When God is at work, don’t mess it up

When you’re coaching someone and they say, “That’s a good question,” how should you respond? The correct answer is silence. When someone says, “That’s a good question,” it means the Holy Spirit has connected with them and what you need to do is nothing. Be silent and...

What makes a question powerful?

Most powerful questions are simple and they are short—usually 5 words or less. What do you want? What would it look like? Who can help you? What are you hearing from God? These are short, simple questions. Powerful questions have no long preamble or explanation on the...

What makes missional coach training different?

I’ve done conducted a lot of coach trainings over the years. Last week in Denver I did my first coach training geared specifically for missional leaders. Missional coach training:  coaching for incarnational, missional ministry. It felt different. Since then I’ve been...

Baby steps in coaching

Let’s say you’re coaching someone in the area of spiritual formation. So far he’s had no intentional connection times with God at all. When he visualizes setting aside time to be with God, he’s thinking two hours a day of reflection on scripture. Many times people try...

Mapping the macro coaching relationship

The 5 Rs I referenced in yesterday’s blog entry (relate, reflect, refocus, resource and review) can also apply to the coaching relationship in a more macro sense. You build more of the relationship on the front end, you reflect to determine goals for the coaching...

A structure to hang your coaching skills on

Let’s say you have some coaching skills, but you want something to help you put those skills together—a way to be intentional, systematic, and consistent in your approach to coaching. For those who aren’t naturally organized, the best thing out there is having a...