Coachnet - Helping People Realize their Goals and Dreams for God

Next week I'll be headed to California to attend a Coachnet training conference. Coachnet trains people to coach others by giving coaching on a person's coaching. In other words, they help trainers become better trainers.

The Coachnet philosophy (www.coachnet.org) is that each person generally has the solutions within themselves. By asking good questions, developing a relationship, and listening, coaches can help those with whom they are working to grow in the areas that they have identified.

This very much fits into the philosophy of Strengths and Spiritual gifts--that God has created a person uniquely, and that the Spirit of God is at work in each person's life. Thus, while at times people need information and advice, primarily the goal of a Strengths and Spiritual gifts assessor is to help a person become more aware of how God is already at work in his or her life.

For instance, when I go through a Strengths and Spiritual gifts assessment, I ask a person to try to apply his or her gifts in the three areas of his or her life--family, workplace/neighborhood/world, and the church. However, I resist making these applications for them. They know themselves better than I, and they will take more ownership of applications that they make for themselves. By asking good questions, an assessor can help someone make these applications.

I am looking forward to this conference, which is also a part of my D.Min. work at Fuller.

What do you think of the coaching philosophy?