Fortune Magazine (February 2000) reported that "Corporate coaching is one of the hottest things in human resources…a grassroots movement that is spreading in some of the unlikeliest corners of corporate America, including IBM, AT&T and Kodak…coaching is becoming something of a heavy industry…it’s amazing."

Coaching is not new. It is a new terminology for one of the oldest professions in the world…teaching. It is having one’s own private tutor, mentor, motivator & therapist all in one. We are in a new world of fast pace productivity with little time to be stressed out. The old Type A personality is a thing of the past. Today we are teaching people and task skills. We are emphasizing health and fitness.

Individuals are finding personal trainers, personal tutors, personal computers and personal coaches. We are no longer waiting for things to happen. We are more motivated to make things happen. We are a society that is becoming more proactive rather than reactive. We have learned that it is more efficient and productive to have a personal coach on the sidelines cheering us on when we are on the right track, being the devil’s advocate, the cheering squad and slowing us down when we need to be thoughtful and go back to the drawing board. Being a true shoulder to cry on that won’t tell.

We have become a culture of change. It used to be that we used to go to work, worked for 30+ years, retired and lived happily ever after on one’s retirement income. That picture has changed drastically. The average corporate worker now changes jobs every five years. According to John Kotter, a professor of leadership at the Harvard Business School is, "As we move from 30 miles an hour to 70 to 120 to 180…as we go from driving straight down the road to making right turns, left turns, abandoning cars and getting on motorcycles…the whole game changes, and a lot of people are trying to keep up, learn how, not falloff."

Businesses are becoming more concerned with finding good people, no longer just maintaining buildings and structures. Businesses are trying to find ways to attract, optimize and keep talented employees. They are more motivated to create infrastructures that will encourage long-term commitment to the company for several reasons.

CBS 60 Minutes reported on Jim Goodnight’s company SAS, a software company that has a 3% turnover. It is one of the most successful companies in the United States and it all has to do with attitude. Goodnight’s attitude is one of compassion, sharing, caring and giving. The employees feel respected, cared for, cared about and see no reason to leave the company even when offered more money.

The main points here can be summarized quite nicely by The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, made up of a group of America’s most respected experts on learning under the direction of Daniel Druckman and Robert Bjork who have been studying the research on enhancing performance for the past decade. Summaries of their findings are as follows:

Because you want to be a winner.