Training Blog

Coaching’s getting a permanent home in the Ivy League.

The Institute of Coaching, just unveiled at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, is a first-of-its-kind center for coaching research, practice and education—all aimed at transforming the field.

“Research is the foundation upon which credibility is based,” said Ruth Ann Harnisch, whose Harnisch Fund for Coaching established the Institute with a gift of two million dollars. “What’s needed is a large, wide-ranging body of scientifically gathered, academically rigorous, peer-reviewed research that will give credibility to theories about coaching. We have ideas about what works in coaching, what kind of return on investment coaching offers, but what is provably true? That’s why we need research.”

The growth of coaching has—until now—far outpaced the kind of scientific, evidence-based research that might elevate the field of coaching to a consistent level of professionalism and impact. That, Harnisch said, will become the mission of the Institute.

“Ruth Ann has created the only fund dedicated just to coaching research,” said Carol Kauffman, Director of the Institute of Coaching. “We’re trying to help bring coaching to the next level by providing great research and practice.”

The Institute, Kauffman says, will advance the field of coaching through five “centers of excellence”—research; education; executive and leadership coaching; health coaching; and applied positive psychology.

“There is a growing interest in positive psychology, of which coaching is an integral part,” said Philip Levendusky, PhD, director of Psychology, at McLean. “Increasing evidence shows that coaching can have a positive impact on healthcare delivery in terms of lifestyle changes, medication compliance and a host of other changes that reap big rewards for patients and the healthcare system. In her gift to establish the Institute of Coaching, Ruth Ann Harnisch has made a significant commitment to the coaching profession and to improving the lives of individuals.”

The Institute’s roots date to the fall of 2005, when Ruth Ann Harnisch, David Goldsmith and other members of the Thomas J. Leonard Memorial Foundation met in Santa Fe, New Mexico to discuss the future of coaching in the aftermath of Leonard’s sudden death. Their idea was to create a “big tent”—a place where coaching’s brightest minds could gather and create. The resulting organization became known as The Foundation of Coaching.

Last year, in association with The Foundation of Coaching, the first International Coaching Research Forum was held at Harvard and brought together forty academic researchers and coaching leaders to discuss the future of coaching-related research, funded by The Harnisch Foundation.

“This was the first global forum convened specifically for the purpose of identifying a strategic way to build the coaching profession and body of knowledge,” said Dr. Mary Wayne Bush last year. Bush, Director of Research at the Foundation of Coaching, co-chaired the Forum, the results of which led directly to the partnership and establishment of The Institute of Coaching.

“They (the researchers) talked about the challenges they faced as serious academics attempting to do peer-reviewed, respected coaching research,” said Harnisch. “It became clear to me that a respectable academic home for coaching would be a game-changer for the field.”

The Institute of Coaching found its “home” at the Harvard Medical School’s teaching facility, the McLean Hospital. McLean was considered a good fit for the Institute because of McLean’s tradition of cutting-edge research and top flight faculty, not for its reputation as the nation’s leading psychiatric hospital. Of particular interest to Harnisch was a meeting with some of Harvard’s top researchers in psychology and psychiatry, who were intensely interested in expanding their work to include coaching–as a logical extension of the work they already did helping people build and support healthy, balanced lives.

“Several physicians and counselors told me at that event they were so excited about the prospect of adding coaching to their offerings. One after another, their stories and their enthusiasm convinced me that if the country’s mental health professionals saw coaching as a sensible and practical method for helping people live their best lives, that would be a giant leap forward for coaching’s credibility.”

The Harnisch gift, then, was designed to support that work where other academic institutions had shied away. In some cases, researchers reported, due to a preconceived notion of what coaching was. “Some were accused of trying to study new-agey-mumbo-jumbo. One was told that this ‘American fad’ was not a worthy subject for academic study. Another told me that a University official refused to grant permission to do coaching-related research, saying ‘Over my dead body,’” said Harnisch.

One of the Institute’s core missions, then, is to inspire just that kind of research and exploration–inviting and funding some of the top researchers in the world to study coaching. Next week in London, the Institute of Coaching, along with the Institute of Employment Studies, will bring together twenty-five of the most respected European coaching researchers to discuss, as Kauffman says, “raising the bar on coaching research.”

The London meeting’s aim is to find ways to investigate and explain scientifically why coaching works. “Coaching has been described as the ‘Wild West,” said Kauffman, who along with the Institute’s co-directors, Susan David and Margaret Moore, believes the Institute will deliver the kind of rigorous, peer-reviewed research that may help coaching escape its “cowboy” image. “There really is Ivy League quality of thinking in coaching, and coaching just isn’t getting the kind of respect it deserves.”

“People are now doing random assignments, placebo controlled, good objective research, and study after study is showing that coaching is effective; you need a lot of these studies to make an impact,” said Kauffman.

The Institute is already considering applications for coaching research grants, which, as a part of the Harnisch gift, will total $100,000 a year for seven years. Kauffman says the applications–which have already come from countries in Europe, the US, and Latin America involve all aspects of coaching. “The quality is skyrocketing,” she said. “So something is clearly happening.”

Find out more about the Institute of Coaching.

Editors Note: Ruth Ann Harnisch, a philanthropist and coach, endows both the Coaching Commons, as a project of the Harnisch Foundation, and the work of this reporter in his role as the Coaching Commons’ first Community Supported Journalist.

