Cambridge Business Association
The Digital Coaching Revolution
Book

The Digital Coaching Revolution

How to Support Employee Development with Coaching Tech

Anna Tavis and Woody Woodward
Kogan Page, 2024
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Overview
  • Concrete Examples

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Professional coaching has long been a human-centric domain, but that’s changing as coaches turn to technology to augment their services and coaching platforms embrace the potential of data analysis and digital delivery. In this comprehensive overview of the digital coaching field, coaches Anna Tavis and Woody Woodward chart the rise of the coaching industry from its roots in ancient Greece to today’s digital revolution. Tavis and Woodward explore the ways digital coaching — in corporate environments, sports, health care, and beyond — is redefining how people learn and grow.

Summary

Coaching can help individuals and organizations maximize their potential.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF), the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), and other major coaching associations define coaching as a collaborative process that inspires individuals and organizations to maximize their potential. Coaches help their coachees achieve affective, cognitive, skill-based, and results-based growth — that is, changes in how they feel, how they think, what they can do, and the goals they can achieve.

Typically, these four outcomes unfold over an extended period because coaching is a process, not a quick fix. The coaching process includes assessing a client’s initial needs, agreeing to a set schedule, writing a contract, conducting the coaching sessions, measuring outcomes, and providing feedback. Although academic research on coaching is still in its infancy, a meta-analysis of scientific studies suggests it improves work satisfaction and well-being more than training.

Coaching has ancient roots but was not professionalized until the late 20th century.

Professional coaching has its origins...

About the Authors

Anna Tavis is clinical professor and chair of the Human Capital Management Department at NYU’s School of Professional Studies. Previously, she served as head of Motorola’s EMEA OD function based in London, Nokia’s global head of talent management based in Helsinki, United Technologies Corporation’s chief learning officer, and global head of talent and organizational development at AIG Investments. Michael “Woody” Woodward is an organizational psychologist and a CEC-certified executive coach. He serves on the Institute for Management Studies faculty, where he has trained managers from BOSE, Verizon, and the NBA. Woodward is the author of the Amazon top-selling book The YOU Plan.

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    s. a. 5 months ago
    Zao-Sanders acknowledges the demanding situations related to digital coaching, which include troubles of privacy, information protection, and the capacity for technology to depersonalize the coaching experience.
    - He gives strategies for overcoming these challenges and making sure that digital training remains powerful and ethical.