Coachville and the history of coaching

I am often asked how did coaching develop into a profession. Some people think of coaches as nothing more than a paid friend, others think of coaching as miracle workers. The answer is a coach can be many things to many people, including miracle workers.

There has been many articles written on coaching and the history of the profession, but one thing is for sure, one man, the late, Thomas J. Leonard is credited with bringing coaching to mainstream america.

Thomas was a certified financial planner when he realized that his clients wanted a life planner, not just a financial planner. So Thomas created what is known today as Life Coaching.

In the early 90's, Thomas started Coach U to teach others to become life coaches and improve the quality of coaching. He sold Coach U in the last 90's and traveled the country promoting coaching.

In 2001 he started coachville. This was going to be a virtual coaching community, a place where all coaches in the world could belong and have a sense of "community".

Realizing that he had more to offer, he started The Graduate School of Coaching, which was designed to offer an advanced coaching program. The program was a huge success and Coachville was growing at an rapid pace.

On february 11th, 2003, Thomas suffered a major heart attack and passed away. This was both a shock to the coaching community and a great loss to all mankind.

Thomas always wanted Coachville to continue in case something happened to him. Thomas left Coachville to his friend and coworker, Dave Buck. Today coachville is a virtual community for all coaches as well as operating a coach training program. Coachville is truly an international coaching community.

Today there are many methods to receive coach training. I have listed below the top schools as well as several top organizations for coaches.

Although Thomas did not have children, he was the father to all of us coaches. In reality, Thomas had thousands of children. He will be missed by the coaching community and the world. He did help make the world a better place.

Link to Thomas's Site: Thomas J Leonard

Coaching Schools

Life Coach College

Coach U

Coachville/ SOC

CTI

Coaching Organizations

US Life Coach Association

Coachville

Coaching Information

The Coaching Process

Master Life Coach