The Future of Executive Coaching: Analysis from a Market Life Cycle Perspective: Where are we, where are we going, and how do we prepare for what’s next? - with Commentary

S Maher, S Pomerantz International Journal of Coaching in Organizations 2007

In launching this journal the editorial board envisioned that the journal would provide a forum for “reflection and analysis…by those leaders of this emerging field who recognize coaching to be a fixture rather than a fad...”1 This article explores the market life cycle of executive coaching, considering its history and growth, and estimating its current position. We discuss the four stages of the market life cycle: product introduction, market growth, market maturity, and sales decline, exploring the implications for our profession of each stage. Understanding where coaching is in the market cycle allows us to consider strategies to stimulate the continued growth of the profession. In this article we present our thesis that “this emerging field” is actually already in the mature stage of its lifecycle and we make recommendations for moving the profession forward.