Coaching in general and business coaching in particular have evolved greatly since the late 1980s. At that time, business coaching services were primarily focused on performance and served to close a gap. In the 1990s, practitioners became more mainstream, and businesses began to use coaching as an effective learning and development resource. Coaches are now able to provide one-on-one, just-in-time help to managers, executives, and teams. Their support is customized and targeted. The delivery system is flexible—a combination of in-person, telephone, and email contact is common. The focus is holistic, taking into account a broad view of clients, who they are and how they function within the context of their organizations. Coaching, done well, delivers results, and for organizations, coaching has gained credibility as a viable way to impact the bottom line.

Early on, the relationship between organizations and coaches was ill-defined. Thousands of dollars were spent with hit-or-miss outcomes and unclear ties between the “coaching process” and results. During the past decade, we have seen a shift toward more structure and discipline, a clear coaching process, explicit agreements, targeted goals and outcomes, and follow up.

Many organizations now have created and integrated strong coaching programs and consider coaching to be a key factor in the success of their high-performing managers, executives, and teams. Coaches are working in partnership with clients to facilitate outcomes that transcend traditional training and career development. Organizations who are hoping to raise the bar and create high-performance learning cultures are making coaching a part of the way they do business. It is our intention that the information, charts, examples, and cases provided in this book will help any professional who is interested in doing the same.