Even If Someone Asks For Advice, The Best Way To Help Them Grow Is Through Coaching
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...
Asking Is Better Than Telling: 10 Ways Coaching Can Help You
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...
Are You Asking Powerful Questions? Eliminate AWKWARD Conversations Once And For All!
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...
8 Ways Bridges Differs From Other Training Courses
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...
4 Reasons People Put Off Destiny By Design, And How They Felt Later
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...
Whatโs At Stake If You Put It Off Destiny By Design?
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!
How Safe Is Your Destiny? 4 Threats You Can Avoid
It’s simple really.
To move toward your preferred future, you need two things.
First, to identify what your destiny is, and second, you need to take steps toward it.
Simple, yes... But not common, and usually not easy.
The truth is that God has great plans for your life. In fact, He has good works planned in advance for each of us. Ephesians 2:10 even calls each of us a masterpiece.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
So, straight up, here are the 4 threats you need to avoid (and at least two ways to safeguard your future.)
- Procrastination – knowing what you need to do but not actually getting to it.
- Apathy – not caring enough to pursue what you need to know or what needs to be done.
- Ignorance – not knowing what you are designed for and missing out on the pursuit of your personal destiny.
- Fear – allowing some sort of hurdle to keep you from moving forward. ...
3 Reasons To Use The Simple StoryBrand Killer Question And Where To Use It
We’ve been studying StoryBrand here at Bridges Coaching and we’d love to pass some of our key learnings on to you.
The “killer question” works in at least 3 ways.
- It sets up the value of the decision. If you don’t consider what you would be losing, it’s hard to recognize the worth of the choice.
- It helps with the timing. When you can focus on what you will be missing out on, it expedites the opt-in timing.
- It right sizes the “fear of first”. Even people who love new things don’t know what they will be like till they try them. For each of us, there are some questions and hesitancy about how things will go when we have never done them before.
Ready for the question?
Hang in there. Just a couple more thoughts.
This question is nearly invaluable in coaching conversations. It creates awareness in exceptional ways.
This question is one you need to weigh as you consider Coach Training or even Destiny Discovery.
Ok, here goes. The...
What's next? If you can't say for sure where God is leading you, we can help!
Clarity seems to be a buzz word lately, especially in regards to goal setting.
I mean really, you absolutely need it to move forward well. No one orders an Uber but then fumbles with giving the driver a destination.
And yet...
Sometimes we do that with our lives.
It’s like the destination for our lives is more like a Sunday drive with no specific outcome clarified.
The Destiny by Design course includes an exercise that focuses on clarifying your Life Purpose Statement. When you have taken the time to drill down to your core and decipher your internal design, it becomes much clearer what your personal best nexts should be.
Clarity is a hoax when you fake it and pretend you have a clear next step.
Clarity is a hoax if you think it isn’t needed.
Clarity is a hoax if you feel it’s only general and not specific like you’re just supposed to be good all the time rather than knowing specifically what you are good at and how to invest in bringing your best self to the...
How 5 Bridges Alumni Are Using Their Coach Training
People often ask what is needed to actually launch a coaching practice.
The answer varies from state to state, but for most, the bottom line is that once you have completed the legal checkoff list for your state, you simply need to be good at your craft.
Most of us don’t check the credentials on the wall of the massage therapist, we just go back if they help us out.
Bridges Coaching Life coach certification is designed to help you do just that – actually help people out! While there is a Next Level Training that Bridges offers (contact us if you want to know more), the first level course was designed to be one-stop shopping. You will have everything needed (skills-wise) to set up sessions that actually help people.
Here are a couple of shout outs to a few of our alumni and their organizations!
Barb Ranck – Your Clear Next Step and Courageously Imperfect
"Barb shared, Hi Cindy! My site is https://www.cicandd.com which stands for CI Coaching & Development. CI...