Coaching: A Strategic Investment
By Shawn Herkstroeter, GIA Director of Coaching
Who should be coached? Many feel that ministry and leadership coaching is for individuals needing help — underperformers, burned-out called workers, or ministry staff trying to regain effectiveness. Others feel that coaching is simply a luxury — a neat experience, but not really necessary. I believe that neither of these are correct perspectives. Coaching is not simply crisis management or a professional perk. Coaching, when done well, is a strategic investment in a ministry’s most precious resource outside of the Gospel: it’s people.
God could carry out his Gospel ministry in countless ways, but He chooses to work through people like you and me as instruments of His grace. It’s through connection, communication, and relationships that the great story of redemption is shared to all people. When ministries integrate coaching into their culture and budgets, good things happen.
Church and school leaders should think about coaching as and important part of their ministry operating system. A ministry culture infused with coaching shapes the way a ministry develops people, keeps them healthy, solves problems, and sustains long-term mission effectiveness. Here are four additional ideas worth pondering:
Coaching Reinforces the Value of People
Ministry is incredibly meaningful, but it can also be emotionally, spiritually, and physically demanding. Many ministry teams spend so much time caring for others that they neglect their own health and development. Coaching provides intentional space to pause, reflect, and recalibrate. It helps individuals develop rhythms, boundaries, and habits that support long-term faithfulness rather than short-term survival. A coaching culture communicates something powerful: “We value our people enough to invest in their growth, health, and longevity in ministry.”
Coaching Helps Healthy Leaders Stay Healthy and Grow
Coaching is not just for leaders in crisis. In fact, some of the greatest benefit comes when healthy, capable leaders intentionally invest in their growth before problems emerge. Just as athletes, musicians, and executives utilize coaches to sharpen performance, ministry leaders also benefit from outside perspective, encouragement, accountability, and intentional reflection. Coaching helps leaders lead proactively rather than reactively. It creates space to clarify priorities, strengthen resilience, and remain anchored to purpose in the midst of constant demands.
Coaching Creates a Culture of Growth
In many ministries, feedback is often associated with evaluation or correction. Coaching changes that dynamic. It normalizes growth, reflection, learning, and honest conversation. When leaders model humility and a willingness to grow themselves, it creates psychological safety for their ministry teams to do the same. Ministries become places where people can admit struggles, process challenges, and continue developing without fear of shame or failure.
Coaching Encourages Ownership
Good coaching does not create unhealthy dependence on an expert who always provides answers. Instead, coaching helps people think clearly, solve problems, take responsibility, and grow in self-awareness. Over time, individuals become more proactive, reflective, and solution-oriented rather than constantly waiting for direction.
Conclusion
Ministry and leadership coaching is one of the most strategic investments a ministry can make in its people. But most ministry budgets are tight. too often, the “low hanging fruit” that gets removed when balancing budgets are staff support related items.
But what if we thought about things differently? What if we treated the growth, health, and sustainability of our ministry teams as a non-negotiable priority rather than an optional expense? And what if coaching became a normal part of our ministry cultures because healthy leaders and healthy teams matter deeply to long-term Gospel ministry?
Ministries that invest in their people are often best positioned for sustainable, long-term impact in connecting more people to Jesus.
p.s. - Our Five-Week Summer Coaching Program is designed to help you build a personal system that positions you for increased resilience in life and ministry. You’ll receive:
A Resilience Webinar on June 19 at 11:00am CT to kickstart your resilience journey
Five 1:1 coaching conversations tailored to your context
A Personalized Resilience Plan you can actually live out
All for $625. This may be the most impactful professional development investment you make this summer. And remember, most coaching programs qualify for Title II funding, making this an even more accessible opportunity.
CLICK HERE to apply for our Summer Coaching Program. The application deadline is June 1.
