Barnabas File

Coaching is by no means a static field.     As its impact and effectiveness have become widely recognized, both researchers and practitioners have sought to understand not only why coaching works but to leverage its strengths to provide more effective services to clients.     In so doing, coaches and coaching educators have engaged with other fields that are in themselves well-developed approaches to human functioning and development. In this post, we will look at four of these—Positive Psychology, Neuroscience, Mindfulness, and Somatic Coaching.   Positive Psychology.   The scientific study of human flourishing, strengths, and optimal functioning was launched by several psychologists, particularly Martin Seligman . The key idea in Positive Psychology is to look at people who are functioning well and learn from them rather than using pathology as the psychological base.  In coaching, it shifts the focus from fixing deficits to identifying a c...

Life coaching is a complex and evolving field of personal development.     I was recently contacted by a friend who did his coach training a decade ago.     He was considering reengaging in the field and asked about emerging topics in coaching.     This is a topic that often comes up with our coaches-in-training as well.   So, this is my top ten list.  It is not based on a survey and the areas are not necessarily new or novel, but they are prominent topics that I encounter on coaching websites, in chat rooms, and in webinars.   Positive Psychology   Neuroscience Mindfulness   Somatic coaching Cross-Cultural Engagement DEIB-- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Team and Group Dynamics—not the same Artificial Intelligence and Coaching Neurodiversity-Affirming Coaching Faith-based or Spiritual Coaching   There are other topics that surface often:  Trauma-Informed Coaching; Climate, Eco-Anxiety, and Sustainab...

“ The best leaders don’t know just one style of leadership – they’re skilled at several and have the flexibility to switch between styles as the circumstances dictate.”—Daniel Goleman   Leadership style is a choice.  The approach the leader takes in working with their team impacts the leader, the team, and process outcomes.     Daniel Goleman is one of the foremost proponents of Emotional Intelligence, the concept of how effectively we manage our emotions and understand the emotions of others.  Of all his writings, I find his discussion of leadership types most challenging.   He suggests that there are six common leadership styles. In a recent  LinkedIn post , he revisits these styles.   Command--"Do What I Tell You"   The leader provides clear, decisive direction when it is felt essential, communicating certainty.   This style is essential in genuine crises—but overuse erodes morale and initiative.   I...

In our coach training program, we are currently conducting a survey of our students and former students to both evaluate their takeaways from training and how we can continue to support them in using their coaching skills.   One of the questions is, “What is the single most impactful concept, tool, or ‘aha moment’ you carry with you from your training?”  Here are some of the responses:   "The client owns their own choices/decisions."  “Realizing the wisdom comes from the client.” “I’m not responsible for fixing.” “Avoid being a problem solver.”   These responses show that these coaches have a keen awareness that the client is a responsible, knowledgeable, and has the potential for growth.  I often remind myself that when I engage with a new client in the coaching conversation, the individual brings these things to the table:   First, they have agency—the capacity the make their own choices.  Even in difficult situations, the client is re...

  See, I am doing a new thing!     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness     and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19, NIV)   In previous posts, we considered context, calling, and possibilities for church leadership in the future.  I am convinced that the Spirit of God is always at work among God’s people, providing ways forward that will allow the church’s mission to flourish.  In this post, I suggest five key issues for the church today, shifts in thinking from our current ways of dealing with them to new strategies, and leadership skills need to make the shift.  You may find my suggestions unsettling, even controversial, but please give them some thought.   First, a shift in theological training and the leadership roles of clergy.  With a decline in the number of seminary students who are seeking the Master of Divinity degree and the increase in ...

Something exciting is happening in our culture.     Churches and their leaders are being called upon to step up and provide hope and community in these challenging times.     This is a time for believers to engage.    In recent years, many religious leaders have seemed content to sit on the sidelines, wring their hands over the “decline of the church,” and avoid the charge of Jesus that “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40, NIV) Bold leadership--foot washing and witness--go hand in hand, but this only happens when leaders are empowered and supported.   In his new book,   Coaching as Spiritual Practice: Deepening Faith While Deepening Impact  Edward Hammett suggests one strategy to provide that kind of support.   “I would like to propose that churches, denominations, judicatories, and districts begin to cooperate to employ a coach in ...

Do you have what it takes to be a coaching leader?  A coaching leader is someone who encourages another person to identify his or her goals, discover the resources available to pursue those goals, develop action plans together, and then walk along beside that person in the process of achieving the person’s goals.  A coaching leader can apply these skills in working with groups and teams as well, multiplying his or her impact as a coach by including others in the process.   A coaching leader is strong in the elements that Daniel Goleman attributes to emotional intelligence:   Self-awareness. Self-regulation. Motivation. Empathy. Social skills.   These are skills that can be learned once a person understands his or her own emotional intelligence profile.  The more that you, as a leader, can manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence.  Emotional intelligence is essential to be an effective coaching leader. In ad...

