Posted in: Leadership
Thirty Reasons Church Leaders Need a Coach
by Scott Thomas, President of Acts 29
I often say that every church leader needs a coach. Below are thirty reasons the participants of Gospel Coach Training have shared:
- Coaching helps to remind a leader of the Gospel
- Coaching exposes a leader's blind spots
- All leaders are capable of succumbing to sin's deception
- Leaders are models for faithful obedience
- Coaching is preventative maintenance for a leader
- The stakes for a church leader are high
- Coaching models biblical community
- Coaching provides a prayer partner for the leader
- Leaders can be prideful
- Leaders are often lonely
- Coaching is a practical means for a leader to pay careful attention to self
- Coaching brings encouragement to the leader
- Coaching can protect the flock from a leader’s mistakes and bad decisions
- Coaching improves a leader's perspective and objectivity
- Coaching facilitates the leader's growth and equipping
- Coaching sharpens a leader's calling
- Leaders lead where they have walked themselves
- Coaching is a means for intentional accountability and submission
- Coaching helps a leader identify and fight arrogance
- Ministry is a difficult and complicated task
- Leaders in a coaching relationship model discipleship
- Shepherds need shepherded
- Coaching sharpens a leader's skills and abilities
- Coaching provides a safe sounding board
- Coaching is fun
- Coaching encourages friendship
- Coaching provides affirmation for a leader's decisions
- Coaching enables personal sanctification
- Coaching protects family and marital health
- Coaching is a means to obtain gospel reflections from a fellow leader
1 Comments
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John Drury
on Dec 21, 2011 :: 10:35 pm
Hi Scott
I absolutely agree that church leaders need a coach.
From your 30 reasons list can I suggest that you are combining coach with mentor, pastor and friend?
As someone who was a pastor for 25 years and is now working as a Leadership Coach I would suggest that these 4 roles are actually different and work best if they are performed by different people. (Perhaps the pastor and mentor could be the same person).
A mentor provides wisdom and modelling, a pastor provides counsell and prayer and a friend provides someone to share life's journey.
What does a coach do?
Well in my experience a coach challenges you to grow and become the best person and leader you can be, then assists you to set vision, plans and goals and works with you keeping you accountable as you set out to achieve those goals.
A coach trying to fulfil all 4 roles would usually not be effective.
I believe most pastors need more people in their inner circle including friends, mentor, pastor as well as a coach.
Hope that makes sense to you Scott.
Regards
John