Turning now to organizational coaching in particular, this field, along with leadership and workplace coaching, is included in the definition of executive coaching adopted by the Graduate School Alliance for Executive Coaching (GSAEC, see www.gsaec.org). In this branch of coaching, there is some confusion about purpose, scope, responsibilities, and uniqueness. Is it primarily aimed at coaching individuals within organizations? To what extent must organizational coaches have a background in or knowledge of the industry within which the organization operates? How can coaching be differentiated from consulting, or need it be? Can managers serve as coaches to their direct reports? To whom is the coach responsible and for what? To the person being coached? To the organization that foots the bill? Does coaching apply to an individual, a team, or the whole organization? How does coaching differ from consulting or organizational development or leadership or training or project management or any other psychosocial change initiative within an organization? These and many other questions are guiding the maturation of the practice of organizational and executive coaching.

As a contribution to that maturation, GSAEC member institutions have adopted the following definition:

Executive and Organizational Coaching is a development process that builds a leader’s capabilities to achieve professional and organizational goals. A leader is an individual who has the potential of making a significant contribution to the mission and purpose of the organization. This coaching is conducted through one­ on-one and group interactions, driven by evidence/ data from multiple perspectives, and is based on mutual trust and respect. The coach, individuals being coached, and their organizations work in partnership to help achieve the agreed upon goals of the coaching. (http:/ /www. gsaec.org Retrieved 23 May 2009)

In summary, coaching in general is a psychosocial change process aimed at identifying and achieving client goals, including development of the client’s potential, based on a collaborative relationship between coach and client. Organizational coaching likewise aims at achieving goals, but these include system-wide as well as individual goals, and collaboration includes individuals, teams, and the organizational system as a whole. The practice is based on “evidence/ data from multiple perspectives.” What are those multiple perspectives and do they provide a theoretical foundation for this type of psychosocial change process? That is the essence of the first challenge.

CHALLENGES TO COACHING

Challenge 1: Coaching must draw on a substantial knowledge base

Support for meeting the first challenge draws on several types of evidence, including the concepts and theories from existing disciplines as presented in Coaching with the Brain in Mind: Foundations far Practice by David Rock and the author. This section is organized under five broad categories of questions that characterize coaching issues: Who are we? How can we be truly healthy? Why do we do what we do? How can we develop our potential? And how can we get along better?

This section presents various types of evidence for the existence of a coaching knowledge base in response to the first challenge. It then provides an overview of concepts and theories that make up that base. These concepts and theories, drawn from a multiplicity of scholarly and professional fields, are organized according to a series of broad questions that summarize issues typical of coaching. Taken together, these concepts and theories constitute a substantial knowledge base that answers the first challenge. This will lay the groundwork for a consideration of the second challenge regarding the cohesion of these various contributions.