In some
recent coach training events, the participants have pushed me on the difference
between coaching and consulting. Are the lines of demarcation as hard as I seem
to make them? In Disciple Development Coaching, Mark Tidsworth and I define the foci of these two people development
practices in this way:
- Consulting deals with “problem solving, action plans, specific problems.”
- Coaching is “developing people through learning by doing, partnering between self-discovery and sustainable action.”
Consultants
are generally seen as persons with expertise in a particular area of content
whereas coaches are process experts who work in many different contexts. A coach does not have to know about education
to coach an educator or be an expert in the law to coach a lawyer. Coaches are
hired to promote clarity rather than inform their clients. Consultants are generally seen as resource
people and teachers.
Even with
these definitions, I continue to struggle with the dichotomy. I think that one way to resolve the struggle
is to adopt an approach to coaching that is more collaborative. In this approach the outside person works
with individuals, but more often groups, to identify an area that needs
attention, determine the best course of action, and then develop the plans to
pursue that path. I am coming to see
that this “collaborative consulting” uses the basic approaches of coaching and
depends on the expertise and resources of those in the group to move the
process forward. It is a “coach approach”
to consulting.
In his
work on the missional church, Alan Roxburgh teaches that “the Spirit of God is
at work among the people of God” and provides all that the church needs to
fulfill its role as part of the missio Dei (mission of God). I think this undergirds the approach to
collaborative consulting—the resources to define the problem, discover
solutions, identify the path forward, and pursue the resolution of the problem
(or opportunity) are already present in the church. The role of the coach/consultant is to help people
discover what’s already there.
In my
consulting with churches, I spend time in conversation with leaders and
congregants and then offer not answers but questions for them to consider. For example, “If you are really serious about
church growth, what are the changes you will implement in your (worship,
leadership, community ministry, etc.) in the next year?” “What are the
resources needed?” “When will you begin?”
These sound a lot like coaching questions to me.
As you
think about changes and challenges that your church faces, perhaps you need a
consultant who is also a coach.
Comments