Why?  THE CASE FOR COACHING

While I read the following verse for years, I did not make the connection to coaching until recently. Here are two verses from Proverbs 19 which I have found when applied to my life as a pastor, help me to be a better leader for God:

Get all the advice and instruction you can, and be wise the rest of your life. (Proverbs 19:20)

To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper. (Proverbs 19:8)

Please know that I have taken all the classes, degrees, and seminars that I can find to help me lead my church well. I have a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Masters from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and twenty-five years of experience in ministry. But nothing has powered up and sharpened my ability to lead like having a regular accountability relationship with a Coach. These were professional ministry coaches, whom I sought out and paid, because I knew that I needed a more "hands-on" approach to ministry improvement.

They have helped me in the following ways:

SPECIFICITY

Just as the verse above says, get all the advice and instruction you can, and be wise the rest of your life. I felt that the general principles for leadership which I was learning through Maxwell books, Leadership Summit conferences with Willowcreek, and various connections from Rick Warren were all helpful, but not specific enough to my situation. I wanted to be able to discuss the specific application of those leadership truths to my situation. And I wanted it bad enough that I was willing to pay for it, either by myself or through my church. And I have done both.

OBJECTIVITY

This is a huge benefit for me. I need somebody who is not in my situation, who doesn´t have exactly my perspective on things, to give me some feedback, or more appropriately, to ask the right questions to elicit the right feedback from me. The objectivity of a fresh mind from an outsider is welcome. I want a coach who can evoke answers and encourage their implementation in a way no one from the inside could do.

IMMEDIACY

Because I can contact my ministry coach at any time throughout the month, I get the feedback I need when I need it. Yes, we have an established time where we talk for an hour each month about the issues, but I can also email him or call him as needed.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Anything I share with my coach is completely confidential. There is a certain comfort in the relationship, because, although he is not a counselor, I know that if I share frustrations of fulfilling various aspects of my goals, there are no repercussions.

So, I made the decision in my ministry to make this happen. The second verse in Proverbs 19:8 says that to acquire wisdom is to love oneself. I had to ask myself if I cared enough about my ministry to absolutely give it my all, and I decided that I do. Therefore, I have a personal ministry coach, whom I have been using for over two years now. In fact, at one point, I had two coaches, each with specific skills which I needed at the time.

If you want to increase in wisdom and help your ministry to prosper even more than it already is, please give me a call or email and we can talk about coaching.

Contact Dr. Bill Miller