Why should expert coaches learn about interdisciplinary coaching?

Expert coaches are constantly seeking ways to improve their skills, and broaden their expertise in order to better serve clients and produce more transformational outcomes. That’s why the International Coaching Federation (ICF) requires continuing education credits. One relatively unexplored area for coaches globally are the insights to coaching from sister coaching disciplines.

Interdisciplinary coaching is the practice of combining techniques from multiple fields to create a more holistic and effective coaching approach. This includes everything from sports psychology, to agile coaching from software, to incorporating methods from Lean Six Sigma “Master Black Belts” to improve coaching.

The potential benefits of interdisciplinary coaching are numerous. First and foremost, it allows coaches to create more tailored, and useful approaches to helping clients achieve and even exceed their goals. This, in turn can lead to deeper client relationships and trust, that is essential for producing truly transformational results.

Another major benefit of interdisciplinary coaching is that it can help coaches to generate more word-of-mouth leads for new coaching engagements. By offering a unique and highly effective approach to coaching, coaches who are skilled in interdisciplinary techniques are more likely to be recommended by their clients to others who may benefit from their services.

Finally, interdisciplinary coaching can help coaches to stay at the forefront of their field, constantly learning and growing in the service of client relationships. By constantly incorporating better, more holistic techniques from a variety of fields, coaches can continue to evolve and improve their craft - leading to better outcomes for their clients and a more fulfilling career for themselves.

In conclusion, interdisciplinary coaching offers expert coaches a wealth of opportunities to improve their skills, deepen their client relationships and generate more word-of-mouth leads for new coaching engagements. By combining insights and techniques from multiple fields, coaches can create a more holistic and effective approach.

References

Hagen, M. (2010, July 12). The Wisdom of the Coach: A review of managerial coaching in the Six Sigma context. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 21(8). DOI: 10.1080/14783363.2010.487657

Myers, N.D., Park, S.E., Ahn, S., Lee, S., Sullivan, P.J., & Feltz, D.L. (2017). Proposed Sources of Coaching Efficacy: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 39(4). DOI: 10.1123/jsep.2017-0155

Stray, V., Memon, B. & Paruch, L. (2020, November 21). A Systematic Literature Review on Agile Coaching and the role of the Agile coach. In: Morisio, M., Torchiano, M., Jedlitschka, A. (Eds), International Conference on Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES), 3-19. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol12562, Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-64148-1_1

Svensson, C. , Antony, J., Ba-Essa, M., Bakhsh, M., & Albliwi, S. (2015). A Lean Six Sigma Program in Higher Education", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 32(9). DOI: 10.1108/IJQRM-09-2014-0141