Executive Coaching is being used by Multinational and Indian Company’s as a developmental tool to enhance performance of their CEO’s and Senior Executives. Not only I coach within the commercial sector, I also wanted to offer my services to other sectors which are important to me, one of them being the clergy.

I believe that executive coaching can also immensely benefit our Priests & Nuns, many of whom are Virtual CEO’s, managing a Parish, a School or College.  The environment in which our clergies operate is however far different from Corporate Life.  These important differences have to be understood by the Coach and factored into the Coaching blueprint.

The Environmental differences in which our Clergy, many of who are also virtual CEO’s operate, and corporate CEO’s

• Company CEO’s have the liberty to hire and fire staff to achieve their Goals and offer all sorts of Motivation (financial and otherwise) to their Managers.

• Our Virtual CEO’s do not have these liberties.

For many Parish Priests and Nuns, Parishioners can be a difficult lot to manage.  Since Schools & Colleges are mostly aided, Principals too have their hands quite tied down by various rules & regulations and rights of teachers and staff.  Most of the helping hands to our Clergy are not Employees but Volunteers in the form of Animators, Parish council members etc.  Each Individual has his own level capability and more importantly commitment, which cannot be pushed beyond a point.  The Parish Priests and Nuns, therefore have a Job which is even more difficult than a Company’s CEO.

Some common refrains heard are –

• Routine activities take up most of my time. 

• Religious activities have become mechanical & I seem to have lost my old fervour.   

• I feel guilty to take time off and relax.

• How do I make my homilies more interesting & relevant?   

• How do I make my Team own and accomplish individual responsibilities? 

• How do I tap the best talent in the Parish?   

• How do I handle difficult people; resolve disputes without being seen to be taking sides? 

• How do I improve the rating of my School/College? 

• How do I interact & maintain good relations with external agents like local politicians, government agencies, etc?

• How do I find more meaning and purpose in everything I do?

The refrains share some subtle similarities to our executives, from my experience.

Sustaining Vibrancy with the support of coaching

The Vibrancy of any Parish or School or College depends on the Priest or Nun heading it. And it brings to me the following questions. 

• Are we equipping our Priests and Nuns adequately?   

• Are we providing them the chance to Re-energise?  

• Do they have a Confidential Sounding Board; a mature person with requisite experience who they can interact with?  A person who can question in a non-threatening manner, their assumptions and indicate alternate options? 

• With so much at Stake in building a Vibrant Community and Institutions, are we spending enough time and money in developing our Virtual CEO’s who are taking on very difficult Leadership Roles?

An Executive Coach could meet most of these needs far more than training. During Training, the focus is on a particular subject matter that the participant picks for implementation. Post training the subject could be forgotten or partially implemented. If any roadblocks are faced, the participant has no sounding board to make course corrections. The effectiveness of the training content for long term personal development therefore, is generally low and non-measurable.

In any clergy, no two Priests or Nuns are alike and their individual challenges faced are also unique.  Executive Coaching here is useful because it is specifically tailored to the needs of each Individual. The Subject is the Coachee him/herself with all his/her unique issues and needs, and they are being supported by a good Executive Coach who would be a mature person, held Leadership Roles & is also trained and certified. The Coach can help the Coachee to understand all aspects of their work & personal life and decide the improvement areas in the form of specific and measurable goals.  During the Coaching process the Coach and Coachee interact on a one on one basis and through a powerful dialogue that enables them to improve their capabilities and realise their full Potential. Through self-directed learning, we can support our Coachee to develop their goals and find their own solutions to achieve them.  Self directed learning is better retained and owned by the Coachee, who is anyways a talented performer in their own right. And most importantly session discussions, like confessions, are confidential.

Some of my insights after coaching a few Priests & Nuns

The Clergy are more used to counselling and providing help to others. They are not used to being Coached, and more specially by a Layman. By nature, they may open up to their Superiors maybe to their Vicar, Bishop or Mother Superior, however, opening up to an individual/Layman can be a challenge.

I learnt that a Coach needs more tact & patience during these dialogues as more care is required to build that rapport and trust as a Layman who can help them in their working role. I was fortunate that all my Clients were open to connecting with me, and this allowed for change & also meticulous in completing their actions. Maybe getting early results was a motivation.

The best compliment I received was, "You ask Questions in a Non-Threatening Way & this makes me open up." 

Common questions that emerge, and pops up as their first Question from their mind are,

• I am here to Serve my People, how can I have personal Goals?

• I feel guilty when I relax have a drink or any fun activity " 

Through Dialogue & introspection all of them realised improvement Goals would help the Parishioners they served. Some relaxation would invigorate them towards better actions. They felt that they were better equipped to serve their People. One even was ordained as a Bishop, mainly for his work & inherent capabilities, & perhaps some Coaching inputs also helped.

The Clergy live a tough life. They have sacrificed so much & live only to serve others. Coaching them can be a very humbling experience. However, getting the Clergy to be Coached by a Layman even on a pro-bono basis however continues to be a challenge. Intrinsically this can be because many of the Clergy are not yet open to change through dialogue with a Layman Coach. And perhaps clarity around this could help. For e.g. On Pastoral Matters a Layman would always be a better Coach than a Clergy Superior as the insights suggest.

Bringing support to the clergy

Coaching can help our clergy in leadership roles find more purpose, improve management of Parishes, Schools and Congregations, enhance their personal effectiveness, manage conflict, maintain high energy and motivation, amongst other things.

Even though I have written from my experience in India , I am sure that the game changing benefits from Executive Coaching to the Clergy, and the Challenges of making Clergy open to Coaching Inputs, would be very similar in most other countries too. To benefit from Coaching, the Coachee Priest or Nun only needs a little flexibility.  He/She should be open to change, be able to reflect and acknowledge mistakes, be focused on the future rather than on the past, and, have a sense of personal Mission & Passion.

Executive Coaching as a Developmental Tool for Clergy occupying Leadership roles can be a game Changer for our Community. Hopefully the Church & the Clergy, while modernising & changing, will one day be even more receptive to good secular inputs and we as the Laity must also play our role by persuasively highlighting the Benefits.

To know more connect with Aubrey Rebello.