Blog Post: Coaching -- The Original Green Profession?

In celebration of April 22, 2009 as Earth Day, I want to propose a provocative proposition.

Coaching is the original green profession.

Think about it. Over the past decade or two, most coaches have worked with clients who are geographically disbursed.  I’ve coached people all over the world.

For the most part, clients do not have to travel to their coach's office to meet with them. As coaches, we often communicate through telephone conversations and e-mail. With group coaching, we can get on a bridge line or webinar. By coaching people remotely, coaches continue to reduce congestion on the roads.

As an occupational group, weren’t coaches the first major tele-commuters? Some might even call coaches the first Green Collar Professionals.

I’ve been an environmentalist all my life and teased many times for being a tree hugger, especially when I would cajole co-workers into digging paper out of the garbage and putting it in the recycling box. When I moved to Arizona a few years ago, I was sadly surprised by some people’s laissez-faire attitude about the environment, including recycling and water wastage. While I’m not saying I’m totally green, I try to be intentional.

For more than a decade, as an internal coach in both small and large organizations, I coached hundreds of people.  When I first became a coach back in the 90s, we almost always met people face-to-face and most of the time they traveled to see us. The costs for real estate, travel time and fuel were enormous. I’m embarrassed to admit that when I lived in Canada, each week I would fly by helicopter between Victoria and Vancouver to see the executives whom I coached. Talk about a wasteful use of resources.

In 2000, when I opened my own coaching company, I designed the business to be as green as possible: through intention not through accident.  I’ve been a strong advocate of creating paper-free work environments for decades, so when I launched my business I knew I didn’t want to replicate the process of maintaining physical files.

I found a way to capture information without killing trees:  use software programs. I was such an advocate of creating paper-free workzones that my partner and I founded Client Compass software, a program designed for professional coaches to track their clients’ successes and to manage their businesses.  I would emphasize to other coaches the importance of designing their own paper-free zone. Not everyone would agree because they preferred hand written notes. However, having been a corporate cog for many years, I could see the long term consequences: filing cabinets overflowing with paperwork.

Here’s something interesting about the acquisition of our software company. We were bought out by John Wiley & Sons, one of the world’s largest publishing houses.  Yes,  my “paper-free” company was acquired by a book company.  How ironic!

By the time we sold the company, more than 3,000 coaches around the world used Client Compass software. Just imagine the volume of paperwork that would have been generated if each of those coaches kept track of everything on paper and then stored it away in filing cabinets.  Ouch!

Okay, here’s another thought about environmental responsibility: assessments are green.

Well, at least providing assessments for people is a green service – now.  But it wasn’t always this way.  In the early 90s, when I still lived in Canada, I worked for an organization where each new client received an assessment. The person would receive a paper form and s/he would mark choices by filling in the boxes with a pencil. Each Friday, we’d gather all the assessments for that week and ship them to California via FedEx. Then we’d wait for the assessments to be shipped back to us.

Were the results instant? Hardly!  It would take at least a week for them to be returned.

Was it frustrating for people having to wait so long to receive their results? Absolutely!

Was this a green way to provide assessments to people? Are you kidding me?

Fast forward, to 2009, where most assessments are now completed online.    Coaches provide a multitude of assessments to help you learn about your communication style, your values, your personality preferences and whether you are a great leader (or not) through 360 degree assessments - all without having to travel anywhere or resort to handling paper.  If you want to learn more about yourself, your coach sends an e-mail with a link to a password protected webpage where you can complete the assessment online.

Your coach receives the results immediately and continues to maintain a paper-free zone by sending another e-mail which includes a PDF attachment of your assessment. You open the PDF and learn more about who you are.   Fast and clean. No fossil fuels are required and no trees have to be cut down.

Of course, this is a simplistic example because somewhere there are fuel/printing costs, just not to the extent as in previous decades.

So, what do you think, is coaching the original green profession? What are other examples about how coaching provides a green gift to the world?

Greenly yours,

www.SageLeadershipStrategies.com

About the Author:  Sylva (or, Syl, as many people call her) has coached executives and leaders around the world for nearly two decades.  In 2007, she was a chapter recipient of the PRISM award from the International Coach Federation.  A strong advocate for positive change, Sylva recently launched the Coaching Stimulus Plan as a call-to-action for leaders. 

Contact Sylva Leduc at 480-515-5511 or syl@sageleaders.com