Developing Your People Through Impactful CoachingSample

LISTENING THAT LEADS TO REFLECTION

Jesus had very powerful conversations, and one of reasons he was able to have such conversations was his innate ability to listen – Listening to not what his disciples were saying but what they were not saying. One of the challenges people have is in substituting words for their emotions and expressing them, most often what they want to say is not how it sounds and we realize that latter but it is of little help.


In John Chapter 13, Jesus comforts his disciples after he talks about his death and predicts both Judas’s betrayal (John 13:18-30) and Peter’s denial (John 13:31 – 38) and in this context he talks about preparing a place for them and he mentions – ‘You know the way to the place where I am going’ to which Thomas replies ‘‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus listens to what Thomas is trying to say, he addresses his perplexity, confusion and anxiety for he had just told them about his death. In a single, simple message Jesus assures ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life…’

Just sometime earlier Peter had asked a very similar question – ‘Lord, where are you going?’ to which Jesus replied ‘where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later’ (John 13:36-37). Here Jesus listens to what peter is trying to say and he addressees Peter’s self-confidence and the trust he had placed on his.

Jesus always listened not to question but to the questioner.

At our workplace in our daily coaching conversations we need to be aware about ‘what people are truly seeking’ listening and paying close attention to what they are not saying or trying to say and then help them reflect to move forward. Even though Jesus tells peter that you will disown me, he did invest time with Peter and meet him after his resurrection by the Sea of Galilee to prepare him to feed His lambs and the gruesome death he would die to glorify God. Listen to help people reflect. In the process they will seek ways to develop and grow. The denier now turned the glorifier – what a transformation.

Prayer: Father, help me to be slow at speaking, that I’m listen to what my people are seeking. Amen!