Coaching means many different things to different people. The occupation is fairly new as an organized profession and is struggling to find identity. Coach training schools vary widely in their philosophies and competencies. Many consultants and persons trained in psychology are simply calling themselves coaches with no formal training or consistent standards.

In many companies and industries coaching is showing up in several ways. One is through the use of external coaches to work with key or targeted individuals (CEOs, high potential executives, problem managers). Secondly, some companies have hired internal executive and management coaches. Thirdly, they have trained their own management and executive staff in coaching skills. While all of these are valuable initiatives, each has unique implications.

For our purposes here, business and executive coaching is defined as an interaction that occurs between people that produces desired performance, change or transformational results by promoting personal and organizational awareness, purpose, competence and well-being.

How coaching is experienced by people in organizations, however, is not always clear. There is a great difference in the coaching experience that depends on whether the person coaching is truly independent or not.

	Part 3: Coaching Without Responsibility, Accountability and Authority
	Back to beginning of article