Barnabas File

In my conversations with coaches, I sometimes ask the question, “What does your ideal client look like?”  There are various responses, but as I consider the questions myself, here are some client characteristics that will benefit the coaching conversation.   I would like the client to be honest in our conversation. This does not require complete transparency, but the more that the client feels free to share with me, the more it benefits them.  My role as a coach is provide a safe space where the client feels free to share and reflect.     Self-awareness on the part of the client is important.  The person being coached must be willing to question their own assumptions.  A goal in coaching is to help the client learn how to ask questions of themselves; this self-reflection is also an indication of growing emotional intelligence.   I hope my client will be forgiving.  Sometimes I miss the mark on a question.  I...

Several decades ago, Richard Bolles wrote  What Color is Your Parachute?  on identifying and pursuing your career goals.  In some ways,  The Career Game Loop  is “parachute” for a new generation.   Author Jessica Lindl’s background is in computer gaming.  Her book applies the process of gaming to the world of career discernment, development, and achievement.  Even if you are not a gamer, you will appreciate the approach (and learn a lot about gaming along the way).  Lindl recognizes that one’s career path is no longer linear and provides a new model to take its place.   The process is basically four stages:  choose quest, level up, job hunt, and job craft.  There are echoes of Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” because that is what good games are all about.  Lindl develops each stage in depth with not only personal stories but examples of gaming development.   There’s a lot to absorb...

Veteran pastor Joe McKeever recently wrote an article on how to increase pastoral tenure in a congregation.   In the course of his research McKeever interviewed one pastor who had served the same church for 22 years.     Here is one observation he made: “Always work on new initiatives. His 22 years have not been 22 years of doing the same things over and over, but trying many different things.” A pastor (or any leader) can become comfortable and easily get stuck in a rut.  This means that he or she is not flexing ministerial muscles in preparation for the new opportunities and challenges that will rise in every context. Although a pastor should encourage the congregation to be healthy and attempt new initiatives, there are ways that the pastor can be proactive on an individual basis with little or no approval necessary from the congregation. In relation to the pastor’s ministerial role, she or he could do the following: Experiment with an in...

When we discuss the value of coaching, we usually focus on the difference it makes in the lives of individuals, but coaching also has benefits for the churches and organizations that provide it for staff and employees.  In an article in the February 2016 edition of Coaching World, Odile Carru and Mark Weinstein discussed the growth of internal coaching in organizations and its value to employees at all levels.  Carru and Weinstein presented three of these benefits:  talent retention, leadership development, and improving soft skills When a church or organization provides coaches for leaders, the person who is coached not only develops new skills and abilities, but they appreciate the investment being made on their behalf.  This encourages them to stay with the organization longer rather than seeking another position “where the grass is greener.”  According to Carru and Weinstein, key areas for coaching in organizations are leadership development, on...