International Coaching Week Feb. 3-9

International Coaching Week will be celebrated Feb 3-9, 2008. The week is acknowledged in Chase’s Calendar of Events, and it’s the perfect time to educate the public about the value of working with a coach. Coaches around the world schedule community events, pro bono coaching, and workshops to promote coaching during this time.

Sheryl Roush is a Past President of SDPCA, the San Diego Professional Coaches Alliance, the San Diego Chapter of ICF, international Coach Federation, and comments that during this highllighted week, professional coaches offer complimentary coaching sessions for the public to experience quality coaching and empower their life and dreams to become reality.

This year marks the 10th annual International Coaching Week, originally was started in 1999 by Coach Jerri Udelson, an Master Certified Coach from Santa Fe, NM who specializes in helping entrepreneurs and professionals create successful businesses and live fulfilling lives.

Its purpose is to provide a week each year to educate the public about the value of working with a personal, business or executive coach and to provide an opportunity for coaches and their clients to acknowledge the results and progress made through the coaching process. Coaches offer a variety of activities and pro bono services in their communities during the week, including free coaching sessions, lectures and workshops.      

Brief History.. from Jerri

In 1999 I created International Coaching Week as a way to promote the profession of coaching. My intention was to designate a week each year in which coaches could both celebrate and publicize coaching by offering community events, tele-events and pro bono coaching.  Originally the week was named National Personal and Business Coaching Week and it was listed in Chase’s Calendar of Events (a major PR tool), and held the first week of February, 1999.

In year 2000 Canadian coaches wanted to participate, so I changed the name to International Personal and Business Coaching Week; in 2000 the International Coach Federation (ICF) helped publicize it by featuring it in their newsletter and sending special Coaching Week broadcasts to members and chapters.  

In 2001 the ICF prepared a sample press release for coaches to customize and use to publicize the week and also gave ICF members a list of suggested events (e.g. pro bono coaching, free tele-classes, etc.) to inspire them to participate in their own way.  Also that year Thomas Leonard picked up the idea and ran with it. He created a Coaching Week page on his Coachville website, designed a logo, and offered to put coaches’ press releases on the page as well as a summary of Coaching Week events.

In 2002 Thomas created a CoachingWeek.com website, and invited coaches to post their events and press releases on it. I continued to network with the ICF, Coachville and with a number of coaches with large newsletters to promote the Week.  

Coaching Week really began to take off in 2002: That year it was celebrated throughout the US, Canada and in Hong Kong, with coaches offering a variety of pro bono services in their communities, including free coaching sessions, lectures and workshops. (In Richmond, VA, the mayor issued an official proclamation; in Boulder, CO, two coaches offered a free workshop for high school seniors and college freshmen on “Majoring in the Rest of your Life;” New Jersey coaches offered 13 different events during the week.)

From 2003 onward the ICF began to officially sponsor the Week, assembling a Coaching Week Task Force, announcing the Week to chapters and generating additional publicity.  

In 2007 the ICF released the results from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Coaching Survey during Coaching Week.  Last year I created a website and blog, CoachingWeek.org, on which coaches and ICF Chapters could post their Coaching Week-related activities. 

I am really pleased that so many coaches are participating in International Coaching Week. It is very gratifying to know that so many people are offering pro bono coaching and other community events in such a heartfelt way. When I started National Coaching Week in 1999 I had no idea that it would soon take on a life of its own. I really am delighted that this Week is becoming a focal point for both publicizing coaching worldwide and providing the public with a sense of the possibilities that coaching offers.

-Jerri Udelson, MCC, January, 2008