Coaching...

This past Saturday there was a Western District United Methodist event at a Salem church (Trinity). It was called "Take Two," calling to mind the advice we were given by Adam Hamilton at Annual Conference. He said that if we feel overwhelmed with all the information we have been given over the day, that we should just "take two" ideas home with us to try out. So, Saturday's event offered three foci, two of which we could attend and try out. I chose "empowering the laity" and "the coaching relationship." I appreciated both, and some of the concepts in the laity workshop are particularly helpful in my context of pastoring two churches.

Right now, I want to talk about the value of coaching. I have been in a coaching relationship for just under a year now with two different coaches. My first was Dan Glover, who is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church from Ohio, who, along with Claudia Lavy, heads up "Deepening Your Effectiveness." DYE is a consulting and coaching firm which is based on a model for developing a discipleship pathway for the local church. My second coach has been Gwen Drake, who is the pastor of the Hillsboro UMC just down the road from Cornelius, who is training as a life coach through the Coaches Training Institute.


Coaching is all the rage now isn't it? It certainly has gained a lot steam in the church over the past decade. And while it seems like a new fad, or the "latest and greatest" in leadership techniques, it really isn't a new concept at all. Though the term has been more widely used lately, there seems to be some confusion about what coaches actually do, which is both surprising and understandable. That is exactly why an athletic analogy is appropriate (while we don't all like sports, we all get sports). Who is the greatest player in the game of golf? Despite his problems of late, probably Tiger Woods still. But even Tiger has a coach. Do you know who that is? Probably not. His name is Sean Foley (incidentally, the third coach in his career after Butch Harmon and Hank Haney). Is Sean Foley a better golfer than Tiger Woods? No, because Sean would then be the best golfer in the world. He's not the best golfer in the world, although I imagine he's pretty decent. But being a coach is not about being better or worse. In addition to being a decent golfer in his own right, Sean is simply someone who is gifted at seeing what is going on with another golfer's swing and helping the golfer to achieve his or her goals. Tiger could be still be a darn good golfer without a coach. He is naturally good enough that he might even be a top twenty golfer in the world. But utilizing his talent, lots of practice, and the outsider perspective of the coach, he has become the number one.

In athletics, there is always room for improvement no matter how talented and/or knowledgeable one is. Consider that little leaguers, major leaguers, and everyone-in-between have coaches. So, if Tiger, who is quite literally at the top of his game, uses a coach to improve by fine-tuning his already-amazing swing, then someone like me, who still has soooooo much to learn about ministry and leadership, and quite frankly, life, could make leaps and bounds of progress toward my goals with a coach helping me to use what is already present within me.


For athletes, musicians, and actors the goals are pretty straightforward. To achieve at the highest level one possibly can in order to win the game or give a mesmerizing performance. Those of us who don't have such immediately identifiable goals in our professional fields may not even realize that we have goals, nonetheless. And when we don't have goals or can't name our goals, we may find ourselves feeling stuck or directionless, meandering through our lives, or busying ourselves with activities that we know are not in line with what is important to us. Coaches can help us to name what is important to us. And when we can name the important things in our lives, goals seem to flow naturally out of us, like springs of refreshing water. This is the beginning of the coaching relationship. And once we can name our goals, which is powerful in itself, then coaches help us to remain focused, and help us to acknowledge when there are roadblocks or personal breakdowns that get in the way of us achieving those goals.


If you find yourself stuck, spinning your wheels and going nowhere fast, or if you know that you've got loads of potential to work toward your goals, then I encourage you to find a coach you know you can trust. I believe that you will be surprised what you will find that already exists within you.