That’s a good question. Let me respond by asking you a question: What encouraged you to get coached and to coach others? Figure out what encouraged you and use that to encourage coaching in your organization.

What initially encouraged me to get coached was reading about coaching and talking with a friend about how coaching encouraged him and helped him achieve his goals. What really sold me on getting coached was the results I got from getting coached—I felt encouraged, I was better able to achieve my personal and professional goals, and I was empowered to pursue God’s calling.

What encouraged me to coach others was the results I got from getting coached, talking with a friend who coached others, reading books, and completing a coaching certification program.


Question: So, how can you encourage coaching in your organization?

Answer: Based on what encouraged me to get coaching and coach others, I suggest you consider taking action steps like:

1. Continuing getting coached yourself, coaching others, and talking about the results of coaching.
2. Helping leaders understand what coaching is and how they can benefit from it. 
3. Getting leaders to receive coaching.
4. Training leaders to coach others.
5. Getting leaders to start coaching key staff members and use coaching skills throughout the day. 
6. Helping staff understand what coaching is and how they can benefit from it. 
7. Getting more and more staff to receiving coaching.
8. Training staff to coach others.
9. Getting staff to start coaching other staff members and use coaching skills throughout the day. 

You might be thinking, “Looks like I should take those steps in the order they are listed.” I can see why you would think that, and generally speaking, taking the steps in the order listed is helpful. But, there is no one right way to do it—for example, you can take the steps in a different order if that is what works best for you and your organization.


Question: How can you determine the action steps you want to take and the sequence of those action steps?

Answer: I suggest that you get a team together and:

• Share what encouraged you to get coached, what encouraged you to coach others, and how coaching has helped you and others.
• Reflect on the benefits of establishing a coaching culture.
• Take a self-assessment on how a coaching culture could help your organization, and discuss your assessment results.
• Review the action steps listed above. Then, determine what action steps you will take and the order of those action steps.

Question: What might encouraging coaching in your organization look like?

Answer: Here’s an example. Let’s assume you’ve already talked with your team about establishing a coaching culture, and you’ve determined that you want to start by introducing everyone to coaching through a 3-hour workshop:

Your goals for the workshop include having participants:

1. Reflect on the power of questions.
2. Understand what coaching is and how it works.
3. Experience leading by asking questions/coaching.
4. Get more interested in getting coached and getting coach training.

To prepare leaders and staff for the workshop, you:

1. Ask them to take a short online tutorial on exploring getting coaching.
2. Encourage key staff (especially the members of your team) to experience coaching by providing coaching sessions at their convenience.

Then during the 3-hour workshop, you have participants:

1. (10 minutes) Listen to 1 or more testimonials on how coaching has helped.
2. (10 minutes) Watch 2 people model coaching by using a set of questions, for example: What people/projects are you spending your time/energy on? What’s been satisfying/frustrating? What are the reasons for your feelings of satisfaction/frustration? What do you think you’ll do?
3. (25 minutes) Use a set of questions to talk with a partner (What people/projects are you spending your time/energy on? What’s been satisfying/frustrating? What are the reasons for your feelings of satisfaction/frustration? How can I pray for you?). Then, pray together.
4. (20 minutes) Reflect on why God asks questions.
5. (30 minutes) Read and discuss 1 or more articles on Christian coaching that include an emphasis on asking questions, for example: “Lead by Asking Questions,” “The Startup Guide to Coaching Leaders,” “The Coaching Approach to Growth,” “The Heart of a Coach,” and “What is ‘Coaching’ to You?” (Additional resources are available through Close the Gap Now, Creative Results Management, The Christian Coaching Center, and Coach22.)
6. (15 minutes) Break
7. (20 minutes) Take and discuss a self-assessment on leading by asking questions.
8. (25 minutes) Use a set of questions to help a partner process something. (Time permitting, debrief this.)
9. (15 minutes) Use a set of questions to debrief the workshop, for example: What did we do during the workshop? What excites/concerns you about leading by asking questions? What excites/concerns you about coaching? What insights did you have? How could leading by asking questions/coaching help us? What’s next? (This can be done in partners/small groups and then as a whole group.)
10. (10 minutes) Receive information about how they can get coach training and coaching.

After the workshop, you will:

1. Continue getting coached, coaching others, and talking about the results of coaching.
2. Continue meeting as a team to talk about encouraging coaching and to identify action steps.
3. Provide coaching and encourage staff (especially leaders) to receive coaching.
4. Provide coach training.
5. Provide reading material.

Reflect: How are you going to encourage coaching in your organization? What action steps are you going to take? In what order?

*Want additional resources on coaching?

• Tutorials
• Videos
• Blog entries on coaching culture
• Books
• Newsletters
• Training: Close the Gap Now, Creative Results Management