The International Coaching Federation (ICF) sponsors International Coaching Week (ICW) every year as a way of educating the public about coaching whilst allowing coaches to give something back.  I’ll be responding to International Coaching Week in a variety of ways this week – including writing about it here on my blog.

The best initiatives for International Coaching Week create winners all round.  In the run-up to this week,  coaches around the globe have been thinking about what they can do that supports International Coaching Week without distracting them from key priorities.  The key to the success of International Coaching Week really does lie in creating “win, win” opportunities.  And because coaches are typically generous in their support of others, discussion fora have been alive with the exchange of ideas.

I started preparing months ago for International Coaching Week by writing an article for the UK’s premier coaching magazine, Coaching at Work.  This article focusses on the benefits to coaches of undertaking a voluntary project, providing coaching to members of the senior leadership team of a school in West London.  I was able to write this article because I led the project, between 2004 and 2006.  Its duration and the fact that time has passed since the end of the project meant that I was able to draw on the experience of team members both during and since the project.  If you are a subscriber to Coaching at Work, you can read a short on-line version of this article by following this link or you can look out for it in the March edition of Coaching at Work.

I’ll be making some offers of my own as the week progresses.  I particularly want to contribute some donations for the work which was begun in Haiti just over a year ago.  (And if you feel moved to make a small donation please follow this link).  First though, tomorrow I will be attempting to answer the question “what is coaching?”