The practice of life coaching is nothing new. Janet Harvey, 52, who runs Invite Change, a Seattle-based coach training firm and is currently the incoming president of the International Coach Federation (ICF), traces it to the Human Potential Movement of the early 1970s and the teachings of Werner Erhard, whose “est Training” self-motivation workshops became wildly popular in the ’70s and early ’80s. But the face of the profession is becoming increasingly fresh, with some clients receiving motivational guidance from coaches young enough to be their children.
Ms. Harvey said that her [training] program had experienced a large increase in young coaches, which she defined as ranging from ages 25 to 35. At Columbia, Terrence E. Maltbia, the director of the university’s Coaching Certification Program , is reporting a similar trend.
“We’ve seen consistent growth in demand since 2007, across the board, but especially among younger people,” said Dr. Maltbia, who is developing a master’s program in leadership coaching as a joint initiative of the Teachers College’s Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation and the Executive Education unit of the Columbia Business School .
More than 30 American universities have introduced coaching programs, including Harvard, Yale, Duke, New York University, Georgetown, the University of California at Berkeley, Penn State, the University of Texas at Dallas and George Washington.
The universities are playing catch-up to scores of online training and accreditation programs that have flourished over the last five years, and increasingly advocate coaching over the phone or the Web, which perhaps blurs any skepticism of a younger person that might occur during a flesh-and-blood meeting.
Hugo Cory, 44, an established coach who charges $400 an hour and has offices on Park Avenue in Manhattan, said the generation born in the 1970s and later was raised to have more emotional sensitivity than its forebears.
And Ms. Harvey of ICF said there is nothing wrong with having a young life coach; they are only charged with helping clients to hear themselves and to hold themselves accountable to articulated goals, she said. And it is “distinct from other disciplines such as consulting, mentoring or counseling.” Still, Ms. Harvey voiced some concern about the opportunities for easy accreditation online. “Buyer beware,” she said.
Coaching considers the teaching model naïve about our human capacity for self-perfection. It holds that, no matter how well prepared people are in their formative years, few can achieve and maintain their best performance on their own.
So what is professional coaching and how does it differ from consulting?
Download and listen to this MP3 recording of a recent interview of Coach John Agno for the answer to that question.
Sources: The New York Times, January 29, 2012 and CoachingTip: The Leadership Blog
Ms. Harvey said that her [training] program had experienced a large increase in young coaches, which she defined as ranging from ages 25 to 35. At Columbia, Terrence E. Maltbia, the director of the university’s Coaching Certification Program , is reporting a similar trend.
“We’ve seen consistent growth in demand since 2007, across the board, but especially among younger people,” said Dr. Maltbia, who is developing a master’s program in leadership coaching as a joint initiative of the Teachers College’s Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation and the Executive Education unit of the Columbia Business School .
More than 30 American universities have introduced coaching programs, including Harvard, Yale, Duke, New York University, Georgetown, the University of California at Berkeley, Penn State, the University of Texas at Dallas and George Washington.
The universities are playing catch-up to scores of online training and accreditation programs that have flourished over the last five years, and increasingly advocate coaching over the phone or the Web, which perhaps blurs any skepticism of a younger person that might occur during a flesh-and-blood meeting.
Hugo Cory, 44, an established coach who charges $400 an hour and has offices on Park Avenue in Manhattan, said the generation born in the 1970s and later was raised to have more emotional sensitivity than its forebears.
And Ms. Harvey of ICF said there is nothing wrong with having a young life coach; they are only charged with helping clients to hear themselves and to hold themselves accountable to articulated goals, she said. And it is “distinct from other disciplines such as consulting, mentoring or counseling.” Still, Ms. Harvey voiced some concern about the opportunities for easy accreditation online. “Buyer beware,” she said.
Download and listen to this MP3 recording of a recent interview of Coach John Agno for the answer to that question.
Sources: The New York Times, January 29, 2012 and CoachingTip: The Leadership Blog