The first real “job” for which I was paid was as a math tutor.  Considering that I failed Calculus in college, this is rather ironic.  I was a junior in high school and my math teacher recommended me as a tutor for an eighth grader.  The parents paid me ten dollars a session.   As I began working with this young man, I realized pretty quickly that he already knew what he was supposed to do.  He understood the calculations and was probably a better math student than I was!  The key was focus.  He needed someone who would just sit with him, respond to his work, and provide encouragement.  I did not need to be an expert; I just needed to be there.   I find myself in the same situation very often as a leadership coach.  As I talk with a client, I discover that not only does the person have the best knowledge of the situation we are discussing, but he or she has some ideas about how to address it in a p...

Jamais Cascio, an American futurist and anthropologist, proposes it is time for a new term—BANI—Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible—to address our present context.  Although these shifts disturb our personal and organizational equilibrium, Cascio proposes Positive BANI, a set of mindsets to counter the chaos:   Bendable (to counter Brittle) Attentive (to counter Anxious) Neuroflexible (to counter Non-linear) Interconnected (to counter Incomprehensible)   Coaching in a BANI environment requires us to focus on "Capacity Coaching" (how to expand our capacity and options). Since coaches use powerful questions that move people from dependency to autonomy, we can adapt those to address the specific "fractures" BANI creates.   Here are specific coaching tips and adapted questions for each BANI pillar:   Coaching the "Brittle" (Fragility)   When a client feels their career or project is brittle, they are often paralyzed by t...

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” --Ephesians 4:2, NIV   It happened decades ago, but I still remember the incident.  Another student and I were enrolled in a graduate program at a seminary. We were enjoying the program, but we had some similar questions to ask the director of the program.  We set up an appointment and showed up promptly.  We asked our questions in an open, friendly, concise manner.  What I remember most about the conversation was the program director spent most of the time avoiding eye contact, browsing through papers on his desk, and grudgingly offering some clarity about our inquiries.   How often do you find yourself in those types of conversations?  You want to share something with another person, and they spend their time looking at their phone or changing the subject.  How’s does that make you feel?  And to be honest, have you ever s...

In my work with the Summit Coach Training, I teach several times a year.  Most of our coaches-in-training are people with experience in the helping professions—clergy, therapists, social workers.  In a recent class made up of pastoral leaders, an idea emerged that I found invaluable.   First, some background.  In coaching, we teach that people are smart.  Our clients know more about their problems than the coach does.  They are unique individuals with various gifts, talents, and experiences that they can draw upon.  They can make decisions and pursue their goals.  The role of the coach is not to solve the client’s problems, but to help each client ascertain what they want to accomplish, what resources they have to get there, identify barriers and how they might be overcome, and celebrate their achievements.   As we were coaching around challenges that our class members face, we realized that taking a coachin...

When we consider resources that a coach might suggest a client pursue in faith coaching, there are many!  Please understand as I address this topic, I come from a Christian perspective (note the “a” and not “the”). However, there are rich spiritual resources connected to all religious faiths and to no particular religious faith.   Perhaps a starting point comes from the Methodist or Wesleyan tradition.    The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is credited to Methodist founder John Wesley.   This model bases its teaching on four sources as the basis of theological and doctrinal development. These four sources are chiefly scripture (the Bible), along with tradition, reason, and Christian experience.   As Christians, we are not bound by tradition, but we have two thousand years of tradition upon which we can draw.  Tradition is not simply about organization or ecclesiology, but ways in which believers approach God—spiritual practices (such a...

In the last few years, religion scholars and the popular press have written much about the “Nones”—people who profess no religious faith.     Ryan Burge and Tony Jones have found that it is not that simple.    The Nones are often thought of as a single group, but Jones and Burge have found they’re not. There are the Nones in Name Only (NiNOs), Spiritual but Not Religious, the Dones and the Zealous Atheists.  There not discreet boxes but gradients.   What this means for coaches is that we may find ourselves coaching about existential or faith issues when we least expect it.  Our clients may say that they have no particular religious views, but some are more spiritual than they think!   All coaches—Christian or not—can their support clients in authentic meaning-making by exploring their inner world, uncovering  and integrating their true selves.  Faith coaching acknowledges and accepts the inherent ambiguities and tensions ...