Distinguishing Coaching Practice Areas
Mike Jay, MBC
There is a
clear movement towards differentiation in the professional practice of
coaching. As a result of a movement to recognise and deal with
increasing complexity at all levels, coaches are moving into content
and experience areas that are more clearly defined. This movement is
as of yet, largely undefined and devoid of research. This brief exposé
is designed to further the conversation in the industry about
distinguishing the various niches or practice areas of coaching into
five areas: personal, career/hrd, organisational, business and
executive. It is not designed to be the final word. It is presented
for discussion as an attempt to gain further clarity around the
various distinctions currently sorting themselves out in coaching.
Practice distinctions
 Figure
1. Practice distinctions
The following
is a taxonomy indicating the various areas of practice using the least
possible number of areas of practice to define the greatest number of
situations currently being experienced in the profession of coaching.
A less differentiated view of the coaching areas
 Figure
2. The less differentiated view
In the past, a
coach was a coach, much like we saw in early athletic days, where a
team had a coach. Rising complexity and the whirlwind of specialised
knowledge created specialists. In explaining the contrast
between the two views of current and future reality of the major
coaching areas, we notice less of a distinction in the practice areas
in the more compact view. In some ways this could represent the early
stages of differentiation or perhaps, a limited recognition of the
differences in competencies between the coaching areas, much like it
did in those days before specialists.
The
article includes:
 Three Perspectives of
Coaching
Defining Characteristics
of 5 Practice Areas
Distinctions in Areas of
Practices
Niche Differentiation
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