The Professional Christian Coach

“I don’t want to know all that computer junk – I just want to coach!” The words came out half-laughing half-crying yesterday from a coach I am mentoring. I hear them frequently and, as an acknowledged technophobe, I completely relate to their sentiment!

However, we live in the early 21st Century and that means we must work effectively with ‘computer junk’. To pretend otherwise is like launching a business in the early 20th Century without a telephone. We’re doomed to failure from the start.

As with most things, our biggest hurdle is mindset. If we say we can’t learn it, we can’t. If we say we don’t want to, we won’t. And our businesses will die. It’s as simple as that. (If you feel anxious reading this, just pause, take a deep breath, relax your brow, put a smile on your face, and reread this paragraph until you can embrace that truth.) ☺

Adopt a ‘good enough’ mindset in place of ‘all-or-nothing’. There is an amount of computer knowledge and skill you can master, and it is sufficient for growing your business. Through the years, you will add to your knowledge base and be surprised someday at your abilities. You don’t have to be an expert, but no coach can succeed without ‘good enough’ computer skills.

This month’s article by one of our faculty members, Gary Wood, suggests the next step to take after addressing our mindsets – following through on small goals, one after another. Use the mind (and hands!) God has given you, and move closer to success in your coaching business.

“Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” ~Proverbs 10:4

Simple Things & the Clients Who Leverage Them
by Gary Wood, PCC, CMCC

Who says one percent isn’t significant? A one percent gain may seem modest but it’s measurable. Over time, the multiplying effect can be impressive.

Our Lord told Martha, “Only one thing is necessary.” One simple thing.

A one percent improvement is achievable even for busy people. One percent a month over ten months is a ten percent improvement. Ten percent is huge.

Your clients can make one percent improvements. And building upon them, they will find they can achieve significantly more. Imagine what this means to the projects and programs they lead.

At the beginning of every coaching engagement, our clients begin to work through our book, 52 Solutions for Those Who Need a 25 Hour Day. They choose the two or three that, if implemented, can make the biggest difference in forwarding their priorities. These are simple practices like:

Conquering the to-do list
Embracing failure
Preparing for people who don’t understand
Rejecting busyness as a bragging point
Planning for the unexpected

Parallel to our coaching, they identify and implement better thinking, habits and practices week after week. When one of the 52 becomes habit, they turn attention to another. It isn’t long before clients experience greater effectiveness, less stress and better results.

We can all do better. Basic strategies drive greater personal, professional and organizational effectiveness and create space for renewed vision and energy.

It may seem simplistic to challenge an executive, leader or anyone else to make a 1% improvement, but the results are worth any feeling of embarrassment it might foster.

Ours is a list, now a book, of 52 practices with which we challenge ourselves and every client. What is your 52 Challenge?

Simple Things & the Clients Who Leverage Them by Gary Wood, PCC, CMCC

Simple Things & the Clients Who Leverage Them
by Gary Wood, PCC, CMCC