Discover the 5 Best Ways to Grow as a Coach
You are busy with many other responsibilities. How can you take your coaching to the next level instead of just continuing to dabble in coaching? We can help you discover a clear path to move forward in your journey toward coaching excellence.

Written By CCT Team

Robert E Logan and Gary Reinecke Christian Coaching Tools Co-Founders.

Where Are You in the Coach Development Process?

As a coach, you have a vision to help people listen to the Holy Spirit, and discover and live out their God-given calling. You know what good coaching can accomplish: those you work with will be empowered to make disciples, develop leaders, start groups, launch ministries, and plant churches and movements. You’ll be an integral part of doing great things for the Kingdom of God and making a difference in the world.

Coaching solves the problem of developing people and getting the work of the ministry done. When you shift your posture to developing people through coaching, they’ll grow and more people will be reached. In this way, you can see the mission of Jesus come to earth and be lived out in practical and far-reaching ways.

Your calling is to develop people to the maximum level of their potential and see excellent ministry results. And you know that engaging the coach development process is a critical way to get there.

But how?

You are busy with many other responsibilities. How can you take your coaching to the next level instead of just continuing to dabble in coaching? Like you, we care about using coaching as the powerful tool that it is for furthering the Kingdom of God and making a difference in the world. If you’re ready to get serious and be intentional about your development as a coach, we’re here to help.

We can help you discover a clear path to move forward in your journey toward coaching excellence. Let us come alongside you to bring clarity, turn on a flashlight in the dark, provide a map to lead the way, and serve as a guide to point out the path ahead and help you avoid obstacles.

What does the journey toward coaching excellence look like?

It all depends on where you’re starting. You’ll need to begin by figuring out where you currently are on the path to becoming a great coach, and then taking the next step in that direction. Although the specifics look a bit different for everyone, here are a few basic stages. Where do you find yourself right now?

1 ‐ Experience coaching

If you’re just starting out, the most essential first step is to get a coach yourself. You can’t do what you haven’t experienced. The absolute best way to learn how to coach is to experience it. Skipping over that part is like trying to be a teacher without ever having been a student. In this way, you can learn what coaching is like and you’ll appreciate its value as you see how it helps you become more effective in your life and ministry.

2 ‐ Read about coaching

Experiencing coaching in real life may lead you to doing some reading about it. Read through some of the best books on the subject to gain exposure to coaching concepts and goals.

3 ‐ Develop your coaching skills

If you are still interested, attend a workshop or get some coach training. The best coach training approaches will have some experiential components to get you started practicing right away. Learning the concepts without practicing them is generally unhelpful and leads to stagnation.

4 ‐ Connect with a coach mentor

The next step is to get more intentional; try working with a coach mentor. Getting coaching on your coaching will dramatically accelerate your improvement. Having an experienced coach come alongside you is one of the best ways to help you develop your skills and move forward on the path toward excellence.

5 ‐ Take a coach assessment

The more advanced you are as a coach, the harder it is to pinpoint where you need to improve. Taking the 360-degree coach assessment can really help you zero in on the places of maximum leverage for growth, customize your journey to excellence, and help you make the most powerful contribution you can for the Kingdom of God.

This is what the general outline of the journey looks like to go from a novice coach to a world-class coach. You won’t have to guess if you’re on the right track. You’ll know you’re on the right track. We know Christian coaching like no one else knows Christian coaching. We’ve been researching, teaching, writing, practicing, and presenting on coaching for 30+ years—and improving all along the way. If there are people who have done more research on Christian coaching, we don’t know about them. We truly understand not just the value of coaching—but the value of quality coaching.

What’s next?

Are you ready to get serious? Are you ready to really grow as a coach? If so, get started today by clicking the link below that best describes where you’re at so we can get you the resources to move forward.

Wherever you are on your journey, you can walk in the confidence of knowing you are on the track of becoming the best coach you can possibly be. You can learn though experience, reading, training, mentoring, and assessment. You’ll experience the assurance that the areas you choose to work on are the most strategic points for you.

And best of all… you’ll be super-serving your clients. Because isn’t that what coaching is all about? You’ll see them make progress toward their goals like you never have before. And you’ll know you are part of how God is at work, so that someday you will hear God say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

If you are far enough along on your journey of coach development that you want to connect with a coach mentor or get a coach assessment, click through to the next section of our website: Pursue Excellence.

Accelerate Your Journey to Become the Best Coach You Can Be

By Robert E. Logan and Gary B. Reinecke

You aren’t willing to settle for just okay—not when your calling is as important as empowering others through coaching. But how can you accurately gauge your own effectiveness? Why not try an informed approach to coach development? Instead of working harder, work smarter.

Coaching through chaos  

Change is happening at lightning speed. It’s hard for leaders to keep up and stay on mission. Coaching is more important than ever.

Too many ways to grow as a coach? Try this instead.

