Evidence Based Coaching Handbook

Introduction

ANTHONY M. GRANT AND DIANNE R. STOBER

 

 

CHANGE IS A constant. So, too, is the search for better, more effective ways to create and sustain change. This handbook is about articulating theoretically grounded, evidence-based approaches to executive, workplace, and personal coaching. Our hope is that this book will further contribute to the maturation and evolution of the emerging discipline of professional coaching, through making explicit the wide range of theoretical perspectives that can form the foundations of an evidence-based approach.

One of the conflicts in the maturation of a profession of coaching has been the value of open discourse, which is essential for the building of bases of knowledge, compared to business models of intellectual property, which often restrict access to information. It is essential for the coaching community to find ways to balance these needs in a way that allows for models of coaching to be tested and knowledge to be developed and shared. This book seeks to support the move toward discourse in the public domain regarding different theoretical formulations and the evidence behind them as applied to coaching practice.

Coaching is still in the process of establishing its credibility as an effective means for change and growth. Linking coaching practice with existing, applicable bases of knowledge of science and practice is an important step in enhancing credibility and in shifting from focusing primarily on techniques and skills to a broader ...