The Future of Coaching: Status, Direction, Strategies and Tools

Issue Twenty Two: Diverse Perspectives on Coaching

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.

Issue Twenty One: The Development of Coaches–Reports from the First Phase of a Long-term Research Project

This issue of The Future of Coaching is devoted to a series of reports that convey and interpret results from two version of a questionnaire that was initially prepared by the Development of Coaches Research Collaborative in cooperation with the Collaborative Research Network of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. The initial survey was completed in 2009 by 153 coaches from throughout the world. The second version, distributed in 2015, was based on the first (with only minor editing changes) by the Library of Professional Coaching in cooperation with ITLCInsights. Fifty-eight coaches provided responses to the second questionnaire — yielding a total of 211 responses to the two surveys.

We are providing you with all eight of the reports that have been published over the past several years in the Library of Professional Coaching. We also include the very important (though admittedly lengthy) ninth report that provides a summary and broad interpretation of results obtained in this first phase of the Development of Coaches project.

Issue Twenty: Professional Coaching as an Interdisciplinary Art and Science

In this 20th Anniversary issue, we are examining the nature of both art and science in the field of professional coaching. We are looking at ways in which the interdisciplinary nature of coaching is recognized and incorporated in contemporary coaching practices. We also provide concepts and tools that enhance the interdisciplinarity of coaching. Given that this is a moment of celebration and reflection for the two of us, you will find several articles written by one or both of us in this issue. You will also find us incorporating essays that are relevant to the theme of this issue that have previously been published in the Library of Professional Coaching.