Here readers have their say about articles published in Training & Coaching Today. This month, two readers respond to training adviser Gary Platt’s view – published in our January issue – that coaching is a “here today and gone tomorrow” phenomenon. To go to the original article, click here.
This was a brilliant article, obviously written by a hands-on trainer.
I suspect that Mr Platt doesn’t waste too much time on listening to consultants who have ‘new-wave ideas’. It was a breath of fresh air and an article that new trainers ought to take note of.
I can envisage all the corporate seagulls choking on their bread as they are dismissing the reality of the content.
Peter Frankum,
Training manager
Coaching – here today and something else tomorrow! I don’t think so.
Initially born out of constructionist learning theory (Dewey, circa 1890), the first peer-reviewed mention of coaching was made by Gorby in 1937.
He described older employees coaching new employees on waste management. Executive and business coaching emerged from leadership programmes in the 1980s.
Place this in the context of the emergence of HR as a power player in the corporate world, talent shortages and a heightened awareness of the value of Daniel Goleman’s emotional intelligence, whose research indicates coaching is one of the top two quoted competencies for getting results. We can say that the 1990s saw the emergence of coaching as a profession, within an identifiable industry.
Today? Well a search on Google under the specific heading of ‘executive coaching’, generates 11,600,000 results.
So, why is coaching here to stay? Simply because when it works, it’s fabulous to see the poor performer generate hitherto unattainable returns.
The executive who reframes his behaviour and dynamically affects the culture and working conditions company-wide, the ‘aha!’ moments, the impact of a simple conversation on an individual about to exit a business who then perceives a new way… I could go on.
Will coaching stay? Without a doubt, changing and growing, adapting to new needs and lessons learned; business will learn to choose coaches wisely and integrate a coaching culture more subtlety.
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Coaching is here, it just might not look the same tomorrow.
Guy Bloom
Group talent manager
