This post continues the series I’ve been writing on as a part of my year in review. Here’s something else I wrote last year when thinking about the year ahead:
One of the highlights in the past year for me was taking some training on being a leadership coach. Every now and then I think we come across something that as individuals we really connect with as something were created to do. Coaching is one of those things for me. Ive decided that Im going to pursue the path to becoming a certified leadership coach as it really jives with what I believe God created me for. Im starting off this year by leading my church pastoral team through a peer coaching course and Ill also be attending another training session myself.
What happened:
I completed the Level Two coaching course I enrolled in. It was VERY helpful. I also led our ministry team at my church through most of a peer coaching course but we ended up not finishing do to things getting busy. On a good note, other staff has (or is) enrolled in the coaching course themselves (including our Lead Pastor) because of the value they have seen in it. I have used these new skills numerous times throughout the past year. It’d be nice to pursue the coaching certification at some point but it’s no longer high on my list of priorities BUT the skills learned are still something I’m using all the time.
What I’ve learned:
Coaching ranks up there as one of the most valuable skills I have learned and I’m constantly working at becoming better every opportunity I get.
Another thing I learned while leading the staff through the Peer coaching lessons is that it is something you cannot teach effectively over a 5 month period. I’m convinced that one of the reasons we didn’t finish it is because in an attempt to compensate for our busy schedule we spread the lessons over a long period. It killed momentum and the effectiveness of the lessons. The good thing is it gave staff a peek at the value of coaching as a skill and (as I already stated) some of them have gone on to enroll in the full coaching course. The bad thing is we didn’t finish the peer coaching lessons.
Now a question for you: Have you experienced the concept of leadership, or life “coaching”? If so, what was it like for you?