LIFC 501 BOOK REPORT FINAL DRAFT 1
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School
Liberty University *
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Course
501
Subject
Religion
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
8
Uploaded by tympeste1
Abstract
The authors of Spiritual Leadership Coaching emphasize crucial aspects of spiritual life coaching regarding spiritual leadership abilities, client connection, and being guided by God's presence. Spiritual leadership coaching uses the Bible's lessons and teaches twelve coaching techniques that help the coach and client get along better. Additionally, there are also apparent differences between coaching and counseling, such as the coach's role and how they help their clients. Both jobs require asking powerful open-ended questions, actively listening, and gaining the trust of the client. Moreover, spiritual life coaching focuses on the present and the future. Likewise, therapy depending on the client and the counseling technique utilized, tends to emphasize the past. However, the summary, personal reaction, and application sections will detail how I will implement the fundamental principles employed by spiritual life coaches into my personal and professional lives.
Keywords: coach, client, leadership, spiritual
Summary
The author's key points are laid out into twelve essential coaching skills. Under the meta-
skills four highlighted skills are listed (Blackaby et al., 2018). The four skills are relationship-
building, awareness raising, focusing, commitment, and futtering. In relationship-building, one must first build trust between the coach and the client. (Blackaby et al., 2018) To build trust, you must gain and keep someone's confidence and share what you know. Also, relationship-building calls for individuals to be spiritually present. Also, Blackaby et al. (2018) define Spiritual Leadership Coaching as the "spirit-led use of
prayer, scripture, and coaching skills to invite awareness of God's activity and help people align their lives and those they lead with God's purposes." Prayer is used to help guide clients to God's agenda for their lives, and scripture provides examples of God's truth that is relevant to the client's current situation (Blackaby et al., 2018). Even more, "when one element is missing, coaching is incomplete" (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 15). Lastly, coaches utilize their skills and techniques to bring "focus and clarity" that leads to actionable steps for the client (Blackaby et al., 2018). Besides, Blackaby et al. (2018) provided a unique approach to coaching using Seven Realities. The first spiritual reality is "God is always at work around you" (Blackaby et al., 2018). So, coaches lead clients to recognize God's work by actively listening and asking powerful questions (Blackaby et al., 2018). The second spiritual reality is God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal" (Blackaby and Royall. 2018). In this step, coaches learn to understand their clients' attitudes toward God's love and their worldview where God is concerned (Blackaby et al., 2018). Simultaneously, some clients do not believe in or trust
God, so the coach can help the client establish trust with God by asking powerful questions (Blackaby et al., 2018).
The third spiritual reality is that God invites you to become involved with Him in His work (Blackaby et al., 2018). This step allows the coach to help the client identify God's plan for their life and then take steps to fulfill God's calling (Blackaby et al., 2018). The fourth reality is that God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways (Blackaby et al., 2018). Thus, coaches often help by discerning God's voice for the client (Blackaby et al., 2018). Furthermore, people do not recognize when God speaks to them or how He speaks to them. Nonetheless, having a solid relationship with God can help open doors for clients to see and hear God. The fifth reality is God's invitation for you to work with Him, which always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action (Blackaby et al., 2018). The sixth reality is You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing (Blackaby et al., 2018). The fifth reality is an important step, as God will place us in situations that force us to step out in faith and trust him, even when we do not see a way (Blackaby et al., 2018). According
to Blackaby et al. (2018), These faith-stretching personal growth moments often lead to people's greatest successes and produce their most cherished memories.
Even more, God wants his children to have great relationships with him, and he uses coaches to help him reach that goal through obedience and doing spirit work (Blackaby et al., 2018). Moreover, coaches play a unique role in this as they help clients align their lives with God's initiatives (Blackaby et al., 2018). The seventh reality is that you come to know God by experience as you obey Him, and He accomplishes His work through you (Blackaby et al., 2018). Also, building trust is an integral part of the coach-client relationship and one of the
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twelve essential coaching skills. Besides, four ways to establish trust are imitating Christ's character, gaining competency in coaching, staying committed to the client, and genuinely caring
for your clients (Blackaby et al., 2018). Primarily, the authors also talked about how important it is to be spiritually present. To be
spiritually present, the coach must put their plans aside and focus on God's plans (Blackaby et al., 2018). Also, to be spiritually present, the coach must listen on many different levels, including to the coach's thoughts and the client, between the lines, and with a spiritual ear (Blackaby et al., 2018). Another coaching skill is expanding awareness by asking spirit-led questions. (Blackaby et al., 2018) In the same way, asking spirit-led questions may help clients come up with new ideas that lead them to God's solution for their problems. In addition, narrowing the focus is another skill set that can help clients focus on one idea
and sort out priorities (Blackaby et al., 2018). Accountability and futtering are other vital areas the authors spoke about. So, "accountability to God, oneself, and others is important because people have a sinful tendency to avoid taking responsibility for their failures" (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 158). Even more, the authors talk about "comforts." Comforts are "relational practices that can improve a coach's effectiveness by a large amount" (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 241). Some people exhibit them naturally; others must work to develop them. (Blackaby et al., 2018) Nevertheless, the six comforts are: (1) Not having (or giving) all the answers:
Blackaby
et al. (2018) say that some coaches think they should have a solution for every problem. (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 242) (2) Creative Silence:
Coaches should feel comfortable allowing and maintaining silence during a coaching session (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 242). (3) Patience with ambiguity
: In coaching, ambiguity means that the coach is willing to leave room in the conversation for the client to use their imagination (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 244). (4) Balancing
Grace and Truth
: It can be challenging for coaches to find a balance between grace and truth (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 246). (5) Calling for Commitment
: People are often reluctant to commit, so some coaches offer a listening ear and plenty of empathy (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 247). (6) Paying attention to God's person, voice, and actions
: Spiritual leadership coaches should be aware that each coaching session involves three people: the coach, the coachee, and the Holy Spirit (Blackaby et al., 2018, p. 246).
