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Coaching: An International Journal of

Theory, Research and Practice
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The philosophy and practice of

coaching: insights and issues for a new
era
a
Christine K. Champion
a
Acumen Executive Coaching Ltd ,
Published online: 02 Apr 2009.

To cite this article: Christine K. Champion (2009) The philosophy and practice of coaching: insights
and issues for a new era, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2:1,
92-94, DOI: 10.1080/17521880802646058

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 Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2009, 92
94

Book Review

The philosophy and practice of coaching: insights and issues for a new era, edited by
David Drake, Diane Brennan and Kim Gortz, Chichester, Jossey Bass, 2008, 353 pp.,
£ (hardback), ISBN 978-0-470-98721
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The publication of this book is timely in recognising and responding to the emerging
maturity of the coaching profession and the development of a more rigorous
approach to coaching. The content is firmly grounded in theory to inform coaching
practice, providing a welcome contrast to the plethora of skill based books, which are
mostly pragmatic and practice based. The editors set out to address both the
philosophy, the ‘why’ in addition to the practice or the ‘how’ of coaching through the
provision of eclectic thought leadership pieces across a diverse range of coaching
topics. This approach will make a contribution to the higher professional standards
and the evidence base of quality and standards now sought by many organisations
through their coach accreditation and assessment processes that are becoming an
entry requirement to work as a coach in these contexts. The book will surely appeal
to all coaches who are committed to their ongoing professional development
whatever their current level of development as a coach.
The three editors have a wealth of experience and diverse backgrounds in
narrative coaching, clinical practice, philosophy and psychology and have assembled
in the book a selection of 17 authors from seven countries, with an interesting and
varied range of insights into their areas of coaching expertise and knowledge.
The book is divided into three sections, Foundations for Coaching, Applications
of Coaching and Organisations and Coaching. The first section explores the
historical foundations and developments of coaching based on person-centred
approaches, psychological and philosophical influences while linking this to the
professional development of coaches. It raises the question of how theory and the
growing empirical research base are applied to inform and develop coaching practice.
This section is helpful in providing links and highlighting the sources and
underpinning philosophical backgrounds of many of the techniques and approaches
that are used by practising coaches. This would serve as a good asset for coaches who
are interested in making informed choices around the tools, techniques and
approaches that they apply in practice when working with their coaching clients.
It would also help coaches to articulate the rationale for these approaches when
working with their supervisors. For example, Travis Kemp while exploring the role of
self-management for coaches and the importance of the nature of the coaching
relationship provides insights into principles drawn from social psychology, which is
defined in this context as the study of how people think about, influence and
generally relate to each other. Peter Jackson in his chapter:, Does it matter what the
coach thinks?
a new foundation for professional development, proposes that the
ISSN 1752-1882 print/ISSN 1752-1890 online
# 2009 Christine K. Champion
DOI: 10.1080/17521880802646058
http://www.informaworld.com
 Book Review 93

full range of evidence bases from the empirical, intuitive, best practice, and cultural
should all be considered and reviewed in order to enhance the development of
coaching as an emerging profession.
The second section, Applications of coaching, provides six contemporary insights
drawn from the experiences of the authors of working through a particular
application of coaching. With the growing influence of positive psychology and
the strengths-based approach within coaching it is encouraging to read more about
this in practice in Sandy Gordon’s chapter. This reviews the role of appreciative
enquiry as a means to enhance the mental toughness and resilience of clients in order
to support performance excellence. Given the current turbulence within organisa-
tions and their environments, as this review is written in November 2008, it is clear
that challenges to mental toughness will certainly not be likely to diminish in the near
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future. Also of current interest is the commitment to reducing stress in the workplace
and the role of coaching in the indirect contribution to stress reduction. The research
work of Stephen Palmer is further illuminated and explored in Kristina Gyllensten’s
chapter on Stress in the workplace. Further empirical studies into the impacts of
coaching on stress levels are recommended and would be welcome at the moment,
particularly in the financial sector where levels of stress may be anticipated to soar
during the financial crisis. A current interest in the transpersonal dimension of
coaching is further explored in the chapter by Peter Reding and Marcia Collins on
Coaching the human spirit. Based on the humanistic foundations, this approach has
drawn attention of both academics and professional coaches because of its the
holistic and transformational potential for coaching. A number of interesting and
practical insights are provided in this chapter around how to connect with and coach
the human spirit.
The third section, Organisations and coaching, explores the broader, cultural and
institutional aspects of coaching from organisational and leadership development
perspectives. Included in this section are approaches to team coaching by David
Clutterbuck, leadership coaching, the cultural context and the question of how to
evaluate the impact of coaching using return on investment techniques by the
seminal author on this topic Merrill C Anderson. Having become recently involved
in working with an organisation to introduce a leaner, flatter approach through the
piloting of self managed teams, I found Kim Gortz’s chapter on Coaching: lean
process and the concept of flow, to be a source of useful ideas. I was reassured to
read that the evidence from the study with Nordea Bank, on how coaching can be
used to support organisational change and the implementation of Lean processes,
confirmed the contribution to empowerment and flexibility within the workforce,
both pre-requisites of achieving lean process. The reader may be interested to know
about the thinking behind and the attempted integration of the two concepts of flow,
being much less tangible in nature, and lean in this study, which clearly demonstrated
the potential for coaching to contribute to achieving lean process through changing
leadership style and the broader organisational culture.
The book will certainly support reflective practice through both the rich content
of the chapters and the pertinent questions for the reader positioned at the end of
each section. In addition to the questions there is also a dedicated web site
(www.practiceofcoaching.com), which provides an opportunity, albeit currently
underutilised, for discussion and debate around the specific content of the book
chapters.
 94 Book Review

The format of this book does however present a missed opportunity for an
example of potential integration of various perspectives and the identification of the
key themes contained within the topics that are discussed by the contributors.
Although it is noted that the editors do encourage the reader to do just this for
themselves through the reflective process indicated above, it would be useful in
addition to see the stance that is taken by the editors.
At the same time there is little doubt that the editors have achieved their stated
intentions of providing: ‘a way to bring a deeper enquiry and further philosophical
reflection in the field of coaching so that both the field and the people involved will
be nourished in creating the future in a more thoughtful, ethical and loving way’.
I would certainly recommend the book to a serious coaching practitioner as a
rich source of theoretical and practical insight and to students of coaching, aspiring
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to develop their knowledge and skills to a higher level. I will be certain to continue
referring to it myself on a regular basis as a means of maintaining a considered,
disciplined and rigorous approach to my coaching practice. The book will also
provide grounded insights, a broad knowledge base and the opportunity for further
refection for those individuals in organisations who are responsible for determining
the role and application of coaching in all its forms as an instrument for individual,
team and organisational development.

Christine K. Champion
Founder, Acumen Executive Coaching Ltd
ckc@acumen-executive.com

Notes on contributors

Christine K. Champion is the founder of acumen

executive coaching, and works internationally across a
range of sectors as an Executive Coach, Coach Super-
visor and in Leadership Development. Christine is also a
member of the Coaching and Mentoring faculty at
Oxford Brookes University where she has been a major
contributor to the development of the new International
Centre for Coaching & Leadership Development within
the Business School.