Recently on the CoachTalk discussion forum Diane Krause Stetson, Vice-President of the International Association of Coaching (IAC) wrote:

I strongly believe that when we talk about the future of coaching, we need to separate the challenges of being a "coach-prenuer" in the business/industry of coaching (the delivery model) from the extraordinary gains and endless potential there is from the act of coaching (what "it" is).

This was in response to a discussion started by Julia Stewart in which she questioned the current model of coaching delivery. The topic was picked up by several people, including Donna Steinhorn who wrote:

I think it's important to realize that coaching is not a single skill set. If you look at the many...coaches out there who have been coaching successfully for 5, 10 even 20 or more years, they are not doing formula coaching. They don't even always call it coaching, but they know the needs of their clients, and know the solutions and value they provide. And most importantly, they change as their clients needs and the world changes.

Having said that, Julia is right on the money that one of the main reasons that some coaches do not succeed as coach-preneurs (love that phrase) is that they are not cut out to run a business.

It's not that they are not good coaches, it is that they are not good business people. Knowing that, they have several choices. Join forces with a coaching company or collaborate with people who have complementary skills so that the marketing/administration/business side of the company is handled by others...or hire a marketer, bookkeeper, VA to handle the parts they're not good at.

Or...recognize that they are not cut out to be entrepreneurs, and take those coaching skills into a job where they are valued...as Julia pointed out, even a brief scan of job requirements reveals that many jobs (beyond those for internal coaches) now list coaching skills as part of the skill set required.

Basically, if something is not working (after you've given it sufficient time to work)...then it's time to make a change.

This discussion seems to me a wonderful indicator of the fact that coaching (as an industry and as a social movement) is maturing. I know many people objected when Thomas Leonard said "everyone's a coach", but I always took that to mean "everyone can coach" (for better or worse effect).

The distinction is between the doing of it, and the doing of it professionally. And based on what Donna Steinhorn said, perhaps there is a further distinction between doing it professionally (say as a manager, in-house coach or teacher) and doing it as an independent business person.

I sometimes use the analogy of singing. Can you say "Everyone's a singer"? Well, yes, in a sense that's true. We all have the ability to sing. What's not true is that "Everyone's a professional singer". And not all professional singers are suited to being singer/businesspeople (i.e. have a business singing).

I'd say the same thing about coaching. "Everyone's a coach" (group 1) but not "Everyone's a professional coach" (group 2). And yet fewer are coach/businesspeople (group 3).

We need everyone singing, just as we need everyone coaching. Hopefully we'll all get better at both as we learn and practice!

And a final point: we need coaches who are in group 2 to go out in the world and share the gift of **professional coaching**. And those coaches need to realize that they ARE professional coaches, even if they are not succeeding in group 3.

What do you think? Tell me in the comments section below.