Coaching is an intentional beneficial relationship between two or more people focused on helping the one coached successfully obtain their goals.
Good coaching can help you:
- reach your potential in Christ
- discover what you truly want in life
- overcome obstacles to success
- connect short-term strategies to long-term plans
A Coach is a “trusted role model, adviser, wise person, friend, Mensch, steward, or guide — a person who works with emerging human and organizational forces to tap new energy and purpose, to shape new visions and plans, and to generate desired results.” Someone who “facilitates experiential learning that results in future-oriented abilities” (F. Hudson, The Handbook of Coaching).
An Executive Coach offers specific help by:
- Maintaining Confidential Partnerships
- Utilizing a Structured Process
- Goal Directed for Optimum Performance
Executive Coaching is NOT Psychological therapy! Coaching is designed for emotionally and psychologically healthy individuals. Coaching focuses on:
- Performance
- Achievement
- Fulfillment
So, what can you expect from our coaching relationship? Here are a few appropriate expectations:
Expect your coach to ask questions. . . sometimes hard questions, questions you may have been avoiding for a long time. The coach is to be curious, to help you discover more about yourself and in general, create the foundation for better self-understanding.
Expect your coach to focus on your potential, what you can do, and the formation of your best self. A coach will help you go over, under, or even plow through obstacles, help to equip you to find your own way and avoid the fear, doubt, or circumstances that hold you back.
Expect your coach to help you stand firmly on your own set of values and Christian faith, to know who you are in Christ, and to become more confident in your relationship with God as His beloved child.
Expect your coach to challenge you. Sometimes the most loving thing anyone can do for us is to tell us the truth. Though uncomfortable and sometimes difficult to hear, we all need to be challenged in order to grow. Einstein said once: “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” A professional coach will encourage you break the cycle of “same-ness” and help you make way for more satisfying results.
Expect your coach to be your encourager. Your professional coach will serve like Aaron and Hur who helped keep Moses’ hands held high and allowed the Israelites to prevail (Exodus 17:12). A good coach helps you re-think situations and helps reveal new possibilities, ideas, and successful strategies.
What the coach will not do:
Don’t expect your coach to be your new boss or tell you how to live your life. Coaching is about empowering the person, not dictating someone’s life. The last thing most of us would ever want is someone telling us what to do!
Don’t expect your coach to be triangulated. The coaching relationship is between the coach and the one coached. The coach is NOT a middle-manager between the Board/Council or Principal or Pastor or anyone else. The relationship is between the coach and the one being coached. Coaching is NOT a disciplinary activity, it is an encouraging, positive and engaging relationship that helps the one being coached to reach their own fullest potential.
Don’t expect your coach to do YOUR work. Successful coaching is empowering and equips people to change their own future. It might seem strange, but the one being coached pays me to get them to work. That’s the only way coaching will be helpful. Maximize your own success by suggesting areas of strength AND weakness; suggest activities that need to be measured and where it would help to be held accountable. Accountability is key to a successful coaching relationship.