Coaching as Theory and Practice

The roots of coaching can be traced back to the discourses of education, psychology, sports coaching, and organizational development. As suggested by Dianne R. Stober, humanistic psychology provides the philosophical foundation for coaching in terms of the values and assumptions which underpin it.1 Many of the themes of coaching are therefore based on the humanistic approach. A unifying assumption of the developing field of coaching in both theory and practice appears to be a passion for the growth of people and the nurturing of talent.2 As Stober summarizes, ‘[c]oaching is above all about human growth and change’, and Anthony M. Grant offers the following definition of coaching: ‘Coaching is a robust and challenging intervention, is results driven, delivers tangible added value, is typically a short-term or intermittent engagement, and enables the attainment of high standards or goals.’3 As a discourse it is very much in its infancy, however, and a definitive description of coaching remains elusive, as Anne Brockbank and Ian McGill have pointed out.4 It is a patchwork of influencing ontologies, epistemologies, and methodologies each underpinned by different assumptions which means that the practice of coaching is influenced by different schools of thought. It is apparent that each of these approaches places a different emphasis on the directive-versus-facilitative continuum of coaching.5 Nevertheless, as Bob Garvey et al. suggest, the growth of coaching and its popularity has been exponential over recent years.6