Executive Coaching Day – May 1, 2024

History of Executive Coaching Day

It is believed that the concept of mentorship originated in ancient Africa, as evident from the prehistoric cave paintings in the Pyrenees where the men seem to take children on tour. But the term ‘mentor’ was first used in literature in Homer’s “Odyssey” in 725 to 675 B.C. The Goddess Pallas Athena disguises herself as Mentor when Odysseus has to leave for the Trojan war. Athena fulfilled most mentoring roles, including guiding, protecting, and enabling. Socrates (469 B.C. to 399 B.C.) is considered one of the first coaches. Aristotle and Plato followed the Socratic method of asking questions. Plato famously noted Socrates’s teaching, which he preserved for future generations.

During the Renaissance, aristocrats and scientific communities mentored and educated, or at least financed, promising young people to shape and hone their skills. In Thackeray’s “The History of Pendennis,” the term ‘coaching’ was used for the first time with personal support. In the story, students travel in a coach while receiving support from their tutor. By the 19th century, ‘coaching’ supported sportsmen by establishing paid coaching. The terms ‘mentor’ and ‘coach’ originated during this period. Coaching was connected to the physical aspects while mentoring was associated with knowledge.

Technological advancement and the human mind greatly affected the perspective toward mentorship/coaching. In the 1920s, Klages and Baumgarten studied the human’s “inner states” for a better description of personality and to understand personal support. Freud explained the human mind and developed a theory about human behavior, making development possible in coaching and mentoring.