In the late 1960s and 1970s, top agency directors drove government and large-organizational planning. Upper management made the decisions, and middle managers saw to it that decisions were carried out. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, further flexibility was needed if organizations were to thrive, and the hierarchical control of employees began giving way to trust and collaboration with workers. Dr. Dick Borough is the first person known to use the term "executive coaching" while describing his leadership training of businessmen during 1985. Forbes magazine later described executive coaching as a controversial hybrid of management consulting and psychotherapy.
Widespread training was needed to help every worker think and behave like a leader. The training emphasis, at the time, was on business performance, as in total quality management (TQM). Then came the seminar culture with programs on teamwork and empowerment that made the focal point more personal, but training was still focused on immediate corporate issues, and/or goals.
Transition Coaching
The use of consultants added to the movement toward coaching; they worked with key corporate figures and system interventions. Nevertheless, these approaches to change had one common flaw: they did not last. It then occurred to many people that if organizations were going to create lasting change, the individuals working in them had to change first. Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was a major figure in the shift from corporate talk to training highly effective employees.
In the late 1980s, the professional field of executive coaching was born, a field promoting continuous resilience and performance in people and organizations. During this time, the main emphasis of coaching was to assist corporations in formulating strategic scenarios for the future, in light of the changing corporate environment.
The idea was for coaches to work with individuals and integrated corporate systems over time. Management looked upon coaches as their "knight in shining armor" to get the job done and make a lasting impression. Some of the new emphasis that coaches contributed was visionary leadership training, and renewal coaching and transition management assistance.
The major thrusts that assisted in the evolution and shaping of executive coaching came from the field of leadership, particularly entrepreneurial leadership. The executive coaching movement was facilitated by the need for an empathizing and bold approach during the corporate shakeups and out-placement of the 1980s.
Today, executive, lifestyle, and small business coaching are burgeoning professions. The International Coach Federation lists their coaching membership at over 14,000 members, throughout 80 countries. Their research suggests a clear delineation between those who are highly proficient and making an excellent living and those who struggle to tread the coaching waters.
The Birth of Executive Coaching
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