WHAT IS COACHING?
In the 1500s the word coach described a horse-drawn vehicle that would get people from where they were to where they wanted to be. Many years later, in the 1880s, coach was given an athletic meaning, identifying the person who tutored university students in their rowing on the Cam River in Cambridge.
That use of the word stuck, and coaches became known as people who help athletes move from one place to another. Over time the word also became associated with musicians, public speakers, and actors who rely on coaches to improve their skills, overcome obstacles, remain focused, and get to where they want to be.
Former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula writes about the athletes who would come to his team with their skills and talents, ready to submit to the coach whose job was to instruct, discipline, and inspire them to do things better than they thought they could do on their own. “The coach leaves each person being coached … more competent, fulfilled, and self-confident than he or she would have been otherwise.”
Coaching might have stayed in the realm of sports and entertainment if it hadn’t burst into the corporate world a few years ago. Faced with the unsettling impact of galloping change, rapid technological advances, and tidal waves of information glut, business leaders began to see that no single person could keep abreast of everything. The CEO could no longer manage from the top, keep aware of everything that was going on, and have the ability to tell people what to do. In companies large and small, people at all levels had to learn how to deal with change, develop new management styles, make wise decisions, and become more effective, all while they coped with their hyperactive lifestyles and increasing stress.
Many wanted help with their own life planning and life-management issues. Workers needed to think and behave like leaders and decision-makers. CEOs and other executives wanted people to guide them into this new world … The coaching principles that athletes and performers had used for years suddenly became relevant to the business community. Personal coaching moved beyond health clubs and into corporate offices and the workplace. According to Fortune magazine, coaching has become the “hottest thing in management” today’
But the impact of coaching goes beyond management. Currently, coaching is hot everywhere except in the church. People are turning to nutritional coaches, fitness coaches, financial coaches, public-speaking coaches, and what have become known as “life coaches” who help others find focus and direction for their lives and careers.
Some people look for marriage coaches, parenting coaches, coaches for their spiritual journeys, time-management coaches, and coaches to help them through life transitions.
All of these coaches come alongside to guide others through life’s challenges and to help them move forward with confidence in the midst of change.
At its core, coaching is the art and practice of guiding a person or group from where they are toward the greater competence and fulfilment that they desire. Coaching helps people expand their vision, build their confidence, unlock their potential, increase their skills, and take practical steps toward their goals.
Coaching is not reactive looking back; it’s proactive looking ahead. It is not about healing; it’s about growing. It focuses less on overcoming weaknesses and more on building skills and strengths. Usually coaching is less formal than the therapist-patient relationship and more of a partnership between two equals, one of whom has experiences, perspectives, or knowledge that can be useful to the other.
WHAT ABOUT MENTORING, DISCIPLING AND CONSULTING?
Is coaching just a fancy name for the mentoring that has been in business circles for years or the discipling that Jesus talked about in Matthew 28:19? Certainly there is overlap. Some writers talk about coaching-mentoring, implying that they are one. Others use coaching, mentoring, and discipleship interchangeably. Sometimes these words are replaced with new terms like modelling, spiritual guidance, soul care, sponsoring, or partnering.
JOURNEYING TIMES
A young pastor suggested still another term that I have used consistently. Over one of our breakfast meetings he said, “Gary, I don’t need a father. I’ve got a good one. If I want a counsellor, I know where I can get one. What I need, more than anything else, is someone to journey with, someone who has walked the road of life a little longer than I have. I want to be able to come alongside you for an hour or so every week, talk about life, learn from your experiences, and have you help me avoid some of the potholes on the road.”
From that point we called our meetings ‘journeying times’. Whatever term you prefer, all involve a relationship in which at least one person is further along in the journey of life and willing to guide others-often as a trusted role model.
All of these terms involve accountability, encouragement, and a commitment to growth. Some of the relationships are informal, like the journeying that I did with my pastor-friend. Others are very structured with formal contracts, specific goals, and the giving and completion of assignments. Some are short-term partnerships. Others are like Bob Biehl’s definition of mentoring as: “a lifelong relationship in which a mentor helps a protege reach his or her God-given potential.”
Sourced from: “Christian Coaching : Helping Others Turn Potential Into Reality”. by Gary Collins. Navigator Press, (2001) Pages: 14-17
