Like Lee Salmon, Rey Carr has focused his work on and influenced the practices of many other coaches and leaders from around the world. It is in his writing, his advocacy and his caring relationships with coaching colleagues that Ray has left his global mark. Edgar Gallardo documents Rey Carr’s broader focus and impact:
I have known Rey Carr for over fifty years, through high school and graduate school. Like a fine vintage wine or a fine Merstham pipe, he has aged well and given the world of Mentoring a powerful voice, and a research-based point of view. His articles are myriad. He has also added his voice to causes outside of mentoring always to promote the greater good of citizens locally and around the world.
Leadership in the Coaching Village: In other essays (Bergquist, 2020a), I have applied a metaphor in my own analysis of the field of professional coaching and its future status. I suggest that the world of coaching resembles that of a pioneering village that is located in “wild” territory that is filled with both opportunity and treachery. There are those coaches who come to the village in order to escape the confining world of more “civilized” communities. For them, coaching is the new thing, and it is attractive precisely because it shakes the foundation of traditional human services. Ray would place Thomas Leonard in this category as a foundation shaker and co-founder of this village. There was the spirit of innovation that Leonard and other founders brought to the village. In his critique of contemporary coaching practices, Rey reminds us that there was this founding spirit.
Something happened to the coaching village as others entered who either wanted the village to be more orderly or who took advantage of the opportunities which the village offers. While Ray suggests that the spirit of innovation is still alive in the village, this spirit has been distorted and abused by those who ventured into the village with less noble intentions. The village is now filled with disreputable operations. At times, Ray Carr has assumed the role of sheriff in this village (or at least publisher of the village newspaper). As Betska K-Burr notes, he has often been a “watch-dog” of the coaching (and mentoring) industry. Rey often tried to keep the village both innovative and honest. In this role, Rey Carr has played perhaps his most important generative role as someone seeking the Greater Good.
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