Is coaching the most missional activity we can engage in?

[Jon Van Bruggen]

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who is also a coach. As he was sharing with me about some of his more powerful coaching conversations over the last month (with no breach of confidentiality) he paused for a moment of reflection and said, "Perhaps coaching is the most missional activity we can engage in as followers of Jesus." I asked him what made him think of that and he responded, "If God is a missionary God, and good coaching invites a person to discern God's presence and guidance in their life and also helps them take steps in following that guidance, doesn't that make coaching a key to missional living? In other words, if the activity of God is missional activity, and if the goal of coaching is to draw people into the activity of God, then isn't coaching of others one of the most missional activities we can engage in?"

My friend raises a good question, one that perhaps challenges the very fiber of our Western approach to Christianity (e.g aiming for intellectual certainty rather than relational trust).

What do you think? Would you consider coaching to be the most missional activity we can engage in?

[Hobby Chapin]

I always have a hard time saying something is the "Most" effective thing . . . But, I agree Jon, that coaching is a very missional activity. I think the future of missional leadership development is in leadership coaching.

I am currently participating in a coaching certification track. I am learning to use Logan's coaching model. I have read Ogne's book and have been coached by a couple of guys using various models. So, it has been interesting to explore what might be the best fit for me in coaching others or what might be the best fit for others in light of their personality or gifting.

Jon, I am interested in your approach to coaching and how it has developed for you. Would you mind sharing more about your experiences to this point?

[Jon Van Bruggen]

@Hobby. Yeah, I agree with you about describing something as the "most" whatever. I should have left that out.

Anyway, my development as a coach started a couple years ago when Bob Logan and I began planting house/simple churches together in LA. Our vision was for the churches to be simple and reproducible so as we started to grow we discovered that coaching played a central role in many aspects of the movement, primarily evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development. I was yet untrained as a coach and as a leader I felt it necessary to become certified as one, so I went through CoachNet's coach certification, which as you know Bob developed out of his Coaching 101 material. Not that you asked, but I find that his model is more holistic that some of the others out there as it really does rely on one's ability (and willingness) as a coach to listen well and help the coachee discern the Spirit's guidance.

I currently use coaching in a number of ways. I still coach people within our network of house churches to help them become who God has created them to be. I also coach other church planters as well as a variety of other ministry leaders to help them get to where they sense God is calling them, and I serve as a coach mentor for CoachNet, coaching people who engage in their coach certification process.

I also use coaching in less formal ways, particularly when I meet new people. I enjoy listening to others so asking curious "What..." and "How..." questions usually solicits long responses (people love to talk!) which allows me both to learn more about them as well as discover connection points to deepen our relationship.

That's probably more than you were looking for, but there it is!

Now, here are my questions for you: What have you enjoyed most about your coaching experience so far? What would you change about the particular models you have encountered?

And I see that you're involved in church planting as well. What insights have you gleaned from your experience?

[Hobby Chapin]

Jon, Sorry about the late post. I didn't see that you posted until this past week. I appreciate your answer, it is what I was looking for.

I have really appreciated the philosophy behind coaching. It is not mentoring where you provide all of the insights you've ever learned from your experience. It is not counseling where you assume something is wrong and needs to be fixed. It is coming alongside another and drawing out of them what God is creating.

I have enjoyed coachnet and the 5Rs. But, I have found that a heavy goal orientation has not sat well with some of my leaders and even with myself. I am a D on the Disc and so, I do have a tendency toward results. But, I have also through experience become hesitant to continue setting goals when the future is so unpredictable.

I have been coached by 4 men simultaneously over the past 4 months. Two coachnet trained, one spiritual direction framework, and one mentoring framework. All of them but one participate in church plants similar to mine. They each bring interesting insights from their experiences and personalities. I have been trying to synthesize from my experience with each of them and my experience in planting and coaching along with my own personality. It has been a fun process.

I am coaching three men and about to add a fourth soon, plus a group of 10. I am thinking about building a frame for each coaching session to mirror our core values as a church plant. I have found that some of them do not like formality in coaching and when I ask, "What do you want to talk about this week?" They don't really have anything. I think it may help these leaders to have a frame to think out of. I love having all options open and I don't like anyone putting me in a box, but I am learning that not everyone likes to function that way.

