What If "It" Would Make All The Difference? All 6 Reporter Questions
If you have ever thought about coach training, or even never thought about it, these Q's are for you!
1. WHO should consider coach training?
If you are a parent, pastor, marketplace leader, small group leader, have neighbors, or family relationships, coach training can enhance every conversation and enable your influence to haveĀ deep kingdom effect!
Want more: Why Hermits Don't Need Coach Training (And Five Reasons Other People Love It!)
2. WHAT does it cover?
Coach Training includes a foundational study of Active Listening and Asking Powerful Questions, then goes on to the principles in the ROAD. The power of Recognizing what to focus on, the empowering personal agency of Ownership, developing Action Steps and then maintaining the gain of Dedication.
All these tools can be used in casual conversation as well as coaching sessions.Ā
3. WHEN would be a good time to take it?
Maybe that is a question only you can answer, but I will say that if you wait until you have time, you may ...
Do You Have Direct Reports?
If you have people who look to you for leadership,Ā what comes to your mind as you answer the following questions?:
- Do you have a clear plan for investing in their growth, personally or professionally, or both?
- Does your organization have a strategic plan for assessing whether job description functions are being carried out well?
- Can you clearly state how you help your people best learn to solve their situational issues on their own with confidence?Ā Ā
In one sentence, how would you define Leadership Development in your organization?
There are several key elements needed for any healthy organization to achieve sustained, replicable growth. The culture of an establishment is not simply what is written in the employee handbook but, even more so, what is experienced as the norm in everyday proceedings. Bridges can help bring coaching culture to your leadership and your organization.Ā
Coaching culture uses a Biblical model to help people become confident in moving forward without ...
How Word Pictures Can Shift Worldviews
"A picture is worth a thousand words" is really true, maybe even more so for word pictures!
God used word pictures throughout the Bible. He compares His care to being a shepherd, His strength to being a strong tower, and His forgiveness to making us whiter than snow - to name a few. Jesus was a big fan of word pictures as well. In fact, it seems He used what was around Him to share kingdom principles more often than direct teaching. Maybe because word pictures stick in our minds? They are easy to recall and often add depth to a concept's meaning. Think about the yeast in the dough, the vine and the branches, the seed sown in different kinds of soil, - we could go on and on.Ā
It should come as no surprise, then, that God still wants to reveal truth to us through word pictures.Ā
In my own life, I can recall many times when a word picture has helped me anchor my soul in a time of need. I remember one time when I was particularly overwhelmed. I was writing curriculum and recording lesso...
Coaching Tools And How They Can Help
All good coaching allows the person being coached to choose their pathway, and most good coaching allows the "client" to choose the goal.*
But what happens when the person being coached really isn't sure how to move forward? Maybe they don't know what goal they want, or maybe they aren't sure how to take steps forward. Let's take a look at both scenarios.
1) Choosing a goal
At Bridges, we share three ways to choose a goal. The first is a tool called the Bridges Coaching Wheel of Life. It offers a personal evaluation process that provides a well-rounded view of a person's satisfaction in various areas of their life. Click the green link above for your FREE copy. We also offer an expanded version in our Life On Purpose personal workshop or the Traction book.Ā
The second is taking a dream out of the "dream cloud," planting it in the ground, and tending it. That could mean anything from a project like writing a book to adding on to your home, or pursuing an education or a promotion. Th...
Does True Coaching Include Coaxing?
Merriam-Webster defines coaxing as: the act of gently and persistently persuading someone to do something using patience, kindness, flattery, or encouragement. Instead of using force or coercion, it involves appealing to someone's emotions or offering small incentives to overcome their reluctance.
So, does coaching include coaxing? The answer isn't as clean-cut as you may think.
A coach is a thinking partner. Their job is to come alongside someone to create a conversational space where the person can move forward in an area they choose to focus on. Remember, the word coaching comes from the idea of forward movement. "Coaching" from one place to another - like a stagecoach taking people from one place to another.Ā
The person chooses to get coached to move from where they are to another place. That place could include anything from a specific project goal to a mindset shift, or from making a quality decision to walking through a transitionalĀ season l. Truly, any forward movement can ...
