The Calling Journey: Mapping the Stages of a Leader's Life Call - A Coaching Guide

by Tony Stoltzfus

Ever wish you had a road map to follow to your God-given destiny? The Calling Journey is just such a map, revealing the common stages and transitions leaders go through on the pathway to their call. As you read what successful leaders from all walks of life experienced on the destiny road, you'll gain an amazing perspective on how God is leveraging everything in your own story to make his dream for you come true. Along the way, you'll learn how to identify key stages in your own journey and build a personal calling timeline. When you discover what God's agenda is for each stage, you can lean into what he is doing in you instead of fighting the process. Developed by a master leadership coach, the timeline model emerged from comparing the life stories of biblical characters to those of contemporary leaders. Through hundreds of coaching encounters, plus extensive interviews with Christian leaders in business, ministry, politics and other spheres, Tony discovered that God takes each of us through predictable stages of upward growth separated by "valleys" of adversity and inner formation. While we tend to view the difficult times in the valleys as failures or detours, Tony shows how they form a vital part of God's strategy for leadership development. Just as Joseph's repeated betrayal and elevation birthed the life message that is his greatest legacy ("You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good"), The Calling Journey shows how the Great Redeemer transforms times of heartache into the seedbed of a world-changing life. The Calling Journey depicts four stages and three valleys on an easy-to-understand graphical timeline. Dozens of personal stories (along with tales of historical and biblical travelers) bring the journey to life. Coupled with an innovative understanding of call as the unique way Jesus is incarnated in us by our story, this in-depth look at the purpose of life reveals how God truly is good all the time.

Genres: Leadership

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2011

About the author

Known for his wealth of practical tools and engaging writing style, Tony Stoltzfus has authored 21 books, launched several training organizations and is a founding figure in the Christian coaching. He's coached leaders worldwide through their most painful experiences in life for over 25 years.

Tony's full line of books and training aids is available at Leadership MetaFormation, a training organization that uses innovative, experiential learning methods to help you engage God from the heart.

Visit The Heaven Experience to enjoy his latest work, a journey to heaven that combines scripture and science for a breathtaking, mind-bending look at heaven and the incredibly good God behind it all.

Reviews

[Ken.Rundusgmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every one needs a life path roadmap, this is it.

Best writing to define calling and life journey stages so you don’t fear you are missing something important!
Book for all ages of people who want to understand where they are and where they are going.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profoundly useful.

[Glen Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romans 8:28 “called according to HIS purposes”

[Dominic Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for those journeying in search of their calling or personal vocation.

I'm writing this review as I hope it will benefit those on the journey seeking understanding about one's personal vocation or "calling", especially from the Christian perspective. This is a journey of faith of course. After many years of journeying and researching about this subject, I discovered Tony's book.

I also used key sections of this book at a multi day personal retreat with my retreat director. The insights about "inside preparation" and "outside preparation" was valuable to me. There are many more insights found in this book.

This book is filled with wisdom especially from the stories of the many characters that Tony has used to illustrate key sections of the journey (biblical, historical and from contemporary times) .

Through this book I encountered the feelings of hope, faith and some peace as I continue in my journey.

I wish to share 2 excerpts from the book as to why someone should understand their journey better.

"Understanding the calling journey lets you take your hands off the wheel, knowing that in success or failure, expansion or demotion, dryness or overflow, Jesus is steering you through exactly the experiences you need to do what you were born to do."

"Those who journey with the perspective of fellow travelers travel well."