Coaching For Pastors

5 Steps To Coaching Success

Coaching for pastors can bring a large amount of anxiety and stress on both the coach and the pastor.  The pastor wants to get the most out of the money being spent and the coach desires to deliver that worth.  I’ve narrowed down the most important things that coaches can do to ensure that they are doing the best job that they can so that pastors feel they are getting the most out of the coaching relationship.

The first step for a coach’s success is to do your homework on each pastor.  If there are interview notes, enrollment documents, or personality tests available get to know the pastor before you ever have your first meeting.  This will relieve a large amount of stress for the coach and will make the pastor feel more at ease when he realizes his coach already understands him to some extent.  The second step, which may be the most important one, is to start well.  On the initial phone call or face to face meeting set a solid relational tone.  Show the pastor respect making your call on time or getting to the meeting place early.  Exhibit gratitude by explaining that it is an opportunity to work with the pastor and that you seek to understand them and the issues they are facing.  I also recommend during this initial encounter you reach agreements on goals, a weekly meeting time, and any assignments included.

The third element that contributes to successful coaching for pastors is to engage the pastor using your experience, passion, investment, and integrity.  Show them that you are in this journey with them and that you truly care about them succeeding.  Building trust from the beginning will do wonders for the coaching relationship.  The fourth step in successful coaching is to have the right perspective.  In this case, have the mindset of a coach without being critical.  This is a partnership that is founded upon reaching outcomes.  However, keep the challenges realistic and fair.  Setting goals that immediately discourage a pastor will damage the chances up future and prolonged success.  Also, it is crucial that as a coach you are constantly pushing for congruence among his or her church’s vision, values, strategies, and behaviors so that everyone is moving in the same direction in a unified manner. 

Lastly, when involved in coaching for pastors you should maintain a systems bias.  Establish your personal coaching systems approach, pursue systemic change in both the church and pastor, and encourage the pastor when they utilize systems effectively.