A few months ago, I had a speaking engagement. For whatever reason, I felt anxious and unqualified, so I clung to my manuscript. The result was a tense, robotic delivery. I didn’t even want to be there, and I was the one speaking!

Contrast that with another talk a few weeks ago. I felt free and comfortable, and brought only a business card with notes. The result was an inspiring, energizing delivery that motivated the audience (and me).

How were they different? The second time I engaged...

I've suggested that a sweeping strengths movement larger than we've ever seen could be coming. I defined strengths as, “your best means of contribution and contentment,” and wrote that few us have really tapped into the talents, traits, skills, knowledge, values, and more that are within us. And I commended us to seek humility as we seek our strengths.

With this as the backdrop, I want to share seven drivers of a contagious worldwide strengths movement. This would be a strengths...

What’s the difference between coaching and counseling? Most people don’t know. We shared previously that according to the 2017 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study, only 30% of the public correctly identified coaching among other modalities such as mentoring, consulting, and counseling.

We already discussed the difference between coaching and mentoring, so now let’s tackle counseling. There’s a time for counseling and a time for coaching—Lord knows I’ve...

Recently I earned my coach accreditation from the International Coach Federation (ICF), which is recognized as the leading global organization for coaching. ICF estimates that worldwide there are 53,000 coaches who coach as a profession. With that many coaches (and more every day) let me ask you a question: If you could have a coach, would you get one?

Two big obstacles that keep people from coaching are the cost of coaching and the lack of access to coaches. People are saying, "I can't find...

Before I knew what coaching was, this is what I thought coaching was: you paid a coach to tell you how great you were and how everything would work out, if you just believed in yourself.

I thought a coach's job was to put a plastic sheen on life while quoting optimistic one-liners embroidered on throw pillows. I thought a coach was your private motivational speaker.

I was wrong. Coaching is not plastic or safe. Instead, coaching explores the four questions. Explore them at your own risk.

...

I was recommended a jolly, little book called Rejoicing in Christ, written by Michael Reeves. I have to tell you—there are passages that cause my heart to pound faster, like there’s a little drummer boy inside me, and I have to stop and take a breath.

Reeves has hit upon a nerve, a deep place in which deep calls out to deep. In this blog post, I want to share a passage of his and make some critical observations about the danger in spiritual growth.

I have read this passage seven...

It was my wife in our early days of marriage who set the record straight—I was wrong about gas stations. Up until that time, I thought the big numbers posted on gas pumps were the year the oil was collected. And so “93” meant it was from the year 1993.

This made sense because the “freshest” gasoline was also the most expensive—gas from the year 1993 was more expensive than gas from 1987. Now that's reasonable! But this ran counter to how wine worked because...

The first time I observed a coaching session, it felt like peeking into someone’s bedroom. It seemed private and intimate, not my business. At the same time, it felt exhilarating to observe this person’s discovery and watch the insight unfold. Part of me wanted to look away, part wanted to look further; it was both sacred and beautiful.

When I enrolled at Professional Christian Coaching Institute (PCCI), I didn’t really know what coaching was. If I had to describe what...

Dec. 30, 2019

On Christmas Day, I went to the emergency room with pain in my left chest and trouble breathing. After a series of scans and blood tests, the doctors concluded I had a blood clot in my left lung. Officially it's called a pulmonary embolism.

"So I won't be going home tonight?" I asked.

The doctor's serious, I-know-more-than-you look on his face answered the question.

Apparently a pulmonary embolism is serious. Each year 60,0000 - 100,000 people die from it and it calls for...

Although spiritual gifts are vital to the health of Christ’s Body on earth, a survey revealed that the majority of respondents (63%) didn’t have a biblical understanding and/or a practical application of spiritual gifts.

This is troubling because not only are spiritual gifts part of God’s strategy to build the Church, but they’re also central to experiencing joy as a Christian. According to Pastor Ray Stedman, “The value of your life as a Christian will be...