History of executive coaching is difficult to trace as it has received attention recently in the literature. In reviewing the literature, it is not clear when exactly executive coaching first began. Only brief statements or speculations regarding the possible origins of executive coaching were provided. Executive coaching is an outgrowth of executive development programs and the term was first employed in 1985 to describe leadership development courses. Though executive coaching has been gaining widespread acceptance on the part of consulting firms since the early 1990s, it is only during the latter part of the last decade that it started to flourish and thereby the business firms and organizations started hiring coaches.

It is well known that executive coaching has been a part of consulting practice since its inception. In several instances, consultants work with, through and for the senior executives of the organizations with which they engage. They gave expert based advice to leaders and suggested them about how to operate and change their enterprises.

The first major development supporting the emergence of executive coaching was the work of Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). Their seminal contribution consisted of preparing individuals who have enough self-awareness and understanding to change their behavior and that of their organizations in order to meet the demands of highly competitive environments.

The second trend that contributed to the emergence of executive coaching involved the creation of modern corporate management assessment center.

The evolution of the field of organizational development (OD) constituted the third innovation.

The fourth major development supporting the emergence of coaching consisted of the evolution of multi-rater feedback systems (360o) to assess the performance of individuals in organizations. These methodologies were designed in response to the challenges of providing reliable and valid information to employees as a way of improving their work performance.

The intervention of behavior therapy constituted the fifth major contribution to the development of executive coaching. By employing behavioral approaches, existing habits can be modified and thereby different pathways to living, learning and loving are effected in the individuals. Rational emotive and cognitive behavior therapy, were applied to a wide variety of human situations.

The identification and global recognition of "transfer of training" created a sixth and major component of the stream of forces leading to the development of executive coaching. Some of the participants of the CCL and other executive education programs solicited personal assistance to help them apply what they learned in their classes back on their jobs.

Len Sperry's (1993) journal article on "Working with Executives: Consulting, Counseling and Coaching" became the first work in the psychological literature on coaching. In 1996, the Consulting Psychology journal: Practice and Research (CPJ) devoted exclusively to the emerging proficiency of executive coaching. Hargrove's (1995) book on "Masterful Coaching: Extraordinary results by impacting people and the way they think and work together" is another pioneering book in the field of executive coaching.

Source: Richard R. Kilburg and Richard C. Diedrich, The Wisdom of Coaching - Essential Papers in Consulting Psychology for a World of Change, American Psychological Association, 2007.