LD6810 COACHING AND MENTORING

Partial Submission

Harvard Business School. Coaching and Mentoring: How to Develop Top Talent and
Achieve Stronger Performance.

Stoltzfus, Tony. Leadership Coaching: The Disciplines, Skills, and Heart of a Christian
Coach

____________________

Submitted to

Luther Rice University

In Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Divinity

____________________

David A. Luzuriaga
El Salitre 1168 La Florida
Santiago, RM 8301395
CHILE

I.D# LP7123 / Phone: (56-2) 2881-9199

May 12, 2014

Advisor: Academic Advising Office

Professor: Rusty Ricketson

Hours Completed: 87 Hours Remaining: 3

 COACHING REPORT

________________________

A Paper

Submited to Rusty Ricketson

Luther Rice University

________________________

In partial fulfillment

Of the requirements for the course

LD6810 Coaching and Mentoring

________________________

By

David Luzuriaga

LP7123
 OUTLINE
I. INTRODUCTION ... 1

II. COACHING AND MENTORING DEFINITIONS .... 2

III. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF BEING COACH .............. 3

IV. SUCCESSES AND FAILURES AT THE PRESENT

COACHING EXPERIENCE 4

V. ANALYSIS OF THE COACHING SKILLS USED AT THE PRESENT

COACHING EXPERIENCE .. 6

VI. CONCLUSION ...... 8

VII. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ..... 9

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 INTRODUCTION

Some serious Christians authors use to say: leadership is influence. This is true and

necessary from the pastors task view. A church pastor needs to focus in his flock and to fulfil

God`s commands, so the church can grow not only in numbers, but in Christlikeness nature.

To accomplish this task, the pastor needs to guide and help people to achieve the goals that

God had stablish for each one of them. So it is imperative, as a local church, that some people

achieve their Christian character in order to God build His church.

In this particular view, coaching Christians, can be used as main tool to shape people.

If the purpose is to help people to be like Christ, then it is necessary to implement that tool

in our churches. The necessity of help people it is not from our own will but it come from

God`s call to tend my sheep in the Gospel of John 21:17 (NASB). A particular command

is given here so a very special attention must to be upon this. Coach people must to be

understood and applied in Gods view of His churchs growing plan. We cannot act out of

Gods design because the church is Gods initiative. Then, the necessary question will be:

can we help non-Christians to achieve Gods design levels of character and holiness even

though they are out of Gods plans?

Lets review the definitions and lets comment the experiences at the present work of

coaching a Christian person.

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 COACHING AND MENTORING DEFINITIONS

The first textbook used in this class was Leadership Coaching, The Disciplines,

Skills and Heart of Coaching; from Tony Stoltzfus. According Stoltzfus, leadership

coaching is about helping people solve their own problems, not telling them what to do

(Stoltzfus, 2005, Position 159 Kindle Edition). In other part of the introduction of the first

chapter Stoltzfus said: coaching is a radical believe in people, practiced in a consistent,

discipline way in order to help others grow. (Stoltzfus, 2005, Position 183 Kindle Edition).

As these definitions of the first author say, coaching is about help people. Help to

grow, help to identify their own problems and their own ways to solve them. It is well said:

teach people how to fish, not only give them fish to eat one day. If coaching is help them

to find the origin of their problems, and guide them to find ways in order to solve their

problems, then coaching can be the ultimate tool for pastors to help them to do their

leadership task.

The other book we used in this class is Coaching and Mentoring: How to Develop

Top Talent and Achieve Stronger Performance, from the Harvard Business Essentials

Collection. According to this book Coaching is an interactive process through which

managers and supervisors aim to solve performance problems or develop employee

capabilities. The process relies in collaboration and is based on three components: technical

help, personal support and individual challenge. (Harvard 2004, 2).

This definition has its basics on the idea of production and effectiveness at work,

where the concentration is oriented at the results and not mainly at persons.

