Called to Coach

By Sam Chand

“You need more education!” That’s what my wife, Brenda, said to me in 1985. We were pastoring a country church in southwest Michigan. The church was growing, but my discerning wife saw that we had hit the proverbial leadership lid. I agreed and began searching for graduate institutions that offered a program in my area of interest at the time: counseling.

Eventually and providentially, we relocated to Atlanta, where I was to assume the role of president of an undergraduate Christian college. Apparently, pastors and other leaders thought since I was a college president, I knew something about helping their organizations. Increasing invitations created opportunities, and I gained a descriptor: consultant.

However, there is a big gap between counseling and consulting, and that gap is filled by coaching. People engage with a counselor when they feel stuck due to experiencing unmet needs and expectations in their past. They need to understand these issues, find health on the other side of them and move on and up from what is holding them back.

Consultants, on the other hand, are engaged by organizations when those organizations are dealing with internal and external challenges or facing opportunities and feeling stuck.

But what about those individuals who are not dealing with negative past experiences. They’re not organizations, but they may be facing some of the same sense of inertia due to challenges or opportunities. They may feel stagnant and want to engage their energies not in fixing the past but reaching into the future. They don’t need a counselor or consultant. They need a coach.

Coaching is solution-focused brief therapy. It does not delve into the deep issues of an individual. Counselors are greatly needed and an immense help, and consultants are amazing assets that serve organizations, but coaches are for forward-facing individuals who are ready to seize their dynamic future.

Brenda and I wanted to close this gap between counseling and consulting. We envisioned an organization that would raise an equipped army of coaches to help individuals lead fulfilled lives, as well as create an additional income stream for themselves as coaches.

It was this calling that motivated us to launch Dream Releaser Coaching in 2010. Since then we have trained and certified hundreds of coaches. We are among a very few Christian coaching organizations that are accredited by International Coaching Federation (ICF), America’s only recognized coaching accreditor, and the largest in the world.

As of 2022, the coaching industry’s market size reached an estimated $20 billion, securing its position as the second-fastest-growing global sector, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Revenue witnessed an impressive 62% increase from 2019, totaling $4.564 billion in 2023. The number of certified coach practitioners worldwide surged from 71,000 in 2019 to 109,200 in 2022, indicating a robust 54% growth.

At Dream Releaser Coaching, we do not create coaches. Instead, we call out the coach in you and equip you to be a professional, certified coach. Our goal is to equip our coaches to help people grow and grasp their destinies. Nothing brings greater fulfillment than helping others succeed, and that is our vision.

The Dream Releaser Coaching Model serves as a guide to provide the steps you need to discover dreams, raise awareness and coach the process. The model is cyclical rather than linear. During the coaching process you may find yourself moving from one stage back to another to make sure the client is satisfied with their direction and decisions. Let’s take a look at each component.

ASSESS

Connect through relationship. Establishing relational capital allows the atmosphere needed for the safety and security the client needs to open up about their plans and goals.

Conduct motivational interviewing. Principles of motivational interviewing include expressing empathy, supporting self-efficacy, rolling with resistance and developing discrepancy between present behavior and important personal goals or values.

Collect data (formal/informal). Laying the foundation by collecting information about the client—general and specific. This can be in the form of formal assessment and/or actively listening to the client.

Create the agreement. Defining the expectations of the coaching relationship from its origination and mutually agreeing on the parameters.

ARTICULATE

Listen to their story. Express your engagement in the coaching process by actively listening to the client as they share their story. Assure the client that you are fully concentrating on what they are conveying.

Listen for hope. Attentively notice when there is an expectation, ambition, desire or goal being communicated. Be conscientious of their aspirations.

Listen for their vision. Encourage imagination, creativity and dreaming out loud to support their vision.

AWARENESS

Locate where they are currently. Recognize the reality as it currently stands. Ask your client to talk about the actuality of their situation.

Locate where they want to go. Use powerful questions to discover their desired outcome. Promote dreaming out loud, and continue to provide a safe, comfortable environment for your client to do so.

Look at whole life context. Ask your client to consider life at a later time based on the decisions they make at this time. Raise their awareness by encouraging the mental picture of the outcome.

ALIGN

Formulate core values. Encourage the client to discuss their core values. Determine their non-negotiables and how the choices they’re making are weighed against their values.

Formulate goals that align with vision and values. Ask questions that ensure confidence in the client that their goals are aligning with their values, bringing their vision into positive reality.

Formulate an action plan for each goal. Set the goals into action. Urge the client to convert their dreams into working movement.

ADVANCE

Accountability. Allow the client to determine the amount of accountability they need to pursue these goals. Identify who will hold them accountable.

Adjustments. Confirm the client’s confidence in the direction they are heading. Provide the time and comfortable space for the client to consider their action plan and to make adjustments, if needed.

Affirmation. Use the capital within the coaching relationship to further confirm the client’s determination. Display support and confirmation by encouraging their action plan.

If you’re good at listening to people, finding their inner cry and pulling it out of them, you may already be a coach. Perhaps, it’s time to take the next step and become credentialed and certified. Let us take that journey with you.