Coaching is all about the shift. Coaching is a powerful method of developing people and leaders because it is transformative.

Coaching is defined as “partnering with clients in a though-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Coaching is not about fixing people or solving problems; rather, coaching is a developmental and discovery-based process. A coach simply helps people get the results they want by bringing out the best in them.

Here are some recent highlights and benefits of coaching my clients are experiencing:

Highlights:

  • How to lead as church calls its first gay associate
  • Work around cognitive maps (jumping to conclusions, dealing with catastrophic thinking)
  • Spiritual life and self-care improvement
  • Owning and leveraging one’s unique gifts for ministry
  • Getting out of one’s own way to lead more powerfully
  • Processing for clarity
  • “Coach-sulting” – on demand learning about how to structure a church for better effectiveness, program and project planning, keeping and increasing congregational engagement, enlisting leadership, delegating.
  • Taking a “coaching approach” to leadership by asking more questions of the congregation

Benefits:

  • Increased self-awareness (the #1 most important leadership trait)
  • Self-development 
  • Personal growth
  • Professional growth
  • More fun
  • More relaxed
  • Stress levels decreased
  • Increased church effectiveness

Rev. Annette Flynn, MDiv, MSOD, ACC, is on a mission to help clergy get lit up about ministry. Flynn combines coaching and consulting to fill in the learning gap between seminary and real-world leadership. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, has served churches of varied sizes for more than 20 years and has a passion for supporting clergy. Flynn is a Senior Coach with Convergence US and believes a well-supported and lit up pastor is a force for change in the Church and the world. She received her M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and her MSOD from Pepperdine University. She is an ACC with the ICF.