This past week, each morning for 3.5 hours, I’ve been taking a course that is equipping me in coaching. This is not coaching in sports, but rather it is a Christian-based model for guiding others to discover and realize their goals. They use John 14:26 about the Holy Spirit teaching and reminding the disciples of everything Jesus had taught them to suggest the the Holy Spirit is in believers so we need to “coach” them to get in step with what the Spirit has been revealing in them. The program was developed by Keith Webb, and all our Pathways staff members are required to take the course in the hopes we will improve in 1) our relationships with global leaders, 2) our facilitation of Pathways trainings, and 3) our ability to empower Christian leaders all around the world to become more effective in their service.

The model has five components: Connect, Outcome, Awareness, Course, Highlights (acronym for COACH). It is highly client-driven, so rather than input from the coach (like mentoring, training, or counseling offer), the issues, ideas, and solutions all come from the client or coachee. Since so much of my life has been focused on equipping others with answers from God’s Word, this week has been a bit of a switch. I believe it will be useful, and I’ve taken a number of notes with practical suggestions for how to implement principles in my work and life. Some of the helpful topics we worked on included: listening skills, asking open-ended powerful questions, determining outcomes that are client-driven, generating rather than giving feedback (again client-driven), and designing SMART action steps (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-limited). Although I don’t believe “pure coaching” the way they do it in the course is what God has called me to do in my life, but a version of it and many of the principles will be highly useful in many spheres.

In addition to the coaching principles, I also received new insights in how to facilitate groups through the online zoom sessions we used each day. Practice in breakout rooms figured prominently as we would be given a principle with a brief description (perhaps only five minutes), then we would head in two’s and three’s into breakout rooms to practice it, then come back together and discuss what we had experienced. The facilitator was highly skilled and clearly had been doing this a long time. Even the pattern of writing down highlights and actions steps at the end of each day is useful that could easily be implemented in Pathways training. Although it was a bit exhausting to engage deeply with this material, I believe it will be a valuable asset to our program and other spheres of life. If you want to be “coached,” please let me know. I certainly need the practice!