Recently I was talking with a small business owner friend of mine about coaching. He gets Executive Coaching and has really benefitted from it. The same day I attended (online) #AccelerateGiving where Andy Stanley spoke.
As always, I loved what Andy had to say and took a lot of notes. I was particularly fascinated by what he said about coaching. He said, “Every leader should have a coach.” This was not a big surprise, as this was the point of the conference, to get ministry leaders into fundraising coaching. He then added the following, which has stuck with me.
“You can be better than everyone in your industry without a coach. But you can’t be as good as you can possibly be without a coach.”
I’m still deciding what to do with this. I already invest in my personal growth through books, conferences, etc. However, I can see where coaching would be very beneficial.
What about you? Have you considered coaching? Which kind of coaching would benefit you personally and professionally?
Here are a few options:
- Financial Coaching
- Fundraising Coaching
- Executive Coaching
- Life Coaching
If you are like me, you probably can’t afford coaching right now. That’s okay. Build up to it. Start with books, conferences, an online community. Most importantly, find out how much it would cost to get the type of coaching you need, and set a goal to be able to get it in a year or two.
I wrote this down at the end of Andy Stanley’s talk, “I can be better than the people around me but I”ll never be as good as I could possibly be without a coach.”
How does the idea of striving to be the best you possible sit with you? What are your next steps? What barriers do you anticipate? Please share in the comments section or on social media.
The quote above comes from “attending” Accelerate Giving. Thank you to Ministry Ventures for hosting this event and to the speakers that were involved.
2 Comments
Trevor
I couldn’t agree with Stanley anymore. If Michael Jordan still needed a coach, you do too. Everyone does.
The hard part I think is with what kind of coach to use: Do you focus on the area you struggle most with or take an area you already excel at and elevate your success even further?
I don’t know if this fits in with your post or not but it’s also funny how coaches run together. In my little circle of friends there is a Spiritual Coach, a Life Coach, a Business Coach and myself, a Financial Coach.
adamsuter
Great point, Trevor! Thanks to reading like Essentialism by Greg McKeown and StrenghtsFinders, I am leaning toward focusing on one’s strengths. However, if you are failing financially, or spiritually for that matter, you are going to fail in life. Perhaps with some of these, a seasonal approach works best.
I want to hear more about your coaching! I’ll email you.