‘Life coaching’ is one of those US exports that began in the mid to late-Seventies for which the rest of the world curses America. As if the travails of living were not at times difficult enough, there are now countless tanned, toothy, unctuous purveyors of platitudes to make us feel even more worthless while ostensibly ‘empowering’ us. The legal profession – for years one of the last bulwarks against all forms of modernisation, whether useful or inane – has also fallen victim to the coaching craze, with law firms unable to log into their email systems these days without being bombarded with offers of career changing advice.
But now a new level of sophistication – or absurdity, depending on one’s point of view – has arrived with the publication of a coaching book for legal profession coaches.
Just as the question of who judges the judges has vexed lawyers for ages, the conundrum of who coaches the coaches would have befuddled anyone with time on their hands to contemplate such matters.
The answer is Caroline Newman, a former English solicitor and ‘renowned business coach’, who has just published this handy guide on how to achieve guru status with lawyers. ‘The legal profession is going through a period of intense change and they really do need the insight, objectivity, passion and gift that external business coaches can bring to the table,’ says Ms Newman, adding that her book will ‘help coaches... to prepare today for this opportunity to diversity their income and support the legal profession.’ And thus a whole new industry is born.