Hi Bill, What a great history of personal coaching and thank you for the reference to my dissertation, which encompassed three years of research and over 170 interviews of global coaching influencers. The 693 page document (this includes appendices and references), is available at The Foundation of Coaching's Research Repository (http://repository.thefoundationofcoaching.org/research/search.php?author_name=brock&title=&keywords=&Submit=Search). You might also have your readers visit the Coaching Commons (www.coachingcommons.org) to read about current issues in coaching, view the Hall of Fame of coaching and see pictures that make up the virtual museum of coaching. Both the Foundation of Coaching and The Coaching Commons are projects of the Harnisch Foundation (www.thehf.org). When looking at the roots of coaching, what I found is that coaching was developing globally during the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the key roots being sports, leadership, psychology, and the personal development movement. The first coaching books were written about coaching by managers in business to improve employee performance. The Werner Erhard link is very strong among the first coaches - Jinny Ditzler, on staff with est from 1974 to 1980, started the first life coach training in 1981 in the U.K. Sir John Whitmore brought Werner Erhard to the U.K. in 1974 and Tim Gallwey's Inner Game process to the U.K. in 1979. Tim Gallwey was actually Werner Erhard's tennis coach for a time. Ken Blanchard and Peter Senge were personal friends with Werner Erhard. And Thomas Leonard worked in the accounting department for Werner Erhard Associates, and hired Laura Whitworth to work there also. As for Thomas Leonard having a hand in the development of The Coaches Training Institute (CTI), while it is true that Laura Whitworth attended his life planning courses and Thomas gave his materials to Laura and Henry Kimsey House, they did not use them for the co-active coaching model that is the basis for CTI's programs. I was fortunite to be able to interveiw Laura several times before she passed in February 2007. What is fact is that Werner Erhard popularized personal growth and Thomas Leonard popularized coaching - both were masterful synthesizers. If the 693 page dissertation is daunting, my very readable book on the history of coaching will be published by mid-2009.