Written by: Mathews Manaloor on February 2, 2025

I feel this is again one of those books that would come under the category of action poetry [1]. In the Christian circles this would be quite transformational and adding coaching to leadership must have been a radical idea for the time it was written. It looks at leadership with a fresh lens. We have Dr. Jason Clarke to thank for this. In Tom Camacho words acknowledging Jason, ‘for activating the book in me and opening the door for this book to be written’. Without that we may not have had the benefit of reading this book. Apparently, outside of the Christian circles this book is not known much.  I could not find a single copy at our local library, nor did the author’s name search elicit any results. It is a shame, as many of the principles and concepts addressed in the book could easily apply in the secular environment. For Christians this book contains a motherlode (gold deposit) of practical and actionable ideas ready to be mined.

This book spoke to me personally as I have been contemplating how to prepare myself and influence people around me to become leaders. It forced me to refocus my role in serving Christ and working to expand the ministry. As apostle Paul says “We are God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’. [2]. There isn’t a greater satisfaction and fulfillment in life than doing the work that God has prepared for us. We partner with the Holy Spirit to provide clarity and focus. We see with our natural eyes but God sees us through well His eyes and knows what is ahead for us and prepares us to be his instruments.

This book felt more like a workbook rather than a regular book to read. I appreciated Tom putting at the end of each chapter sections on Deeper-level questions and Potential action steps. These questions are quite thought-provoking and invite the reader for an in-depth introspection. At the same time, it provides step-by-step action list on how to be a successful coach leader.

It is heartening to see that some of the underlying principles of this book are being used in the corporate world. Over the years there has been a gradual shift from the traditional leadership approach of command and control to a leader as a coach. Hiring executive coaches has been in vogue. However, they have proven to be expensive and not very effective.  James and Zsofia [3] discuss how the demands of the modern workplace are forcing the change in traditional leadership style. Leaders are encouraged to identify interactions that they are already having with their employees and work to transform them into coaching moments. This will become even more significant as the Gen-Z ‘s start entering the workplace in large numbers. Harvard Business Review’s perspectives on leadership coaching complement the principles outlined in Mining for Gold [4]. Both emphasize the transformative power of coaching in unlocking individual potential and driving organizational success.

Tom spent his formative years in the armed forces and later in the corporate world at GE training executives and managers on leadership. I just wondered if Tom were to go back into army today what would he do differently, if any. Perhaps this would be a good question to ask him next week when he is with us.

Being focused is a key component of coaching as a leader. The author using his example of flying the helicopter for a training mission in preparations of the Iraq war is both powerful and compelling. He vividly describes how after losing focus he ended up putting his own life and the lives of his colleagues in mortal danger. But to me the response of his supervisor was fascinating. When Tom fully expected to be reprimanded in a severe way for putting his teams lives in mortal danger his boss Lieutenant Colonel, Mike Swayer, gave a Christian response of both forgiveness and of encouragement. He thanked the author for saving the lives of the pilots and said today you learnt a valuable and critical lesson. A classic coach leader response. For us as Christians, coach leadership paradigm incorporates the best principles of Christ-centered coaching into everyday practice of developing others.

I see another shift beginning to happen. As Artificial Intelligence starts taking hold, most of the mundane activities of ‘tracking’ and ‘managing’ will end up being done by computers freeing up more time for leaders to use their God given intelligence for coaching and becoming skilled at being a coach leader.

[1] Jan H.F. Meyer and Ray Land, Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge. London: Routledge, 2006.

[2] Apostle Paul, Ephesians 2: 10, NIV

[3] James Elfer and Zsofia Belovai, How to lead like a Coach, Harvard Business Review, September 6, 2024.

[4] Tom Comacho, Mining Gold, Tom Camacho, Intervarsity Press, 2019

About the Author

Mathews Manaloor