Which side does coaching in general and coaches in particular choose to take? Our position as professionals in the middle class gives us the opportunity to choose. Given this privilege, where does our responsibility lie? From Adler’s perspective, “We would never call anything worthwhile if it were not worthwhile for the whole of [hu]mankind” (Adler, 1931, p. 226) To what extent will we “live” our values?
Equality Challenge
Societies around the world are wracked by the insistence that some people or groups are inherently or biologically superior while others are treated as unworthy (see Rosenthal, 2019). However, as Adler warned, “The striving for personal power is a disastrous delusion and poisons man’s [sic.] living together” (1966, p. 169). Adler departed from what many presume to be a need for hierarchy and authoritarian control when he proclaimed “The ironclad logic of social living.” Rudolf Dreikurs explained and elaborated on this concept in his book Social equality: The challenge of today (1994). It may be concluded that Adler’s “ironclad logic” is, simply put, equality.
Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) and Stiglitz (2013), among others, have concluded that everyone, at every level of hierarchy, benefits from greater equality. Inequality, indeed, is a poison, the disastrous consequences of which are being visited on populations around the world, on our neighbors and clients, and, indeed, on ourselves. Carol Reid Day, a professional coach and MA graduate of Adler Graduate School in Minnesota, provides a case study (2018) that models using Adlerian principles and techniques to provide an “…opportunity to create inclusive and equitable conditions and address equity and social injustice.” (2018, p.73)
If increased equality means better mental and physical health and welfare for all, and if decreased equality makes us all relatively more ill and deprived, what are the implications for coaching, a profession that claims to benefit people and organizations. In 2016, along with the other programs at AGPS, the coaching program responded to the equality challenge by adopting this Community Declaration:
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