The Coach Approach Ministries Podcast

Scott Gress is a professional coach who teaches leaders when to ask and when to tell to get great ministry results. His new book is called A Christian Coaching Guidebook: How to Come Alongside Others for Ministry Results. You can buy Scott's book at Amazon.com. Find out how you can hire Scott to coach, speak, or train at http://www.scottgress.com

The tables are turned this week, as Michael Cheuk, the editor of Christian Coaching Magazine (www.christiancoachingmag.com) interviews Brian on the topic of How Much Do I Charge for Coaching?

Brian and Chad dig into the ICF competency of Designing Actions and geek out on its focus on learning.

Brian interviews Rev Debbie Foster, who is a pastor to pastors, and takes a coach approach to EVERYTHING in her ministry. She makes this bold statement early in the podcast: "I wouldn't still be in ministry today if it weren't for the coach approach to my work." Here are a few bullet points to the interview: Centering in Trust - establishing intimacy - safe space Transition from technical work to adaptive work - more questions, less answers, physically move out of the spaces we are in. Metaphors, painting pictures, allow failure to inform Holding up the mirror - saying what I hear - asking tough questions Making space for the Holy Spirit

Brian was reading Tim Hicks book, Embodied Conflict, and came across the term "Maybe Capacity". Hicks writes: We can create a type of understanding that allows for the coexistence of mutually contradictory accounts, what might be called a "maybe capacity," a looser attachment to hypothesis formation that allows us to be receptive to, and to convey our openness to, each party without fully subscribing to their account or to our own internal responses to their account. That is kind of a mouthful. Brian and Chad break the "Maybe Capacity" down to a level that every coach can use. Here are some highlights: Get comfortable with not knowing Ask questions that are wide open at the beginning Create a "frame" for the client to design actions Let the Client assign the meaning and action to the issue (and yet keep them in a maybe capacity)

Brian interviews Ken Kessler about his role in creating a coaching culture in his denomination. Ken is the Director of the Coaching Network for the Baptist General Association of Virginia (bgav.org) They discuss the dynamics of creating a coaching culture.

Brian and Chad discuss the easy trap of turning a coaching conversation into an interrogation. Too many questions! They explore other ways to create a conversation without the overuse of Powerful Questioning.

Merlin Switzer is the Founder and CEO of Switzer Associates (switzeronleadership.com). He is certified as a PCC coach with the International Coach Federation, and he is our guest today on the Coach Approach Ministries Podcast. His calling is to coach leaders, especially senior leaders and business owners. He believes that if he can impact a leader, there is a rippling effect throughout the organization. The higher the leader is in an organization, the greater the impact.

Brian and Chad discuss the "typical twelve" responses to distress. These are responses coaches should avoid. Advising: I think you should leave the room the second he raises his voice. One-upping: You think that's bad? Let me tell you about the rages my husband gets into. Educating: I can recommend a really good book that describes what happens in the brain when you've been traumatized as a child. Analyzing: It sounds like you have internalized your father's rages so that your husband's raised voice triggers that old fear. Storytelling: Did I ever tell you what I did on my honeymoon when my husband yelled at me? Minimizing: Well, at least he doesn't hit you the way your father did. Sympathizing: I feel frightened when I hear how angry he gets. Interrogating: How often does he go into one of these rages? Reassuring: I'm confident that you'll find a way to resolve this together; the two of you have been through a lot. Avoiding: Let's talk about something else, OK? This topic is quite upsetting. Diagnosing: It sounds like you have some typical codependent personality traits. OR It sounds like he has dysfunctional anger syndrome. Judging: It sounds like you've made a poor choice in a spouse.

Three types of coaching models are described in this episode, along with clues that might indicate the need for a different model. Also, Chad gives one thing he doesn't like about Abraham Lincoln.