A History of Coaching

The most recent origins of Coaching and the rationale behind the current upsurge of interest in Life Coaching are worthy of a quick analysis.

The coach's role immediately evokes the image of a roaming leader on the sidelines of the football gridiron. And for centuries, the world's athletes, painters and artists, even kings, rulers, and generals, enlisted personal 'coaches' to develop one's potential for performance. Athletic coaching is a familiar role to all of us. Indeed the coaching concept, as it applies to business, executive and life skills, derives many principles from its historical role in the sports world.

The modern history of personal life coaching gained real momentum in the 1960's. Over the last 4 decades, coaching models based on many of the principles in the behavioral sciences and education fields have evolved to meet the growing needs of businesses and organizations and rapid changes within markets and industries.

Two noteworthy individuals in the development of personal life coaching are, Laura Whitworth and Thomas Leonard, who developed a system to support people in every area of their lives. As a team they developed the discipline and skill sets that have become the core of the profession. Now, coaching addresses the whole person by emphasizing goal-oriented action and the discovery of new learning that leads to purposeful living. Leonard and Whitworth have since founded The Coaches Training Institute.

Today coaching in the proprietary community, large corporations, and public institutions has become a welcome voice and burgeoning profession to grow leaders and managers. Since the 1990's, the profession has dramatically matured, not only in the number of professional coaches or the number of individuals receiving coaching, but also largely in terms of formalized industry standards and training. As a result, certifying agencies, such as the International Coach Federation, have been catalysts to shape the ethical standards and terminology of the coaching discipline. In so doing, this ensures the highest caliber of coaching to date.

But the history of coaching does not end with the profession or the discipline. Coaching is about your story. It is about the chapters of your life yet to be written with passion, purpose, and authenticity.