Coaching’s getting a permanent home in the Ivy League.

The Institute of Coaching, just unveiled at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, is a first-of-its-kind center for coaching research, practice and education—all aimed at transforming the field.

“Research is the foundation upon which credibility is based,” said Ruth Ann Harnisch, whose Harnisch Fund for Coaching established the Institute with a gift of two million dollars. “What’s needed is a large, wide-ranging body of scientifically gathered, academically rigorous, peer-reviewed research that will give credibility to theories about coaching. We have ideas about what works in coaching, what kind of return on investment coaching offers, but what is provably true? That’s why we need research.”

The growth of coaching has—until now—far outpaced the kind of scientific, evidence-based research that might elevate the field of coaching to a consistent level of professionalism and impact. That, Harnisch said, will become the mission of the Institute.

“Ruth Ann has created the only fund dedicated just to coaching research,” said Carol Kauffman, Director of the Institute of Coaching. “We’re trying to help bring coaching to the next level by providing great research and practice.”

The Institute, Kauffman says, will advance the field of coaching through five “centers of excellence”—research; education; executive and leadership coaching; health coaching; and applied positive psychology.

“There is a growing interest in positive psychology, of which coaching is an integral part,” said Philip Levendusky, PhD, director of Psychology, at McLean. “Increasing evidence shows that coaching can have a positive impact on healthcare delivery in terms of lifestyle changes, medication compliance and a host of other changes that reap big rewards for patients and the healthcare system. In her gift to establish the Institute of Coaching, Ruth Ann Harnisch has made a significant commitment to the coaching profession and to improving the lives of individuals.”

The Institute’s roots date to the fall of 2005, when Ruth Ann Harnisch, David Goldsmith and other members of the Thomas J. Leonard Memorial Foundation met in Santa Fe, New Mexico to discuss the future of coaching in the aftermath of Leonard’s sudden death. Their idea was to create a “big tent”—a place where coaching’s brightest minds could gather and create. The resulting organization became known as The Foundation of Coaching.

Last year, in association with The Foundation of Coaching, the first International Coaching Research Forum was held at Harvard and brought together forty academic researchers and coaching leaders to discuss the future of coaching-related research, funded by The Harnisch Foundation.

“This was the first global forum convened specifically for the purpose of identifying a strategic way to build the coaching profession and body of knowledge,” said Dr. Mary Wayne Bush last year. Bush, Director of Research at the Foundation of Coaching, co-chaired the Forum, the results of which led directly to the partnership and establishment of The Institute of Coaching.

“They (the researchers) talked about the challenges they faced as serious academics attempting to do peer-reviewed, respected coaching research,” said Harnisch. “It became clear to me that a respectable academic home for coaching would be a game-changer for the field.”

The Institute of Coaching found its “home” at the Harvard Medical School’s teaching facility, the McLean Hospital. McLean was considered a good fit for the Institute because of McLean’s tradition of cutting-edge research and top flight faculty, not for its reputation as the nation’s leading psychiatric hospital. Of particular interest to Harnisch was a meeting with some of Harvard’s top researchers in psychology and psychiatry, who were intensely interested in expanding their work to include coaching–as a logical extension of the work they already did helping people build and support healthy, balanced lives.

“Several physicians and counselors told me at that event they were so excited about the prospect of adding coaching to their offerings. One after another, their stories and their enthusiasm convinced me that if the country’s mental health professionals saw coaching as a sensible and practical method for helping people live their best lives, that would be a giant leap forward for coaching’s credibility.”

The Harnisch gift, then, was designed to support that work where other academic institutions had shied away. In some cases, researchers reported, due to a preconceived notion of what coaching was. “Some were accused of trying to study new-agey-mumbo-jumbo. One was told that this ‘American fad’ was not a worthy subject for academic study. Another told me that a University official refused to grant permission to do coaching-related research, saying ‘Over my dead body,’” said Harnisch.

One of the Institute’s core missions, then, is to inspire just that kind of research and exploration–inviting and funding some of the top researchers in the world to study coaching. Next week in London, the Institute of Coaching, along with the Institute of Employment Studies, will bring together twenty-five of the most respected European coaching researchers to discuss, as Kauffman says, “raising the bar on coaching research.”

The London meeting’s aim is to find ways to investigate and explain scientifically why coaching works. “Coaching has been described as the ‘Wild West,” said Kauffman, who along with the Institute’s co-directors, Susan David and Margaret Moore, believes the Institute will deliver the kind of rigorous, peer-reviewed research that may help coaching escape its “cowboy” image. “There really is Ivy League quality of thinking in coaching, and coaching just isn’t getting the kind of respect it deserves.”

“People are now doing random assignments, placebo controlled, good objective research, and study after study is showing that coaching is effective; you need a lot of these studies to make an impact,” said Kauffman.

The Institute is already considering applications for coaching research grants, which, as a part of the Harnisch gift, will total $100,000 a year for seven years. Kauffman says the applications–which have already come from countries in Europe, the US, and Latin America involve all aspects of coaching. “The quality is skyrocketing,” she said. “So something is clearly happening.”

Find out more about the Institute of Coaching.

Editors Note: Ruth Ann Harnisch, a philanthropist and coach, endows both the Coaching Commons, as a project of the Harnisch Foundation, and the work of this reporter in his role as the Coaching Commons’ first Community Supported Journalist.