You’re a person who wants to give meaningful gifts and we want to help!

For the first time ever Bridges is opening up our entire product line for Christmas gifting - who’s on your list?

Pastors, Small Group Leaders, Adult Children, Co-Workers, Aunts and Uncles, Parents and Grandparents?

If you’re like me sometimes it can be hard to find something meaningful to gift. We don’t want to just get something to check someone off our list, we want to give something with real value. 

Here’s the line-up Bridges is offering:

Traction: This beautifully inspiring workbook uses the same coaching principles from Bridges Life Coach training. Perfect for anyone interested in forward movement: the graduate, the retiree, your small group leader… pretty much anyone who wants to move forward in their faith. 

$29

Soul Care Personal Retreat: 2020 has been rough on all of us. Know someone who may be feeling empty, overwhelmed, or hurting? Offer the gift of the...

So, does this headline surprise you?!

Here’s why we can’t really trust coaching. (I know it will sound “churchy” but I need to say it.) We can really only trust God!

*HOWEVER*

God is trustworthy!

Here’s what Jesus thought about coaching.

John 14: 16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”

Now is that time! The Holy Spirit is available to live within us!

When people are looking for answers and we as leaders give them what we think they should do, we bear the risk of becoming a mediator or “God-man” in their lives. This does not mean there isn’t a place for teaching - of course, there is, but coaches help people walk out what they have...

"What’s at stake?"

That’s a great question!

It could be the single straw that is the tipping point between ideation and implementation.

There are 4 basic reasons “What’s at stake?” could be the lever needed for forward movement.

Never trying.

Sometimes realizing what will not happen if the idea is kept in the “dream cloud” is just what is needed to help someone get started and stop procrastinating.

Rightsizing the risk.

Recognizing that if the outcome doesn’t end exactly where hoped, the forward movement is at the least good research, and at worst an idea can be crossed off the list to make room for more possibilities to try.

Naming the loss.

Someone needs whatever it is that is being considered! Realizing what could happen if this idea isn’t carried out could be just the motivation fuel to get the motion started.

Regret.

You’ll never know if you never try.

Sometimes the big idea works. Sometimes it doesn’t, but...

Okay, I gotta be honest.

I was surprised and thrilled when Dr. Walt Hastings helped take my coaching to a next level with this simple tip.

I first met Walt when he was assigned to assess the recorded coaching sessions I submitted for credentialing. If you know me you know I am a go-big-or-go-home kinda gal and I had it in my head I should go ahead and apply for CCNI Master’s level credentialing on my first go. Walt was so kind when he let me down easy that I needed a little more work before that level. (I am proud to say I have a CPCC credential now (Certified Professional Christian Coach) and am working toward CMCC this year.)

Walt’s assessment taught me so much that I hired him to do Mentor Coaching for our Bridges Next Level coach training.

In that course, he shared his coaching prep form which shared the simple key I want to share with you today.

Without an articulated outcome your coaching conversation is just a good chat!

A good chat allows the other person to...

Telling > Teaching > Training > Trusting

That’s the growth paradigm we unpack in Coach Training.

Seems so simple at first glance. It goes like this:

When a child is young we tell them, “You can’t cross the road!”

Then we teach them, “Don’t cross the road without looking - there may be cars coming!”

Training comes next, where we teach them to look both ways and ask them if there are cars coming.

Then comes the day when we trust them and let them ride their bike to a friend’s house on their own and eventually “confidently” give them car keys, etc.

Easy right?

But what about topics where the stakes are much higher.

How does it work with issues like choosing a mate, career choices, financial investments, or even walking out a life of faith?

Often when parents of adult children have questions or concerns they revert back to telling or teaching.

It’s easy to do.

You have such deep concern about your adult...

Coaching is a straightforward and powerful tool for unlocking people's desires and dreams.

But it's not for everyone.

Some leaders are used to telling people what to do. In fact, some even enjoy the power and authority they have.

Coaching isn't for these people.

But if you want to...

• empower and enable those you lead to go farther faster
• multiply your impact by raising up mature believers who can hear and respond to what God is speaking
• free your schedule by not holding repetitive meetings with people who are dependent on you

Then coaching is most definitely for you!

Here are 10 ways coaching can help.

10. You don’t have to know everything for everyone.

Leaders who tell have to know what’s best for every situation and each person in order to be effective. That’s a lot of stuff to know! (And what if you aren’t right?)

9. People love it when you focus on them.

Active listening is the highest form of loving someone. When the focus is on the other...

Ever have an awkward conversation with a co-worker, client, friend, spouse, child, sibling... really anyone?

Awkward conversations include one or more of the following:

• Rambling one-sidedness
• The same stories over and over
• The same issues again and again
• Shallow skimming - chat about the weather followed by:
• Uncomfortable silence
• Whining
• Blaming
• The expectation of my coming up with an answer or resolution

I used to have conversations with one or more of these elements all the time.

Now, I just ask better questions. Powerful questions even.

In fact, when you have good coaching conversational tools in your tool belt, a lot more than your conversations can change. Awareness can be created. Destinies can be altered. Futures can be gained.

Here are just a few examples that have changed my life and the life of others around me.

• "Where do you want to be in 5 years?"
• "What’s holding you back?"
• "What would your life look like if 'that' was no longer an issue?
• "If you say 'Yes' to...

Simply put, our Bridges training courses were designed with you -- the trainee -- in mind. 

Here are 8 ways Bridges courses differ from many, or even most, training courses.

No. 1 -- At Bridges, we take very seriously how we certify our trainees.

All our cohort courses require individual interaction where we are looking for each person’s grasp of the concepts.

No. 2 -- We give personal attention to the trainee.

All of our training is face-to-face, not voice-to-voice. Not sure what that means? Many, maybe even most, coach training or destiny discovery courses meet the credentialing requirement for voice-to-voice through group phone calls.

No dis, but I have been on some of those phone calls and have not had the greatest experience. While technically it is live training, there were almost always too many people on the call to feel individually connected, AND oftentimes the trainer would ask someone to respond and they were not even there or it took a long time for them to...

Here are 4 reasons we’ve seen people put this off and then how they felt about it later.

1. “I can’t really afford it at this time.”

or:

”Why didn’t I find the money? I would have saved so much if I knew where I was going instead of wasting it on other pursuits.”

2. “I don’t really have time for this right now.”

or:

”If I waited until I ‘had time’ I’d have to wait till I retire. I’m so glad I made time. This changed the course of my life.”

3. “I’m not sure if I really need this.”

or:

”If only I knew then what I know now, it could have been so much different. I didn’t know what I didn’t know – if that makes sense.”

4. “What if I don’t really have anything unique in me to dig into?”

or:

”I had no idea I thought so differently from others or had unique passions and giftings. I feel so compelled to be me...

Taking Destiny By Design doesn’t guarantee you a preferred future, and it’s not for everyone, but if you can’t say for sure where you are headed, it’s not likely you will get out of the fog by accident.

That’s kind of like saying your financial plan is to win the lottery.

It’s not very likely. Especially if you don’t play. 

Here's what’s at stake:

• Wasted time waiting for something to come to you.
• Unrealized potential, because you didn’t even know what to do.
• Missed opportunities never considered.
• Recognition of personal uniqueness: giftings, passions, calling, strengths...

People who need what you have to give are waiting for you to step up.

Not that God couldn’t use another, but why not be all you can be (and we’re not talking about the army)!

Understanding your Destiny by Design may be closer than you think!