Skeptical at first
I’m a big believer in coaching. In fact, I have two coaching appointments with two pastors scheduled for tomorrow morning, and I plan to look over my coaching questions as soon as I finish writing.
Research clearly demonstrates the helpful nature of coaching across multiple industries and disciplines. That’s not even a debate at this point. In my own journey, I went through a process of certification as a coach many years ago. The specifics of that process and the training that accompanied it was some of the best training I had ever received. In many ways, it changed the trajectory of my career. I began integrating more of a coaching posture in my division and department at work. Today, my wife and I both serve as coaches. I stress the crucial nature of coaching in the organization where I serve, and I will continue to emphasize and recommend coaching for the pastors and church planters in my denomination and beyond.
With that big caveat, I admit I was both excited/encouraged AND a bit cynical/skeptical when I saw that we had a book about coaching on our reading list. Truth be told, I said to myself, “Is it possible that there is yet another book about coaching? I mean, what more can be written on the subject? Do we need another coaching book?” Despite my skepticism, I found Tom Camacho’s book, Mining for Gold, a refreshingly transparent and super accessible book, to be an important contribution to the coaching conversation in at least three ways.[1]
First, Camacho’s “Six Principles that Lead to Thriving”[2] were not only good reminders, the principles were an instructive pathway for both personal growth and growth for those we serve. Highlighted in the Introduction and expounded upon in Part 2 of the book, Camacho reminds his readers that the “Holy Spirit does the work,” their “true identity is the foundation of thriving,” and they “thrive when (they) cooperate with (their) God-given design.” Additionally, they each have “a sweet spot – a place where (they) naturally bear the most fruit.” He rounds out the list by stating that “the cross is God’s great refining tool,” and “all true thriving is relational.”[3]
Camacho’s process has added a principled approach that complements other works on the subject of coaching, particularly coaching within the Christian ministry world. Whereas I’ve often referred to earlier works like TransforMissional Coaching by Steve Ogne and Tim Roehl[4] for coaching teams and Gospel Coach by Tom Wood and Scott Thomas[5] for navigating a coaching conversation, Camacho’s six principles will add an additional reference point in my coaching resource toolbox. In fact, I will mindfully utilize components of this process tomorrow morning. I am going to lean more heavily into the “true identity” as “the foundation of thriving” principle as the client prepares to launch his church plant in less than two weeks. There is no doubt that a planter’s identity sometimes rests in how many people show up on the day the planter launches. This will be a good conversation. And with the other client I want to reference the book as a whole, because I know he wants to serve as a coach in the not-too-distant future.
A second contribution I found helpful is Camacho’s five components of a thriving leader in chapter seven. The first of these five is “They flourish.”[6] The list of five offers a metric for thriving, but it also draws attention to what, in my opinion, tends to be one of those hard-to-define words – flourishing. Camacho attempts to define the term this way: “To flourish means to grow or develop in a healthy, vigorous way.”[7] Later in the chapter, Camacho states, “Flourishing is not a work of man or of the flesh. It is a work of the Spirit.”[8] This begs the question: What then is the best way to cooperate with the Spirit as the Spirit produces flourishing? Camacho answers that question as he writes, “Your role is to orientate your life and leadership to where you see the wind of the Spirit blowing.”[9]
Camacho’s discussion on flourishing, though perhaps not the larger focus of his book, and NOT because he answers every question around flourishing (though that is a big part / aim of coaching) stands out to me because of the subject of my doctoral project, where human flourishing is at least a part of my topic. My mind immediately went to Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science.[10] The institute developed a measurement for human flourishing, a flourishing index measure that seeks to quantify a hard-to-describe term. Several companies have used the measure, such as Levi Strauss and Co, Owens Corning, and more.[11] I appreciate Camacho’s efforts to bring definition to the term along with his metric for thriving, just as academic institutions have sought to bring greater clarity to the term, even measuring it.
Lastly, I appreciate Camacho’s emphasis on grace in chapters three and five. In addition to unpacking a particularly difficult season of his career while planting and closing a church, he walks the reader through the ways he came to experience God’s grace. He writes, “God’s grace broke me of my need to be right and in control.”[12] I was thankful for this level of transparency. I thought of the way God’s grace not only saves, but it also restores. God’s grace brings about transformation, and Camacho’s experience certainly illustrates this. Later, in chapter five, Camacho writes about creating a culture of grace.[13] I think those who have experienced God’s grace through hard seasons of life understand the importance of building that kind of culture into their organizations. This was a good reminder to actively promote an atmosphere of grace in my home and in all of my relationships, including my work environment.
[1] Tom Camacho, Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching (London: InterVarsity Press, 2019).
[2] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 6.
[3] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 6.
[4] Steve Ogne and Tim Roehl, TransforMissional Coaching: Empowering Leaders in a Changing Ministry World (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2008).
[5] Tom Wood and Scott Thomas, Gospel Coach Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012).
[6] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 92.
[7] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 92.
[8] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 102.
[9] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 103.
[10] “The Human Flourishing Program,” Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, accessed January 18, 2023, https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/measuring-flourishing.
[11] “The Human Flourishing Program,” Harvard.
[12] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 48.
[13] Camacho, Mining for Gold, 79.
About the Author
Travis Vaughn
5 responses to “Skeptical at first”
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I enjoyed reading your thoughts and agree that Camacho took concepts I was familiar with a bit further, which is always a good thing. I too, enjoyed the topic of flourishing, and am planning to add this book to a list of resources I am developing for a network of Christian coaches I am helping with.
P.S. I actually was trained by Tim Roehl and just loaned Transformissional Coaching to Pam!
Jen, As I was reading Travis’ post, I immediately recognized the title, “TransforMissional Coaching,” and I reached for the book you gave me thinking I’ll read it along with, “Mining for Gold”! Your work with change management while coaching executive leaders has come to my mind this week as I’ve thought about this topic. I’m curious how you might articulate the value of coaching as you’ve seen in played out in your organization?
In my organization, being an internal (read “free”) coach to our executives has been seen as a positive, I think. The executives that I and my team have the privilege to work with are under an intense amount of pressure from all sides. They often do not get any acknowledgement for the sacrificial work they do, and they really do not have a safe space to think through their various scenarios. We get to be that listening ear for them. I call it “thought partnering” which sounds pretty “consultant speak-ish” but it really seems to capture what we do. Did I answer your question?
Great thoughts Travis. I also noted Camacho’s definition of human flourishing and, in particular, growing or developing in ‘vigorous’ ways. This definition, to some degree, aligns with my somewhat uniformed paradigm of coaching–that being movement, taking action, making progress, taking the next hill etc… It got me wondering if Evangelicals, who tend to be more activistic in nature, would be more drawn to the concept of coaching than other Christian streams. What do you think? And do you think there is a description of flourishing that is not related to growth or development? Can someone flourish as they ‘abide in Christ’ or ‘rest in his love’ or ‘find contentment in any circumstance’? I don’t have a particular perspective on this question…I’m just pondering the distinction of ‘doing and being’ as it relates to coaching, and while Camacho defines it as ‘growth’ and ‘development’ (doing) he also highlights identity and ‘being’ as essential. It seems he holds both together. Do other coaching paradigms more naturally lean towards ‘outcomes’? And is Camacho’s more wholistic in this respect?
I, too, really appreciate the authors placing value and importance on Grace and how vulnerable he was in his own story and how God’s Grace got him through it. A key component to coaching is embracing and creating a firm foundation of grace for those we Mine Gold from as well as Grace for ourselves and perhaps Grace for those who Mine Gold in us! Thank you for your thoughtful blog.