The Coaching Commons announced on June 2nd that they hired Mark Joyella, an Emmy winning journalist to report on coaching.

In the past most online coaching magazines or portal sites had coaches – whether paid or volunteer – produce the content and news. Hiring a journalist from outside the coaching industry, especially one of Mark’s caliber, is bold for two reasons:
1. journalists aren’t afraid to tell the truth, and
2. he’ll see the industry from a different perspective.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the ‘right way’ to do things and the status quo when you’re in a profession or industry. In order to grow and improve you need to hear the truth about what’s working and not working. Sometimes the person who can see the truth most clearly is someone from outside the industry.

To grow you also need to learn what works in an unrelated profession or industry and apply it to your own. If I recall correctly, that’s how Coachville was born. The late Thomas Leonard took the concept of membership sites from the internet marketing industry and applied it in the coaching industry. When Coachville launched as a paid membership site in June 2001 it was leading-edge. Coaches wanted to follow Thomas and joined Coachville in droves.

It seems to me that Ruth Ann Harnish and her Coaching Commons team are onto something leading edge with the hiring of Mark. It bodes well for the future of coaching.

To read more about Mark Joyella visit: Mark Joyella Joins the Coaching Commons