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 PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF BEING COACH

This was a strong experience where I discovered that I had to start over with the idea

to help people. Being coach is not the same thing and task of being counselor or spiritual

guide. Up to this point, all was about help people and tell them what to do. According

Stoltzfus, it is exactly the opposite: not to tell them what to do, but help them to find, by

themselves, their own path to obtain best results in their process of their maturity.

The main challenge constitute in change all learned in Counselling and try to follow

the steps of to know the client, to investigate in clients life what are his/her orientations,

expectations, failures, successes and summarize everything with the possibility that hi/she

finds their own path to follow. For several face-to-face encounter with my client, I was not

sure what to tell and how to respond for his insights and observations. I was praying while

he was speaking, asking God for wise and words that would help him on his own road to

Gods holiness life.

Stoltzfus said: coaches are change experts who help leaders take responsibility for

their lives and act to maximize their own potential. Learning to coach is learning to set up

relationships that provide the exact kind of support a leader needs to radically pursue his or

her God-given destiny. (Stoltzfus, 2005, Position 251 Kindle Edition). This definition of

coach brought to me a complication because I still am in a class trying to learn how to coach

people; I am not an expert that can help people. While more meetings I had with my client,

more and more I can saw the necessity of being well trained in order to help my client. There

were some aspects of his life that result to me very complicated to talking about and even

very complicate to help him to find his own way to fix those aspects.

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 I can say that this experience was an important part of my ministry as pastor and

servant of God. I prayed with my client and without him in order that he can go for the paths

of God with His help. Finally, I believe that these sessions are only the beginning of his new

journey with God.

SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

AT THE PRESENT COACHING EXPERIENCE

Thinking critically, I cannot say that this experience was a complete success for my

client. Some occasions my client was afraid to tell me some aspects that he was struggling

with. And I do not think that he was completing honest about it. I did try to ask better

questions with the intention to obtain the answer that I want to hear. Nevertheless, most of

the time those answers were just one side of that history in particular. These answers to my

questions are the one part of the failures of this coach experience.

FAILURES.

Thankfully, my client was committed to attend to these sessions. Just in a couple of

occasions, he had other things to do. I really appreciate the commitment of this brother in

Christ in particular. To sing the paper making know him that all my findings and the complete

process will be reported to the class as an assignment was an issue to him. I think because

these kind of things do not are made in Chile. Churched people are used to secret of

confession because of the Catholic heritage we had. That was not an easy task at the

beginning of this experience.

Other aspect very important to report was the answers to my questions. These were

not helping in the present coaching experience. When I began the sessions, most of the
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questions were those that I know how to ask. After five or six weeks where the class touch

that theme in particular, I found that there were other questions in order to obtain more

information from my client.

Other aspect that I had some problems with was to be less counselor and be more

coach. After 15 years of pastoral duties were I dedicate most of the time to do counseling to

people at church, suddenly I have to be a coach. While I was still learning the difference, I

had to begin with a brother in Crist as series of sessions telling him that this is a class

requirement. I felt that most of the time he was doing these sessions because of me, more

than because of him. Take this feeling off him was very important to me. After he understood

that it was more important for him than to me, he realized that I was there to help him.

SUCCESSES.

I must to admit that at the beginning I was concern if this new ministry of coaching

would work. Now I can say that having done it once, I really want to develop it at church.

The first and more important success that I want to say is that my client really achieved a

goal. His is investing more of his time with his family and spending less time and resources

in his hobby. This is rewarding for me. Even though I did nothing, he did. After all, this is

coaching: help him to find what to do by his own effort; not telling them what to do.

I have learned also that in order to help people to correct their life, then my life needs

to be correct. At the beginning, this was an issue for me. I was so concentrate in my ministry

and my studies that I have not invested time with my own family. All had a justification: my

studies. However, I had to organize my schedule, my own priorities and my tasks. Because

of it, I now freely work with other people helping them to fix their own life.

