Introduction
Are you ready to change the world? If you’re like most of the coaches I know, you think it needs some changing! As citizens, we have a vision of how things should be, for our government, economy, society, and the environment. As coaches, we hear from our clients and colleagues every day about change that desperately needs to occur. And as changemakers -– because that’s who coaches truly are –- we want to make it all happen.
In this book, you’ll get to know your tribe -– coaches who not only believe the world needs to change, but are working to change it right this moment. You’ll recognize ways of building a better world that you’re already practicing, find new approaches you haven’t yet tried, and learn about people, places, and tools to help you implement what you discover.
There are many ways you can make use of this book:
- Find inspiration for your world-changing desires
- Identify new resources to help implement your changemaking goals
- Validate that you’re already on the right track
- Locate others who are on the same path
- Launch a new world-changing project of your own
In the back of the book, you’ll find a “How to Get Started” chapter, which will help you determine which of the book’s ideas you might like to act on, and how.
I hope that you will also consider one more possibility, which is to discuss the ideas in this book with other coaches. I’ve provided suggested discussion questions as an appendix, which can be used with a book study group or any coaching community. You can also post comments and queries on the book’s companion website, and explore there what other readers have said.
One important note -– this book contains many website addresses, which were valid at the time of publication. But URLs change quickly, and you may also find it easier to access them via active links than to type them into your browser. On the book’s companion website, you can log in to the readers’ area and find up-to-date, clickable URLs. If you find a URL in the book that no longer works, please check the site for an update.
I’ve tried to include a variety of perspectives in this book, and you’ll see coaches quoted from around the world and from many different backgrounds, as well as resources from multiple countries. The majority of resources, however, are from the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, which are the areas best known to me.
If you have additional resources you’d like to suggest, please visit the book’s website and tell us about them. You’re also invited to share your own story of changemaking there.
For each copy of this book sold, one dollar is donated to the International Coach Federation Foundation, making coaching and coach training available to those who can’t afford it. That’s one more way this book can help coaches promote change.
Thank you for supporting this project. I look forward to hearing more from you as we all change the world together.
C.J. Hayden, San Francisco, CA
www.coacheschangetheworld.com
