As our colleague, Vikki Brock (2012) has noted in her exceptional history of professional coaching, the founding of this field relied on many different perspectives. As another of our colleagues, Linda Page, has noted: the field of professional coaching is multi-disciplinary in nature. She made this observation at an ICF-sponsored convening of coaches from around the world about a decade ago. In this issue of The Future of Professional Coaching, we build on this theme of diverse perspectives by selecting essays already published in the Library of Professional Coaching LPC), published previously in the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations (IJCO) or newly published in LPC. These essays represent perspectives on professional coaching that are founded in several different schools of psychotherapy, as well as the psychology of adult and organization development. We also offer essays that build on perspectives from outside the discipline of psychology—perspectives that are as diverse as philosophy and neurobiology.
We are fortunate to be able to publish this wide variety of viewpoints on professional coaching. We are also honored to be able to offer essays written by some of the major thought leaders who have influenced the field of professional coaching. None of this would be possible without the generous cooperation of John Lazar, co-founder of IJCO and custodian of the IJCO archives. We also wish to thank the authors of these essays in granting permission for us to publish or republish their remarkable work. There were some fears on the part of several authors that their work might now be dated (given its publication, in some instances, more than a decade ago). You will find that this is not the case—the themes and insights are still relevant and poignant. That is part of the power manifest in the writing of these legendary leaders of our professional coaching field.
An Epistemological Overview
In setting the stage for our offering of the essays by thought leaders in the field, we offer an essay written by one of us (WB) with his Norwegian co-author, Kristen Eggen. This essay concerns the fundamental nature of knowledge (epistemology) as applied to the many perspectives to be offered in this issue of The Future of Professional Coaching.
Philosophical Foundations of Coaching
Psychotherapy-Based Perspectives
A second and third essay takes us into the world of psychotherapy. We first offer an essay written by the aforementioned, Linda Page and her colleagues at the Alder Graduate School (AGS) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As the name, AGS, implies, this school of professional coaching builds on the perspective and practices of the noted psychoanalyst, Alfred Adler. Many professional coaches who are not “Adlerians” will point to the influence which Alfred Adler has had on their work—while many other coaches might not even realize that Adler has had an impact even if through an intermediate source.
Alfred Adler and the Future of Coaching
The third essay by Dorothy Siminovitch brings another psychotherapy-based perspective and practice to the foreground. Through this essay and several others she has published in the Library of Professional Coaching, Dr. Siminovitch describes the way in which Gestalt psychology has influenced her own work and can be engaged by other professional coaches as they seek to improve and broader the scope of their engagement with clients.
Gestalt Coaching for Awareness Management
Development-Based Perspectives
The next three essays lead us into the world of developmental psychology at both the personal and organizational level. The first of these essays was written by Frederick Hudson, one of the foremost experts on adult development. We have been fortunate as professional coaching practitioners to gain the wisdom offered by Hudson in his application of adult development principles to the deployment of professional coaching in support of major life transitions. It is rare for a leader in an area of psychological research and theory-building to also be a leader in the creation and expansion of an applied human service field. Hudson is one of those rare cross-over leaders.
The second of these three essays takes us from the world of personal development to the world of broader organization development (OD). We turn, once again, to Dorothy Siminovich who conducted an interview with Edie Seashore, who of the most influential members of the OD community—having not only been a highly successful OD practitioner, but also president for many years of the NTL Institute (a central institution in the OD field). Seashore offers a unique perspective on the relationship between organizational consultation and professional coaching in an organizational setting. Along the way, she talks about the early founding years of organization development as a human service field (paralleling many of the same issues to be found in the early history of professional coaching).
Appreciative inquiry (AI) is one of the new viewpoints offered in the field of organization development. Building on the growing interest in positive psychology, AI is to be found not only in the perspectives and practices of OD but also professional coaching. In this essay, one of us (WB) returns to the initial ideas offered by David Cooperrider and his co-author of the first book on appreciative inquiry (Srivastva, et al. 1990).
Appreciative Approach to Coaching in Organizations
Non Psychology-Based Perspectives
The final two essays in this issue of The Future of Coaching leads us to perspectives from outside the discipline of psychology. The first of these essays provides us with the many philosophically based insights offered by Julio Olalla, founder of the Newfield Institute. Interviewed by one of us (WB), Olalla leads us to and through the thought-provoking domains of many philosophers, bringing these domains together in what he identifies as ontological coaching.
Finally, we are indeed honored to be able to publish an interview with Robert Sapolsky, a noted neurobiologist at Stanford University and recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award. Dr. Sapolsky is interviewed by Marcia Reynolds, our equally as successful colleague who as authored several best-selling books and as served as President of the Association of Coach Training Organizations. Building on his book, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Sapolsky (2004) is drawn by Reynolds into very interesting and unique speculations regarding how his research and writing about neurobiology might help to inform professional coaching practices.
Zebras and Lions in the Workplace: An Interview with Dr. Robert Sapolsky
As we come to the end of this learning-ful journey through diverse perspectives on professional coaching, we hopefully will have learned something new and altered our own perspectives on our inter-disciplinary-based human service field. We might wish to emulate our own proclivity to encourage our coaching clients in their lifelong learning endeavors. Dare we practice what we preach?
William Bergquist
Bill Carrier
Co-Editors
The Future of Professional Coaching
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Brock, V. (2012) Sourcebook of Coaching History. ISBN 1469986655
Sapolsky, R. (2004) Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers [3rd Ed.] New York: Holt.
Srivastva, S., Cooperrider, D., & Associates (1990) Appreciative Management and Leadership .
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.