Need A Crafted Conversation?
What is a crafted conversation? I'm glad you asked!
Ever wish you could just figure out how to talk to "that" person about "that" thing?
Maybe it's your boss, or your spouse, a co-worker, or even a dear friend, and there is that one thing you see that you would really like to be able to talk to them about, but you just don't know how.Ā
Susan Scott talks about these kinds of conversations in her book Fierce Conversations. She defines a āfierce conversationā as one in which we come out from behind ourselves, into the conversation, and make it real.
In essence, having an open conversation is where actual relationships thrive. If we can't talk about things, we are hiding part of ourselves, and our perspective is missing from the whole.
Here's a quick overview of her proposal:
- Name the issue (Take some time to identify the core issue and name it.)
- Select a specific example that illustrates the behavior or situation you want to change. (Share a time that exemplifies the core issue i...
Change Happens Two Ways - And Three Ways We Address It
Subject: Change Happens Two Ways - And Three Ways We Address It
Change happens by Decision and Imposition. That's how I see it. Put another way, transition happens by choice or by chance through a situation God can use.
Let's look at each.
#1 Change can happen when we make choices.Ā
Our decisions lead to transitions. It can be as simple as choosing a different breakfast or as complex as changing careers and moving to a new location.Ā Ā
When we stop making choices to change, we stop growing.
Discipleship is a transformational process that requires shifts. Shifts in thinking and in doing, and shifts in how we manage our thoughts and emotions. It is how we process the stuff of life, which brings us to our next thought.
#2 Change can be imposed on us when stuff happens.
The "stuff" can be something we hoped for, like a promotion or a new relationship, but it can also be something we feared, like a difficulty. Maybe an event at work prompts an unwelcome transition. Inflation causes...
How Are You REALLY Doing?
Not, how are you supposed to be doing.
Nor, what are you supposed to be doing, but HOW ARE YOU REALLY DOING?
Every now and then, it is wise and worth it to take a little time and check in with your soul.
The stuff of life can weigh us down. We have stuff, our people have stuff, and the world in general is full of stuff. Stuff demands our attention. It puzzles our minds. It weighs on our spirits.Ā
Stuff can be overwhelming. It can litter the stream of life that scripture says flows out of us.Ā
In John 4:14 Jesus promises,Ā "..whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life.ā
But the stream gets clogged sometimes, doesn't it?
God wants to meet us wherever we are at. He longs for our honesty and provides a way for us to connect with Him.
If you could use a boost, we want to help.Ā
FOR A LIMITED TIMEĀ Bridges is offering our step-by-step personal retreat video package for a dee...
If He Is The "Great Arranger", What's Our Part?
I've been thinking about God as the "Great Arranger" lately and seeing evidence of it all around me, in Scripture, in history, and in my life. He sets things in motion even before we ask. Just this morning, I was talking to a pastor who made an announcement about shifting youth ministry to a different night, and after the service, a mom came up to him and shared that her son was just saying on the way to church that it would be so much better if youth were on a different night. That pastor had been working on that shift for weeks, maybe months, and yet the Great Arranger set it up so that the announcement would come that day! :)
I could tell you stories of how God provided housing for us in miraculous ways - more than once. There are stories of financial provision and relational connection that could not have happened without Divine guidance.Ā
So, what's our part? Do we even have a part?
If He is the Great Arranger, do we simply need to let go of doubt, believe, and wait for somethi...
How to Harness The Power Of The "Aha" Moment
Think about the last time you experienced a "Eureka" moment.
Likely, you saw something in a new way. You realized that this new understanding would have a tangible impact on your life.
Here are a few "Aha" moments I've had and how they affected my life:
- I realized that making disciples was less about my ability to teach and more about helping people connect with what God had already put in their hearts.
- The weight of another person's spiritual growth was lifted from my shoulders, and I was more easily able to have conversations about decisions, relationships, or any number of issues without feeling like I needed to make something happen or come up with the right answers.
- I saw that not only the person being coached's decisions, and their consequences, but mine as well were choices to be made.
- This helped me see that my growth, or change, or whatever kind of forward movement I was looking for was possible, but I needed to own it. It wasn't on someone else to show me the wa...