A woman at a conference asked me one time what my position was on women in leadership. I responded, “I believe that leaders ought to be in leadership,” to which she responded, “Well said.”
But in a coaching setting, if I am serving as the coach, my opinion on issues like this simply doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant. What matters is what the person being coached believes. I’ve worked with people or groups who are men-only, and I don’t try to convince them of my view. I just help them live out their values and principles very consistently. It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
Whatever your convictions are, they’re not relevant once you’re in the coach’s chair. I’ve worked with people who believe in the gift of tongues and people who don’t, and in either case I work within the client’s framework. One of the hardest things for Christian coaches is to recognize that it’s not our role to change people’s beliefs to fit with our own. Make the tent as wide as you can, be helpful to as many people as you can… and keep yourself out of it.