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 ANALYSIS OF THE COACHING SKILLS

USED AT THE PRESENT COACHING EXPERIENCE

During my sessions with my client, I really found that the S.M.A.R.T. system of

Stoltzfus, of setting goals was far the most important and decisive tools that I used with my

client. This method is really a light, shining and helping to go ahead with the coaching

process. Before a SMART setting goal, all was desires, aspirations, and ambitions. How do

we achieve that specific goal? I really do not how, be we will pray about it This phrase

represent my coach experience before SMART setting goals.

According Stoltzfus S.M.A.R.T system is: Because vague, ill-defined goal are much

harder to coach, the first step in coaching a certain issue is to develop a clear, concrete goal.

The S.M.A.R.T. format is an excellent tool for refining a goal. SMART goals are Specific,

Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Specific. (Stoltzfus, 2005, Position 2295 Kindle

Edition). Using this kind of strategies to help to my client to refining his goals resulted in a

motivating and fashion way observe the changes in his life. We did a follow-up using this

method and in a couple of weeks we observed some goals accomplished.

Other useful tool was Listen for emotions behind the words. Harvad says: As a

coach, detecting the emotions behind the words may be your most important, but most

difficult, challenge. Those emotions are an important clue to the kind of supporting the person

needs from you. That support may take the form of: Positve strokes that build up the persons

self-confidence; Guarantees that reduce the persons fear of failure; and Assurance that

progress is seldom made without some conflict. (Harvard 2004, 28). This tool suggest that

most of the time our clients need support for their emotions more than for their situation.

Behind the message that we heard, there is a heart that possible is suffering. Coach useful

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skill is discover the emotions that move that particular person in that particular situation. Our

task, as Coaches, required our skill of being an effective listener.

This is another skill: being an active listener. I think one of my weaknesses as coach

was to try to pray about my client just when he is talking about what batters him. I was trying

to figure out what to say and how to help him, just when he is expressing his deepest thoughts.

Being an Active Listener is more than just to receive a message and recorded it in my head.

That message has a meaning, and in many ways, it is trying to express feelings and emotions.

We have to review every time those findings through those expressions.

Finally, a tool that we used and spend more than two sessions in, was the Wheel of

Life. Analyze ever component of my clients life helped us to find a variety of non-viewed

aspects of his life. This gave us some signals that in most of the time, the theme that we were

discussing was nothing to do with the real issue that we need to focus in. For example, we

were talking about the use of the time. After doing the wheel of life, we found that time was

not the problem. The problem was his affections for his hobbies. He was spending more

money than he thought in his hobbies. This revealed us that part of his marriage problems

were not just money, but it was about the use of the money that he did, and the feelings of

his wife with that particular situation. The wheel of life we were using also when we were

talking about our churchs life. I found some issues that need to be fixed in our church.

Of course, there are more elements that I need to focus, that will help me to do better

job in coaching task. It is my desired to growth in this matter so I can fulfil a significant

ministry in the life of those serving in our local church.

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CONCLUSION.

This class have made me think in the neediness of coaching in Latin America. There

are some weakness in the field of Counselling. While it is good that more counselors are

doing their ministry, I believe that in Latin America we have not been confronted with the

necessity of being couched. People need to know how to handle their own goals,

expectations, problems and issues that are an impediment to achieve a Godly life. While it is

good that people are helping, other people to find Gods will. There is still a necessity of to

know that we can reach our own potential and we can growth as a nation of God.

For years, we have been accepting the idea of mentoring is receive help, but the reality

is that we can help ourselves and we can seed today to have a good harvest for tomorrow.

This class helped me to see for the future. Help people for not to depend of others to grow,

but to take care of their own life.

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 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Harvard Business Essentials. Coaching and Mentoring: How to Develop Top Talent and
Achieve Stronger Performance, Boston, MA. Harvard Business School. 2004.

Stoltzfus, Tony. Leadership Coaching. Virginia Beach: Tony Stoltzfus, 2005. Kindle
Edition.