ABSTRACT
Coach training has developed exponentially in the last few decades; the latest ICF figures (2016) estimated there were 53,000 coaches worldwide, doubling in a decade. There is a huge diversity of training, from a few days to years such as at Master’s level, both generic and specialized, and some is now accredited by professional bodies. This chapter explores some of the challenges for coach training, particularly in building it on systemic principles, in demonstrating the value of supervision, in encouraging lifelong learning including understanding how action learning works, and in advocating coaching that delivers value beyond the individual. The authors argue that business or executive coaches need to draw on three “legs” of a stool and how they connect:
The craft of coaching
Human psychology
Understanding Businesses, Organizations and Systems
There is a discussion of coach maturity and what that means in practice (Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2011) and a distinction is made between the development of systemic competencies, capability and capacity and how, as coaches, we can develop our capacity (our being rather than our doing). The case is made for more attention to be given to contracting, systemic team coaching and an ecological focus in future training.
