Coaching is a Hot Media Topic
By Jeffrey E. Auerbach, Ph.D., MPEC
How many articles on coaching are hitting the pages of the U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines? I did a recent count of articles and found that there were a total of 171 news articles on coaching in 1999. In just the first four months of 2000 there were over 100 coaching news stories in the print media. Coverage has exploded in 2001 and 2002. On January 1st 2002, the College of Executive Coaching was covered in the Philadelphia Inquirer -- then in the next month the same story was carried in over 30 papers across the nation.
These are not flaky publications either. Coaching has recently been the subject of feature stories in: Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fast Company, Health Magazine, Fortune, Investor's Business Daily, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, and Newsweek. Coaching is even featured every week on Oprah Winfrey! Do you feel like you are finally in the right place at the right time?
Professionals that are making coaching the focus of their careers are moving ahead quickly – although there are still relatively few well-trained, graduate level coaches. Now, graduate level professional coaches are setting up their web sites, networking, completing training, enrolling clients and boosting their incomes.
The Fortune article "So You're a Player. Do You Need a Coach?" (2/21/00) quotes executives who praise coaching and researchers who argue the benefits of coach training.
Why is coaching growing so fast? Barry Mabry, a successful partner at Ernst and Young, who has worked with a coach for over a year, says, "I guess I need a coach the same way Tiger Woods needs a coach. Tiger Woods definitely knows how to play golf, but his coach is still probably the most important person in his life." The bottom line is people overwhelmingly love having a coach.
"Coaching is becoming a heavy industry. It's amazing!" says Warren Bennis, professor of business administration at the University of Southern California's business school.
Is there an emphasis in the media that coaches should be highly trained professionals? Yes. Bennis, the venerable business guru and researcher, believes highly trained professionals should lead in the coaching field. He reveals his opinion about untrained coaches — "I'm concerned about unlicensed people doing this." Although there is no "license" for coaching it's clear that adequate coach training is becoming more important to the public.
With our high level training and experience, we can continue to create a vibrant, rich, effective coaching field and enjoy a rewarding, challenging career.
