ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
SIDEBAR: Challenges and Benefits of Coaching from the Inside--Coaching From the
Coaching from outside an organization is profitable and objective; however, coaching your staff and lay leadership require a new set of skills and ideas. Here are a few benefits and challenges:
Benefits:
- Coaching in real time provides opportunity to celebrate accomplishments and make midcourse corrections quickly.
- The relationship between the coach and the leader can be more relational, especially if the leader and coach are working side by side in a project or ministry.
- Leaders see the coach make mistakes and observes how they apply their own ideas.
- The coach has the ability to put on other hats, such as mentoring, to help leaders accomplish their goals.
- The coach can offer the leader his earned influence to multiply the success of the ministry.
- The coach often has resources more readily available.
Challenges:
- The consequences are personal.
- The mistakes are visible to the coach. If the coach has authority over the leader, this can be awkward at times.
- The coach has to be able to let the leader fail to learn a lesson, but that failure often reflects on the coach as well.
- Coaches are sometimes caught in the middle of defending a leader even when they agree with what others are saying.
- The temptation to tell is greater than the skill of asking questions.
- The lines between that of mentor and coach are often blurred.