ABSTRACT
So what is business coaching and why does it exist? This chapter describes how the business environment has evolved to a stage where coaching has become a source of competitive advantage. It also examines the question of return on investment and takes the view that coaching is probably worth the money spent. The next chapter will deal with definitions, distinctions and questioning frameworks relevant in a business context. At this stage, we will simply argue that business coaching:
• is primarily a process, as opposed to an expertise in content (especially in a business context);
• rests on a deep understanding of how the mind works as well as of the client’s context (again, particularly in a business context);
• is never limited to work issues only, even if organisations would prefer it this way; and
• is never purely remedial or ‘for stars only’; in particular, the perceptions of the sponsoring organisation may well be very different from the reality of the client; other useful keywords include: solution-focused, collaborative, exploratory and implemented.
