Loading...In mid September several diocesan clergy gathered to attend a seminar led by Coaching for Clergy.
 Bishop Baxter debriefs with diocesan clergy who attended the Coaching4Clergy training September 17 thru 21 in Harrisburg. In attendance for the week-long training were the following clergy: Mary Kisner, Alex Dyakiw, Janis Yskamp, Dee Calhoun, Peter Harer, Ken Wagner-Pizza, Tom Reeder, Jonathan Currier, Loretta Collins, Ted Babcock, Lauri Kerr, David Lovelace and Susan Claytor. |
Val Hastings and four teachers presented an accelerated coaching course designed to provide clergy with basic information and skills to use in their day to day ministry.
Each teacher began their presentation with a 20 minute coaching demonstration using a clergy student as the volunteer to be coached. While each coach observed the principles of good coaching, it was interesting to see how they had developed their own individual style of coaching.
Coaching is nothing more and nothing less than learning how to communicate effectively with another person/group in order to help them achieve a specific goal. In our day to day lives we hold many kinds of conversations with a variety of people. These interactions can range from simple information (the keys to the car are on shelf by the door), to trying to solve a problem (how do we get to the bottom of this conflict), or to casting a vision and working toward a common goal.
When a person or group enlists the help of a coach, the first thing they will be asked to do is set up an agreement describing the help they seek. Through exercising such skills as listening intently and deeply, and asking pointed and powerful questions the coach can then begin to lead the coachee to a new awareness of some possibilities for action regarding the subject at hand. A good coach will also help their coachee to come up with action steps to take toward accomplishing their stated objective. They will check in later to see how things are going, if they are moving toward their goal, or if perhaps the goal has changed.
Coaching can be an important tool for clergy to use. It can be used for discernment in a variety of situations, both with individuals and with groups like vestries and committees. Learning to frame questions so that they focus on the subject at hand can be a real help toward moving people toward a desired goal. Well-framed questions can also help to bring a side-tracked discussion back to its intended purpose.
The art of coaching takes time to develop, just as any other skills clergy use in their ministry. It can be a good way to help others step back from emotional ties to past problems, and instead work toward creative initiatives that will move people into more productive ventures in mission and ministry.
