Section Two: John’s IJCO Contributions
As co-founder of the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, John Lazar often served “in the back room” providing the often-unrewarding task of managing the finances of IJCO, as well as its marketing and production. As his colleagues have noted, John was also filled with generosity—he often edited an issue rather than writing an article himself. He interviewed other people to ensure that their insights (rather than his own) were offered to the professional coaching community.
John was someone who built foundations. He joined me in launching IJCO. This meant that he not only took a lead in establishing IJCO as a free-standing organization, but also rolled up his sleeves to author or co-author articles for the initial two issues of the journal.
I co-authored one of the first IJCO articles with John. This article has been widely viewed and referenced. In this essay, John and I offered the first version of a taxonomy that was to be further modified many times and cited in many subsequent publications. An important distinction was also drawn for the first time by John and me between puzzle, problems and mysteries. These differing issues are often being addressed during coaching sessions.
Alignment Coaching: The Missing Element in Business Coaching
The second article by John helped to kick off our series on coaching schools. John wrote about the coach training program that was being offered by the Newfield Network. John had graduated from this program and was a strong and articulate advocate for the distinctive coaching strategy offered by Julio Olalla, the founder of Newfield.
The Newfield Network’s School of Coaching
The third article was written by John several years later. It provides evidence of John Lazar’s generosity and commitment to promoting the perspectives and practices of other experienced and successful professional coaches. In this case, the interview was conducted by John with Agnes Mura, a noted international coach with an impressive set of experiences in both coaching and leadership roles.
Coaching in Financial Institutions: Interview with Agnes Mura
[I would also point to the change in IJCO covers from the first years to the later years. John was primarily responsible for this vast improvement. Many people today mentioned that they have kept and treasured the many issues of IJCO for not only their content but also their covers and artful composition.]
Section Three: John’s LPC Contributions
The Library of Professional Coaching (LPC) grew directly out of IJCO. Suzi Pomerantz and I, as the founders, envisioned a digital library that would provide many of the insightful essays that John and I had published in IJCO—but without the expenses of a printed publication. While John was not involved in the operations of LPC, he was now free to make his own contributions to the library. A total of four essays were prepared by John. I know that he would have prepared many more if Cancer hadn’t cut short his life and his valuable contributions to the field of professional coaching.
Each of John’s essays that we published in LPC came at our request. They were all published in The Future of Coaching (a digital magazine co-edited by Bill Carrier and me that is published inside LPC). John’s first LPC contribution came in the form of an interview. We turned the tables and believed it was time to elicit some of John Lazar’s own perspectives on professional coaching. Bill Carrier conducted an interview with John for an issue of The Future of Coaching that focused on the history of professional coaching. This interview primarily concerned John’ insights regarding coaching institutions and influences on the coaching enterprise.
The History of Coaching: Institutions and Influences
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