Yesterday it was my turn to do the coaching in my 10-hours of training to become a Certified Christian Leadership Coach. I wrote about it here. Each of the 7 students takes a turn coaching and being coached, while the rest of the group listens and offers feedback afterward (along with the person coaching us). I wasn't supposed to do mine for several more weeks but the guy that was supposed to coach yesterday didn't know if he would be able to (prior commitment), so I gladly volunteered to go ahead and get my turn out of the way. I coached Steve W.
I thought it went okay. I felt very comfortable doing it - though it is a tad unnerving knowing that everyone else is listening and grading me. It actually made me more aware of the times when I worded questions poorly and things like that though. Plus it helps knowing everyone is there to help one another, rather than just be critical. So I was satisfied. I learned a little more, and was encouraged that maybe I can do this. I would give myself a B-. I imagine by the end of this course I will be much better at it. The biggest issue I had was... since we were all on the phone (or computer), it sounded like someone was snickering several times when I would ask a question or make a comment. I didn't 'think' they were laughing at me, but it was a little distracting. I'm not sure who it was, because we were all supposed to mute ourselves if we weren't talking. It's also possible it was some other noise that just sounded like snickering. Anyway, I didn't worry about it too much, but it didn't help. Overall, I am really glad I signed up for this class though.
And... speaking of coaching... I was saddened to hear that basketball coaching legend Wayne McClain passed away yesterday. He was one of the winningest coaches in Illinois history at Manual High School in Peoria, then went on to work as an assistant at the University of Illinois for many years. Most recently he was the coach at Champaign Centennial High School. I think he was only 60. I guess he was in the hospital with pneumonia, and it was only after he passed away that anyone other than his doctor found out he'd had lung cancer for like 2 years. He just didn't tell anyone about it. I never knew him, but knew about him since I lived close to Peoria for most of my life. He seemed like a real stand-up guy; sort of a man's man; and was definitely very well respected by his peers and players. Sad to hear he passed at such a young age.
Speaking of health issues.... Jane's brother John had bypass surgery on Tuesday. I guess it took way longer than they thought due to scar tissue from his bypass surgery 20+ years ago, but it seems that he is doing well. There were pictures of him walking yesterday, and he called Jane last night. So that's good.
There are a few other things I was going to mention but..... I think I'll just stop here. Yesterday was kind of a good day - other than the sad news at the end.
5 comments:
Glad to hear about Jane's brother. Talking implies no respirator, getting him up to walk implies his stats must be good and any further than that with my speculation I don't dare venture because Dr. John will get a voodoo stick in his neck that someone, some-where is completely wrong.
As for the coaching, I would think you'd be a natural, even before the class. Just asking astute questions like you do and providing encouragement for feasible ideas; I would think that goes a long way. You'd just have to look out for the people with their head in the clouds that haven't tied their idea to a cost in dollars and sweat and consequences and reality in general.
Because I know you don't reply, these questions are rhetorical.
According to the rationale for Christian coaching, how did Jesus model and command coaching?
What resembling coaching appears in the Book of Acts?
How do coaching and APEST align with each other? Can any APEST gifting participate in coaching?
Do coach advocates see coaching taking place in the history of the church or do they think they've found a long lost "pearl of great price?"
These are sincere questions. I don't know the answers. My next door neighbor has been a very successful life coach for business executives for many years and I have to struggle against the belief that Christian Coaching is merely one more way the church is imitating the world, not taking Truth to it.
Bill, I'll take a crack at it since Dan probably won't respond. I think of coaching as just another skill to add to your skill set. Though some who are really into coaching would probably disagree with me, I don't see coaching as some new and great innovation that is going to completely change my ministry. I see it more as a recovery of a lost art that can be very helpful.
As for Scripture, it is loaded with coaching in the sense that God/Jesus ask powerful questions and makes statements all the time that are not designed to inform Him of an answer, but to get people to think. It starts early in Genesis when he asks Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" and, "Who told you you were naked?" With Samuel when he says, "How long will you mourn for Soul when I have rejected him as king." And Isaiah, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
We also see it in Jesus many times but the most obvious is when he asks, "Who do people say that I am? But who do you say that I am?" Another, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" And, "Do you want to be made well?"
As for Acts, probably the best example is, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?"
Like I said at the beginning, it is a skill that has been used since time began and you've probably done a lot of it yourself. For some of us coaching classes just help us learn a skill while for others I suppose they see it as a career. It is good for some of us to learn another way of communicating truth. Especially for those of us who are right all the time and find it hard to believe that people simply won't listen we we just state the the facts. :)
Thanks,Tom.
No doubt there was a lot of interactive teaching in the Word.
Isn't the New Testament word for this disciplining?
I do wonder how much the discovery of this method these days is merely the church mimicking the ways of the world and not finding, in the Word, ancient wisdom.
FYI: In our gathering we have abandoned the preaching of sermons in favor of interactive discussions of Scripture. We have noticed that word used to describe Paul's manner of speaking in gatherings in Acts is dialegomai. Notice the similarity to the word dialog?
Does this make our meetings coaching sessions?
Post a Comment