Introduction

Coaching for Change is about using coaching as a powerful tool to support change. Within this context the coaching focus may be one to one, as in personal or performance coaching, team based or about creating a coaching environment within an organization.

This book is written for anyone who wants to transform performance. You may be any one of the following:

• a member of a learning and development, training or human resources function;

• a line manager with responsibility for on-job coaching;

• an external consultant;

• a lecturer in further or higher education;

• a senior executive who wishes to work on a one-to-one basis or with a team;

• an individual learner who wants to change his or her own performance.

Your job role may be a performance coach, facilitator, developer, internal or external consultant, or learning and development trainer or designer. Whatever your title, your interest will be in developing a coaching environment to support and enable change.

How to Use this Book

This book builds on the key concepts and ideas about training already discussed in previous companion books: Everything You Ever Needed to Know about Training (Thorne and Mackey, 2003), Personal Coaching (Thorne, 2001), Blended Learning (Thorne, 2003a). It is written to support you in your role as you work to develop a coaching environment and is designed to help move from theory to practice.