You have all these areas you want to grow in as a coach. But you know if you try to do everything at once, you won’t be able to do any one thing well. It can feel overwhelming. How can you go about making genuine, lasting change in your coaching skills? Here’s a way to slow down enough to make sense of the chaos and start putting the pieces together. 

Coaching Leaders to Build Team Unity

The most vocal of the political divisions within many churches may have died down at this point, but it’s still pretty black and white out there with little room for constructive conversation. One of the best ways for leaders to fight division is by modeling unity.

5 Steps to Increase Ability to Focus

There’s a lot going on in the world. Everything is designed to get your attention and there is very little that you can do anything about. It’s stressful and frustrating and makes it hard to focus. But focus you must and so must your coaching clients.

Help Ministry Leaders Make the Most of their Online Presence

Everything thing is done online these days and it’s not always good. But that is where people go first so its important your ministry leaders get it right. Here are 5 ways to make the most of online ministry.

The Essential Skill of Mental Flexibility

The world just keeps getting more complex. It’s hard to keep up. Mental flexibility is more important than ever. The good news is that mental flexibility is a skill that can be taught and honed. Here’s how…

Coaching leaders in times of rapid change and transition

The last few weeks have demonstrated a key principle of change: Change happens FAST, transition is slow. It takes time to understand what has changed, to develop new rhythms, and to build the new normal. These are not easy transitions. With a few waves of a pen, the world has undoubtedly been thrust into a season of transition. And the changes are far from over.

7 Questions to Boost Creativity

Has your client been doing the same events for years even though they are getting diminishing results? They are in a ministry rut. Here are 7 questions you can ask to boost creativity for more effective ministry. 

When Your Coaching Client is Wounded

Sometimes new—or old—wounds hold clients back. Here is what you can do to help and what to do when you can’t.

Coaching Through Decision Fatigue

The world is changing at breakneck speed. For many ministry leaders, new innovations are seen as roadblocks to their mission and vision. Constantly navigating around them is exhausting. Here is how you help those leaders keep moving forward.

Drilling down for insight

Giving feedback is a learned skill.  Helping someone grow in this area can be a game changer. But you must slow down and remain present and ask reflective questions.

Building Cultural Awareness for Effective Coaching

If you are working to make your coaching client list more diverse, the best place to start is with a refresher in cultural sensitivity

Coaching for Resourcing 

Fighting a scarcity mindset by helping clients see God’s provision.

A Military Strategy for Coaching Ministries?

Big changes are needed to halt the decline of the Church in America. However, even small changes can be met with heavy resistance. Many pastors have tried to implement healthy changes and admit that it feels almost impossible. Here is a strategy that might help.

The Organized Coach

If you are coaching more than a handful of people, you know it can get hard to track all the moving parts. Here’s how you can keep it all organized.

Helping clients define discipleship

Here’s a great exercise I picked up from Dave DeVries. If your client wants to make not just disciples, but disciplemakers– people who can make other disciples– here is an exercise to try… 

Avoiding vision whiplash 

If your coaching client’s ministry is constantly evolving their staff and congregation may be experiencing vision whiplash—and it’s painful. Here’s how to help…

What to do when your client is stuck 

You have a coaching client who just isn’t moving forward on their goals. It happens to all of us. These 7 principles will help you troubleshoot and realign to gain momentum.

Before you give up on your coaching ministry

Something feels off in your coaching ministry. Attendance is down, excitement has waned, things feel stuck and you’re wondering if it’s just not going to work. Before you close up shop read this.

 Revitalizing energy for coaching

If you aren’t seeing results, your energy for coaching will become depleted. Let’s look at how well you are empowering the people you are working with.

Choosing the right coach

Many—if not most—of the people who have tried coaching and say it doesn’t work have all made the same mistake: they chose the wrong coach.

An Exercise to Define Your Ideal Client

Whether you are just starting your coaching practice or you have been at it for a long time – knowing your ideal client is so very important.

How to tell if you are a great coach

Anyone can say they’re a great coach. In fact, read through coach bios online and it sounds like they all are great. But you know that’s not always the case. How can you know where you really stand?

What sets you apart from other coaches? 

What makes you unique as a coach? Hint: It’s not your area of expertise.

Principles for a thriving staff

Senior Pastors carry the responsibility to guide their church toward healthy growth. It’s a big red flag if their staff is failing to thrive. 

How is your follow-up question game?

You know that good coaching requires good questions—and you may already be good at asking those. But what about follow-up questions? Even those with strong coaching skills can sometimes fall short when it comes to a skill commonly called piggy-backing. 

How to Make Change Stick

As a coach, you know change is hard. That’s why people need the help of a coach when making real change stick.

Working with Clients to Declutter Time

Spring is here… and so is spring cleaning! But have you ever thought of spring cleaning applied not just to your house and garage but to your time? Your calendar? Your list of responsibilities? 

4 Keys to Effective Fundraising

When coaching people in the nonprofit sector the topic of fundraising is bound to come up. Here are some tips to help.