I’ve just started reading Adaptive Coaching: The Art and Practice of a Client-Centered Approach to Performance Improvement and ran across the quotes I share below. Adaptive Coaching is written by Karen Spear and Terry Bacon. Terry is the founder and chairman of Lore International Institute, a professional development firm whose clients include Putman Investments, American Express, General Electric, and Ford Motor Company. Karen is a senior researcher for the Lore Research Institute. Both of them carry impressive credentials along with experience in the field of professional development.

“While exciting work at a great company with good compensation and work-life balance all contribute to getting good people, a key element in keeping them is development-opportunities to stretch and grow in an environment that communicates its commitment to employees.”

“As the war for talent continues, companies are increasingly turning to coaching as a principle means of developing their existing people in an effort to produce extraordinary results from almost everybody. Coaching has become one of the hottest movements in professional development in the last decade.”

“Businesses moved to coaching as the limitations of traditional classroom training became more and more obvious. Lack of transfer in learning and lack of sustained behavioral change pointed toward the need for more individualized, more engaged, more context-specific learning.” (My emphasis)

When I was first exposed to the model of coaching about five years ago I was struck with its uniqueness and potential in helping develop people. Now as a life coach I continue to see its value and potential as a tool for developing people at the level where real life transformation happens. While coaching has been part of the business world for decades it has taken off like wild fire in the the last decade.  I believe the business world has simply discovered and latched on to an approach that is reflective of Christ’s approach in working with and developing people. He was and still is the greatest developer of people ever! It’s time for a paradigm shift in the church as well as to our methods of training and developing those within our care.