Over four decades, I have encountered thousands of mentoring programmes in dozens of countries. Many of them deliver superb results for all their stakeholders. Other fizzle out and leave no lasting legacy. The mentoring programme standards from the EMCC were introduced nearly 20 years ago and have been periodically updated. They provided the basis for...
The aim of this research was to throw light on an area of coaching that has not been the subject of any significant investigation before. All the major authorities on team coaching recommend that, unless a team is very small, two coaches should support each other. Among the reasons: one can facilitate while the other...
One of the characteristics of organisations, which have made progress towards a sustainable coaching culture is that the various elements are integrated both with each other and with the evolving business strategy.
Creating a coaching and mentoring culture isn’t easy; sustaining one even harder. Over three decades of observing attempts by organisations, one conclusion stands out. We cannot identify any examples of sustainable success that do not have a dedicated programme management team. Sometimes the team is one manager, supported by a steering group, but when they leave, the chances of sustaining gains made are minimal.
Your work-life balance 20 questions.
One of the characteristics of organisations, which have made progress towards a sustainable coaching culture is that the various elements are integrated both with each other and with the evolving business strategy.
Coaching culture is one of those concepts that everyone accepts is a good thing, but then struggles to describe what it looks like or why they need it. Here are 10 good reasons from the literature and our experience.

Over the decades, I have developed dozens of models and frameworks. One I am especially proud of is also one of the least well known – the diversity awareness ladder. Created in the early 1990s, it was an attempt to understand the relationship between our internal, silent conversations when we encounter someone different and the spoken or written conversations we have with or about them. The more instinctive and lacking in reflection/ self-awareness that the internal conversation is, the more guarded and politically over-correct the external conversation we will be.
The Japanese concept of Ikegai is based around four questions. In any discussion of career aspirations, starting with these questions is a very practical way of focussing on what’s important.

Building the habit of reflection isn’t easy. Yet, some questions can give a much-needed prompt. Ask someone what they earned this week and they can usually remember something. Yet ask what they learned about themselves requires a much deeper level of introspection.