Appendix B
Professional Coaching Language for Greater Public Understanding
Introduction
The Profession of Coaching Is Not Clearly Understood by the Public
Despite an estimated 20 years of business existence and practice, the profession of coaching clearly remains in its infancy. Although many people in the United States are beginning to hear about personal and business coaches, the vast majority of the public is still unknowledgeable about what a coach actually does. More often than not, coaching is (incorrectly) understood by an unknowing public to be a virtual version of modern therapy; this misperception and comparison may be attributed to the public’s face-value recognition that regular, ongoing meetings with a coach look like therapy sessions.
The Evolution of Business Coaching
Coaching has been conducted in the business world for a long time, as consultants have worked with CEOs, executives, and their business teams. Utilizing and combining the processes of business coaching and consulting, and strategic and action planning activities often naturally address individual behaviors, motivation, and related personal improvement. As a result of its evolutionary process, coaching has expanded from the business environment to the ‘life” environment where similar action-oriented work with the coach addresses matters outside the work environment.
Personal and Life Coaching
The natural outgrowth and extension ...