I might stop there, for the sake of dialogue. What resonates? What questions might you ask to draw me out more :) ? What would you speak into my experience from yours?

[Jon Van Bruggen]

Hobby, thanks for your feedback on the CoachNet coaching philosophy. I would agree with you up to a point by saying that yes, when taken to the extreme and when followed to the letter, the 5R approach can become quite restricting over the long haul, even for high D's. Having to set goal after goal after goal without taking time for rest would drive anyone nuts! And yet, this goal-setting approach can be quite effective with people who have never set goals before or with those who have a huge project to work on (1 year plus) and need to break it down into smaller pieces.

Having said that, what I appreciate most about the CoachNet philosophy is that it provides enough flexilibility to allow each coach to adapt the process to his/her own coaching style. Being that one of our core principles is reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it's critical for a coach, any coach, to be sensitive to the needs of those they are coaching and to break away from the goal-setting approach to focus on other issues when necessary (this is the Refocusing aspect of the 5R approach). We must allow for adjustments to be made, not only in our goals - as people being coached- but also in our overall approach to coaching - as coaches. So I resonate with your desire to step away from goal-setting with some of your coachees. Go for it! But with that, what's the new focus of the coaching relationship? What's the purpose behind the two of you getting together?

This leads me to some questions re: the group you are coaching, particularly those who "don't have anything to say." It may be that some review of the purpose for the coaching relationship needs to happen. They may be wondering, "Why are we getting together?" Or, "How am I supposed to be preparing for this?" This is not to say that the goals of the relationship need to be established in order to move forward (there may never be any goals set!), yet there needs to be some purpose behind the hour of time you spend together and some defining of the roles each of you will play.

If I may make a suggestion, I would pose that you do indeed provide that "framework" of sorts (i.e. the direction/purpose) for the coaching relationship. So instead of starting with "What do you want to talk about today?" you could ask, "When you think about this particular core value of ours, what resonates with you and your journey with Jesus?" "How do you envision this value being lived out in your own life?" or "How does this core value challenge your current way of life?" In this way, you remove yourself from being the authoritative leader (which is unfortunately how many people view their pastoral leaders) and position yourself as a learner, opening up yourself as well as your leadership to be affected by their responses.

All this is to say that you should make the coaching system(s) work for you in your context. In this way, you'll discover more about yourself and will become a much more effective coach because you'll operate out of who God made you to be rather than trying to be something/someone you're not.

Of what I just wrote, what resonates with you? What needs clarification? Where do you want to pushback?

Also, what's the next step you need to take with your coachees to clarify the purpose of your coaching relationship with them?








Hobby Chapin said:

Jon, Sorry about the late post. I didn't see that you posted until this past week. I appreciate your answer, it is what I was looking for.

I have really appreciated the philosophy behind coaching. It is not mentoring where you provide all of the insights you've ever learned from your experience. It is not counseling where you assume something is wrong and needs to be fixed. It is coming alongside another and drawing out of them what God is creating.

I have enjoyed coachnet and the 5Rs. But, I have found that a heavy goal orientation has not sat well with some of my leaders and even with myself. I am a D on the Disc and so, I do have a tendency toward results. But, I have also through experience become hesitant to continue setting goals when the future is so unpredictable.

I have been coached by 4 men simultaneously over the past 4 months. Two coachnet trained, one spiritual direction framework, and one mentoring framework. All of them but one participate in church plants similar to mine. They each bring interesting insights from their experiences and personalities. I have been trying to synthesize from my experience with each of them and my experience in planting and coaching along with my own personality. It has been a fun process.

I am coaching three men and about to add a fourth soon, plus a group of 10. I am thinking about building a frame for each coaching session to mirror our core values as a church plant. I have found that some of them do not like formality in coaching and when I ask, "What do you want to talk about this week?" They don't really have anything. I think it may help these leaders to have a frame to think out of. I love having all options open and I don't like anyone putting me in a box, but I am learning that not everyone likes to function that way.

I might stop there, for the sake of dialogue. What resonates? What questions might you ask to draw me out more :) ? What would you speak into my experience from yours?