{"id":30240,"date":"2023-01-18T12:21:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T20:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30240"},"modified":"2023-01-18T12:21:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T20:21:01","slug":"striking-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/striking-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Striking Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

The book Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching <\/em>by Tom Camacho contains frequent historical stories about people who struck gold, and after reading this book, I feel like I could add my name to the list. The book provides a philosophy and framework for healthy Leadership Coaching, which is helpful, but my \u2018Eureka\u2019 moments were the direct connection to my NPO, and the personal encouragement I received.<\/p>\n

Philosophy and Framework:<\/strong> I have had limited and less than positive experiences with coaching. The one coach I enlisted had an agenda, and was interested in leading me to conclusions, rather than asking questions to help me discover a path for myself. While I knew that was not what healthy coaching was about, those few sessions caused me to be guarded against the idea of receiving, or even providing, “official coaching\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mining for Gold<\/em> is filled with Biblical passages and current examples that point to what heathy leadership coaching should look like. In reading it I was reminded that coaching leadership is not like a CEO driving an organization to produce their own desired results, but is \u201cmuch more relational, intimate, and patient. The pace is slower and more relaxed\u201d. (Camacho, 31) The framework for spiritual coaching leadership is not about a coach managing to a pre-determined outcome, but it takes a journey through 1. Deep listening; 2. Asking great questions; 3. Cooperating with the Holy Spirit, and 4. Encouraging the person being coached to determine the right next steps (Camacho, 59-60).<\/p>\n

In short, leadership coaching is relational and transformational; not mechanistic and transactional. It is the kind of leadership Jesus exhibited, and reflects the type of leader I would have liked to work for as a younger man, and that I would like to be, now.<\/p>\n

Connection to my <\/strong>NPO:<\/strong> My research has to do with how churches can nurture an environment that welcomes Gen Z into leadership growth and true partnership. While I am still in the \u201cproblem\u201d phase of the NPO and am a long way from finding a solution, my instinct tells me there will be relational answers when attempting to transform the culture of a local church to be hospitable to emerging Gen Z leaders.<\/p>\n

Mining for Gold<\/em> highlights the need for relational answers when seeking to empower younger spiritual leaders. Camacho writes: \u201cThere is a rising generation of leaders who want more. They not only want to participate in the important things God is doing locally and around the world; they want to thrive in every dimension of their lives. They want healthy bodies, strong marriages, and great families while they seek to thrive in their work. I think this is a very positive development. I dream of an army of coaching leaders dedicating themselves to raising up a new generation of thriving leaders.\u201d (Camacho, 39)<\/p>\n

My dream for my NPO is local churches shaping cultures that make it possible for Gen Z leaders to thrive in every area of their lives. Coaching leadership seems like an effective part of the path to get there.<\/p>\n

Personal<\/strong> Encouragement<\/strong>:<\/strong> Gen Z leaders are not the only ones who are hungry to thrive. I have embraced leadership patterns that have led to a less-than-thriving personal life. As I am well into my \u201cthird quarter\u201d of ministry leadership, I am interested in discovering new ways to engage what Jesus promised: Abundant life!<\/p>\n

I found Mining for Gold<\/em> at an important time: Shortly after the start of each calendar year, I go away for a prayer retreat where, among other activities, I listen to the Lord about my personal priorities for the year. I read this book during my retreat and was reminded that I am at my best when I spend 80% of my time on my \u201csweet spot\u201d, which is where passions, wiring and fruit intersect (Camacho, chapter 10). As I plan for 2023, and beyond, I would do well to heed that advice.<\/p>\n

Finally, in chapter 11, Camacho reminds the reader that the way of the cross\u2014suffering\u2014refines us. In the last three years I have gone through the most difficult season of my ministry life, and this book challenged me that instead of ignoring or running away from the realities I have been facing, I am being invited into processing what I have learned from those things. Growth most often happens in the hardest parts of life, and I would do well to embrace and apply those lessons learned from my pain as I move forward. Receiving coaching can help me do that, and offering leadership coaching can be a way to help others use their suffering to grow as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The book Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching by Tom Camacho contains frequent historical stories about people who struck gold, and after reading this book, I feel like I could add my name to the list. The book provides a philosophy and framework for healthy Leadership Coaching, which is helpful, but my \u2018Eureka\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2489,1555],"class_list":["post-30240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-camacho","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30241,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30240\/revisions\/30241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}