What is Business Coaching? (updated for 2020)

Origins of Business Coaching

In Oxford University slang, the first use of the word “coach” in association with a teacher or mentor occurred around 1830 for a tutor who “carried” a pupil through a test. So the term “coaching” described a method used to bring people from where they are to where they want to be. In 1861 the first use of the word was in relation to sports. Historically, coaching development has been inspired by many areas of practice, including adult education, the Human Potential Movement of the 1960s, large-group awareness training (LGAT) classes, such as Erhard Seminars Training (founded in 1971), leadership research, professional growth, and various psychological sub-fields. In January 2000, the University of Sydney introduced the world’s first research psychology coaching device, and in subsequent years numerous academic associations and academic journals for psychology coaching were established.

Business and Executive Coaching

Business coaching is a kind of production of human resources for managers, board representatives, teams and leadership. It offers constructive reinforcement, encouragement and guidance on an individual or community basis to enhance personal effectiveness in the business environment, concentrating on behavioral improvements through psychometrics or 360-degree encouragement several times over. Business coaching is also referred to as executive coaching, corporate coaching, or leadership coaching. Coaches help their patients work toward common professional objectives. Which include career development, interpersonal and professional communication, performance management, organizational effectiveness, career management, and personal improvements, enhancing executive leadership, improving strategic thinking, coping with conflict efficiently, and creating an efficient team within an organization. An industrial-organizational psychologist may be an executive trainer.

Business coaching is not restricted to third party experts or suppliers. Most companies expect their senior and middle managers to mentor their team members to reach higher success rates, improved employee satisfaction, professional growth and career advancement. Research findings show that executive coaching has beneficial effects within both organizational performance as well as outside organizational personal areas, with some variations in the influence of internal and external coaching.

There is no qualification or licensing necessary in some countries to be a business or executive coach, and it is optional to enter a coaching organization. However, coaching standards and methods can differ widely among coaching organizations. Some business coaches refer to themselves as consultants, a wider business arrangement than one that includes coaching solely. Recent results from a systematic study indicate that good coaches are known for honesty, coach support, communication skills, and reputation.

Leadership coaching in the workplace has been shown to be successful in growing employee trust while sharing their own ideas. Study results from a systematic analysis indicate that coaching can aid in reducing workplace stress.