Personal Response
Moreover, this book gives excellent spiritual points on connecting with the client through the word of God. It is stated that coaches should pray for clients before they meet with them. Furthermore, praying with clients before sessions start sets the tone for God to give the coach and the client his purpose, not the client's desires. (Blackaby et al., 2018). Similarly, this book also gives various models that help guide the coaching conversation. Some models have acronyms to help the coach remember the order in which they should ask questions. To say nothing of it, the GROW model is the most popular and gives the coach a pathway
to asking needed questions. According to the spelling of GROW. G is for goal, R is for reality, O is for options, and W is for will. (Blackaby et al., 2018) Furthermore, the GROW model can be used with or without God's guidance.
(Blackaby et al., 2018). So, when a coach is working with a
client, they need to help them take responsibility for reaching their goals. Consequently, accountability takes work for some people. (Blackaby et al., 2018).
However, once the individual can understand their divine calling from God, then the accountability from the client is looked at with value and makes the sight of their goal more attainable. (Blackaby et al., 2018). Therefore, using this book as a guide to coach on the spiritual path can also motivate the coach to do what is his God-given destiny. Also, coaches can use this
guide to serve their clients and themselves by helping them see their situation clearly to develop a successful action plan. (Blackaby et al., 2018). Nevertheless, this book interests me because it discusses how coaching can be used spiritually. Even more, this book gives me an idea of how to
approach the client spiritually while God takes the lead. Besides, this book is a good reminder of God's word, professionally and personally. Still, I need help figuring out how to use some of these approaches in counseling. Likewise, counselors and coaches utilize the skills of asking powerful questions and active listening.
(Blackaby et al., 2018). At the same time, I am praying that God will show me a way to incorporate some of those powerful, spirit-led questions with my future clients, who may not believe in God. Additionally, I will be counseling people from all walks of life, and some people will have deeper issues to work through that will require a different level of help. In the same way, some people will have different spiritual worldviews, and as a life coach, I must learn how to work with them. So, I will need the confidence that comes from knowing that God will work through the client and me regardless of one's worldview. In addition, I will pray for God to allow me to have an empathetic ear and share in the client's life by helping them see what God has in store for their life, even if they do not see God working through the situation. Moreover, I understand people go through seasons, and some goals may need to be short-term, and some may be lifestyle changes, Therefore, I hope and pray that God will guide the client and me through the process so more of Him and less of us can be discovered. Overall, there are good tools in the book that the authors provided. Application
This book gave me more of a spiritual connection with God. It taught me to bring more prayer into my coaching sessions for my clients and me. Spiritual connection with God gives the
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coaching session a feeling of cohesion and peace. So, setting the tone for the session to be calm and willing to hear the word of God to direct the client to their desired goals is essential. Equally important, I will use the Grow model to encourage my clients to consider different options and take steps toward fulfilling their plans to accomplish their goals. Likewise, I am interested in using the Spiritual Pain Funnel Model because it allows the coach to ask progressive client questions. Even more, depending on the severity of the client's pain, the questions can bring them to a level that may be uncomfortable but necessary to progress
through the coaching session. Furthermore, I want to take some of the approaches and models used in this book and practice them with friends and family. Likewise, practicing some of the models and approaches will be an excellent way to get hands-on experience and training for my future work. Additionally, taking some approaches and models may help establish trust with friends and family in a new way. Like many, we have opportunities to be a blessing by listening to those close to us when they are facing a challenge. Likewise, we also enjoy being present with those we love and care about, even when our help may not be required. As a life coach, I must keep working on my ability to listen on more than one level. I find it much easier to tackle when God shows me that I need to be fully and spiritually present for someone; it is like God quiets me from within. In conclusion, I believe that the Holy Spirit guide me in accomplishing what God has set out for me
to do.
Reference
Blackaby, R., Royall, B., & Pyle, B. (2018). Spiritual leadership coaching: Connecting people to God's heart and purposes. Blackaby Ministries International.