I frequently refer to SEND U as SEND’s training department, although I realize that training is also only part of what it means to “equip SEND missionaries and leaders to more effectively mobilize God’s people and engage the unreached in order to establish reproducing churches.” The other half of what we do in SEND U, and a major focus of me personally is coaching. The byline of our newsletter says “BY COACHING AND TRAINING, WE EQUIP MISSION LEADERS TO EFFECTIVELY MOBILIZE THEIR TEAMS TO ENGAGE THE UNREACHED AND ESTABLISH REPRODUCING CHURCHES.” Are coaching and training two separate assignments or are they somehow related? I see training and coaching as two complementary “hands,” both needed to develop our membership to accomplish our mission.
In fact, training becomes much more effective when combined with coaching. An article in Public Personal Management analyzes the impact of a managerial training program. They found that the training itself improved the managers’ productivity by 22.4 percent. But when the training was followed by 8 weeks of one-on-one coaching, the productivity of these managers increased by 88 percent. The reason for this significant jump in training impact is not hard to understand. The training course supplied the content, the information, the framework. But the coaching helped each participant put that information into practice by giving encouragement, accountability and help with goal setting, problem-solving and evaluation. That great material didn’t just stay in the binder and fill a spot on the managers’ bookshelf, but actually was translated into real life changes in the way he or she led.