By David Clutterbuck (United Kingdom)
Since the concepts of formalised or supported coaching and mentoring in the world of work emerged some 30 years ago, there has been a continuous and sometimes confusing journey of evolution – both for coaching and mentoring and those of us who practice and/or research in the field.
A historical perspective is useful here. At the beginning of the 1980s, the worlds of coaching and mentoring were deceptively simple and apparently uniform. Mentoring was a shadowy, informal phenomenon, vaguely related to career support for people in professions. Its origins lay, to a considerable extent, in the concepts of guilds (mutual support organizations) and apprenticeship. Coaching, as practiced, was a relatively directive activity that had evolved out of instruction. Then three things happened that shifted this cosy picture.
Source: iCN Issue 8 (Career Coaching); pages 29-31
About David Clutterbuck
David specialises in supporting organisations in developing mentoring and coaching programmes, and in establishing sustainable mentoring and coaching cultures. Everything he do revolves around helping people and organisations harness the power of dialogue.
Specialties:Coaching, mentoring, Top team development, Board development. Public speaker and presenter, internationally
