Executive Coaching

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The first peer-reviewed coaching article to appear in the literature was a study by Gorby (1937) in which senior employees working under a profit sharing plan coached newer employees on how to reduce waste and increase profits. Sporadic articles on the use of coaching continued to appear in the literature with Bigelow (1938) describing how coaching was used to improve sales performance, and Hayden (1955) advocating that performance evaluations be followed with coaching to facilitate improved productivity and sustained behavioral change. The first description of a managerial training program that emphasized interpersonal communication skills utilizing coaching techniques was reported by Mold (1951). It was more than 10 years later that Mahler (1964) first published his research on training managers …show more content…
More recent researchers who continued to observe the expansion of coaching in various contexts assigned a much broader knowledge base as the foundation upon which coaching has developed. Stein (2004) suggested that coaching has its roots in educational theory, communication studies, social systems theory, the self help movement, management and leadership theory, the holistic movement, athletic motivation theory, psychotherapy, and adult development theories. According to Tobias (1996), the term coaching was first used as a substitute word to describe the practices of consulting and counseling in an effort to make both seem less threatening and remedial. Apparently, the re-labeling of this intervention to promote professional development worked, as media coverage in the late 1990s characterized coaching as a much sought after benefit being offered by companies and corporations willing to invest in an employee's individual growth and progress (Stern,