Coaching others involves Modeling what you require
Posted on December 20, 2009“And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good deeds of every kind.” Titus 2:7NTL
The servant leader as coach is active in demonstrating behavior through modeling. Modeling is the process that highlights the leader. Sometimes a coach is called upon to demonstrate or model what is desired. Modeling gives others the opportunity to observe an example. It is through modeling that a person can identify with what is being required. For example if a pastor exhorts others to be involved in outreach or hospitality but refuses to do so themselves their example produces doubt or resentment. The key in modeling is to allow others to observe the desire behaviour, identify with it, then imitate and internalize what is being modeled.
I remember a farmer coming up to me after a sermon on evangelism and rebuking me. He said, “You young pastors preach a lot about evangelism and reaching out to people but know one ever shows us how to do it.” I learned how to pray because an elder in our church took me as a 17 year old to a prayer seminar where we both learned how to pray effectively.
Modeling is something that is often caught by others whether or not we intended to do so deliberately. Who we are flows from character and our values and then is reflected to others. The servant leader as coach is serious and intentional about modelling and seeks to offer themselves as a validation of experience to others. To model as a coach is to be oneself for others, transparent and real it is to shepherd potential in love.