IMAGES OF THE FUTURE

We need to put a new discipline in context with others that preceded it (as in Table 2 below). We need the shoulder of the giants that came before for us to rise to that level. Given that we are all connected, from a post-modern perspective, it’s difficult to imagine a next generation discipline where we form something different from the current generation discipline. The truth is that all of our root disciplines are facing the same questions we are facing. What worked in the past may not work now as the environment is different so our root disciplines are being called to evolve differently just as we are.

One of the future scenarios holds the prospect that coaching becomes the dominant worldview and global culture. In this future, coaching is:

⦁      an open, fluid social movement that is

⦁      spread virally through human relation hip and interactions,

⦁      woven into the fabric of life. and

⦁      has become the preferred communication process and style for human interaction.

What can you do to make this worldview of coaching a reality? First, you can understand who made contributions to the emergence and growth of coaching, and then value those contributions. Next, you can embrace an inclusive definition of coaching — one that is dynamic and contextual, delivered across a range of attributes, and customized to the person being coached, the coach, the context and the specific situation. Third, you can promote diversity and inclusion –getting away from the competitive model. We talk about coaches being collaborative. Yet, I have seen more politicized and competitive behaviors among coaches than I have seen in other professions that do not profess to be collaborative. Fourth, support the effective use of coaching, so that doctors and managers can be effective coaches. Everybody can be an effective coach. We can support this behavior in others rather than saying, “Nope, you can’t be a coach unless you are a professional.” Using a coaching approach with patients, employees, and children enables doctors, managers, and parents to be more effective. This is modeling and living coaching in your life, in every moment and interaction.