CONCLUSIONS
Our case study client, John, is facing complexity, unpredictability and turbulence in his own work life (and perhaps also in his personal life). He is working in a sector of society (health care) which is particularly complex, unpredictable and turbulent today (though many other sectors can claim a similar condition). Natalie’s work with John is clearly aligned with the postmodern condition, yet is also strongly influenced by the other dilemmas, polarities and opportunities associated with professional coaching over the past twenty years
Clearly, the ways in which both Natalie and John approach their coaching engagement is founded in dilemmas and drivers that can be traced back in many instances to the philosophical and political debates of antiquity: the individual vs. the group or state, the use of interpersonal and group skills to defuse dissent, the nature of profound learning, and, ultimately, the head versus the heart. From this perspective we can’t really say that professional coaching is something new under the sun. Such a conservative perspective regarding professional coaching is fully warranted – for we are dealing, after all, with the human psyche. And the human psyche hasn’t changed much since we first stood up on two feet to look out over the African savannah.
On the other hand, one might suggest that professional coaching is something new and that it exists precisely because of the postmodern condition (Bergquist, 1993; 2008; Bergquist & Mura, 2005). Furthermore, the postmodern condition, even more than economic prosperity, may be responsible for the emergence and perhaps endurance of professional coaching. This new field might have been the right strategy, at the right time and place, for the right reasons. This analysis further suggests that professional coaching may have to change during the corning years as the time and place and reasons of our world also change. In another article in this issue of lJCO, I suggest ways in which these changes might occur and ways in which Natalie and John might wish to (or have to) change their coaching engagement in response to these conditions.
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REFERENCES
Bellah, R., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W.M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S.M. (1985). Habits of the heart. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Bergquist, W. (1993). The postmodern organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bergquist, W. (2004). Organizational coaching: An invaluable complement to training and education programs. International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, 2(1), 15-24.
Bergquist, W. (2008). An interview with Julio Olalla: Conducted by William Bergquist. International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, 6(2), 6-33.
Bergquist, W., & Mura, A. (2005) Ten themes and variations far postmodern leaders and their coaches. Sacramento, CA: Pacific Soundings Press.
Burke, W (I987). Organization development: A normative approach. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Colman, A., & Bexton, W (1975). Group relations reader. Anchorage, KY: Grex Press.
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