Press release

Can a Boss be a Coach

The Association for Coaching (AC) will be holding a debate between two diametrically opposed speakers:  Carol Wilson and Philip Ferrar, facilitated by Eve Turner, on Tuesday 11th September 2007 in London.

The economic health of our country is largely dependant on a motivated, efficient and effective workforce.  Performance is a key word; indicators are scrutinised and measured.  Organisations are continually searching for new methods to develop the performance of their staff, and to offer added value.  As a result, many have espoused the concept of managers as coaches. Nevertheless, given the power differentials between managers and their staff, there is a serious debate to be had.

An evening of debate; ‘Can Manager’s Be Effective Coaches’ has been organised by The Association for Coaching to address precisely these issues. The effectiveness of the coaching model in performance management will be discussed, and this will be an opportunity for HR Professionals, Coaches and Performance Managers to hear two very compelling and different arguments.

The protagonists are Carol Wilson who is an international speaker, author and broadcaster and Head of Accreditation at the Association for Coaching.  She is also MD of Performance Coach Training, and works with organisations to create coaching cultures.

Philip Ferrar, the second protagonist, is a principal consultant and an executive coach with Momenta (a city consultancy). He completed a Master’s degree in 2006 with a research dissertation entitled ‘The Paradox of Manager as Coach’, and he has also had first hand experience of being a manager-as-coach.

Whilst Philip Ferrar will argue at what he sees as role related impediments to effective coaching, Carol Wilson will conversely argue that coaching is a natural style of communication, and that a coaching style has been proven to be effective at work.

This will be a lively and exciting debate, facilitated by Eve Turner who is both an Association for Coaching Member and BBC Manager.

To register for the event, visit http://www.associationforcoaching.com/event/event2.htm