Meet Sarah: Her Story from Coach training to Coach Trainer!
Sarah has been a part of Bridges Coaching from near the beginning. Like many, when she first looked into coaching, she thought she could help people by sharing what she was seeing. She had grown up in the faith and had considerable training, she wanted to care for others and help them grow in their faith.
Here's a bit of her story:
What motivated you to take coach training?
I took coach training because I wanted to help people. I had my ideas of what helping looked like, but those ideas got radically changed during that initial course. Turns out there is a far more effective, efficient, transformative way to help people!
What are a couple of things you learned that you didn’t know about coaching before your training?
The power of truly listening and the power of curiosity. For my entire life, I had underestimated how just those two things can create a space where problems get solved and creativity happens.
What did you love most about coach training?
Coach training didn't just give me tools to ask better questions or structure a business (although it did those things, too). Coach training first went after my heart. It challenged me to shift how I view people and situations in a way that will change how I interact with people forever.
How are you using your training now?
I have consistently taken a few coaching clients at a time, and that has provided a side income that is flexible and maximizes my time. But one of my favorite things has been hosting the Coaching Culture certification course for the last several years - I get to walk with people as they discover the power of coaching, and it inspires me every time. My current "next" is organizational coaching, taking what I've learned about coaching and using it to support churches and ministries.
What would you say to someone considering training?
I can't imagine regretting the decision to become coach trained. It changed me as a person. Even if I had never made a dime as a coach, the training I got through Bridges was worth every penny.
Of course, I like that last line best, and I agree!
My own coach training lifted the responsibility of resolving people's issues and helped me see my best role as supporting their quest to hear what God was offering them. I no longer needed to figure out the best next steps for others, but rather partner with them in their journey through active listening and asking empowering questions.
How about you? Do you truly want to help others? Do you feel strong in your ability to listen well and ask empowering questions?
And can I just say that if your idea, like mine, and like Sarah's, was to learn how to help people by finding a way to tell them what they need to do - BEWARE! Telling people what to do creates dependence if you are right (they will keep coming back to you and you will then be responsible for their lives) and division if you are wrong (they may leave the faith entirely, reasoning that they "tried it".) Either way, the person is not growing in their own faith walk by learning to listen and discern God's path for them.
If you want to disciple others, coach training could be your best next step! (And you would get to work with Sarah!)
P.S. Sarah took coach training with her husband Jordan. he uses his training in the organization he works with Operation Restored Warrior. Sarah was homeschooling her 5 children when she tookd the training. You CAN do this!