coach' is not as appreciated in the marketplace as it could be. Hopefully, folks like you will help to spread the word.

I thoroughly enjoy being a dream weaver where ever I go... Be The Dream - Life Coach.

Namaste,
Rev Zen