“Opinion and Fact, Perspective and Truth”: Seeking Truthfulness and Integrity in Coaching and Coach Education

Recent developments have seen a growth in coaching, with an associated boom in interest on how it may be optimised. Clearly, we applaud this evolution. This growth has been paralleled by an explosion in the availability of information, driven through internet access and the phenomenon of social media. Unfortunately, however, this juxtaposition of interest and availability has not been matched by the application or exercise of effective quality control! While much of what is available is well intentioned, a tendency for poor quality and possibly less positively targeted “BS” has also arisen. In this insights paper, we consider some of the reasons why and argue that an emphasis on the development of critical and analytical thinking, as well as a scepticism towards the sources of information, would be a positive step against coach susceptibility to BS. In doing so, and to encourage more critical consumption of the “knowledge” available, we present a checklist to help coaches assess the veracity of claims and sift through the noise of the coaching landscape

Understanding Solicitation: beyond the binary variable of being asked or not being asked

The identity, motivation and experiences of philanthropists have become increasingly popular topics of study in a wide range of disciplines, yet no equivalent attention has been paid to the ‘askers’, despite research showing that almost all donations are solicited in some way (Bryant et al 2003; Bekkers 2005, Gunstone and Ellison, 2017, p 4). The propensity to be asked for contributions has been found to be positively related to the propensity to give (Bekkers and Wiepking 2007:24) but despite the usefulness of this finding, it reinforces the suggestion that solicitation is a binary variable, such that people are either asked or they are not asked. This paper, drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 73 successful fundraisers in the UK and Canada, highlights the importance of the quality, as opposed to simply the quantity, of solicitation. Three important factors that lie behind successful ‘asks’ are identified and discussed: Firstly, they are made within relationships of trust rather than as a result of a transactional approach. Secondly, they occur as a result of fundraisers’ ability to be an ‘honest broker’ between donors and the organisations they might support. And thirdly, they rely on the fundraisers’ skills in reframing complex issues and finding alignment between the recipient organisation’s needs and the philanthropic aspirations of the donor. The paper concludes with implications for practice

Corporate social responsibility as a source of employee satisfaction

Corporate social responsibility has received an increasing amount of attention from practitioners and scholars alike in recent years. However, very little is known about whether or how corporate social responsibility affects employees. Because employees are primary stakeholders who directly contribute to the success of the company, understanding employee reactions to corporate social responsibility may help answer lingering questions about the potential effects of corporate social responsibility on firms as well as illuminate some of the processes responsible for them. To begin our chapter, we provide a brief history of scholarship on corporate social responsibility and highlight some of the major challenges researchers in this area currently face. We then discuss why corporate social responsibility may represent a special opportunity to influence employees ’ general impression of their company. Next, we identify four distinct paths through which corporate social responsibility may affect employees’ relationship with their company that correspond to four universal psychological needs: security, self-esteem, belongingness, and a meaningful existence

The Persephone myth in D. H. Lawrence

In D. H. Lawrence\u27s writings the Persephone myth provides a symbolic structure through which he expresses his theories of the bi-polar psycho/sexual nature of the individual man or woman and investigates the ways in which the tension between these poles is manifested. Lawrence\u27s sources for the Persephone myth included the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, and the revolutionary discoveries of the Cambridge Anthropologists. The Cambridge Anthropologists demonstrated how the Persephone of the well-known Homeric hymn evolved from the double-faceted Mother/Maid goddess of the Corn. This goddess voluntarily descends into the underworld in order to emerge in the spring as the seedling corn. The Persephone myth in Lawrence is not restricted to its Greek source. It also serves as a metaphor for the struggle of male and female towards balance, and for the conscious and unconscious worlds between which every woman and, in a broader sense, every human being, land, and culture is torn. Lawrence reshaped and broadened the conflicting forces that the Greeks associated with the upper world and with Hades. The upper world for Lawrence is a place where the self-conscious will and intellect are in command. Lawrence\u27s lower world is not a deathly Hades; it is the dark, fecund, creative center from which all mankind is born. Lawrence used the Persephone myth in each of his major genres. Lawrence\u27s non-fiction writings, especially his travel works, use the Persephone myth. Five poems mention the goddess by name, and many others elaborate on the idea of Persephonian dualism. In the shorter fiction, Persephone is as integral to The Ladybird, in which she is evoked by name, as to The Fox, in which her tale provides a subtle thematic understructure. In the novels, Lawrence employs the Persephone myth most completely in five novels, although elements of the myth are evident in his other novels. In the longer works Lawrence provides a more thorough investigation of his theme. In the shorter works, he often focuses on symbolic and thematic elements, thus permitting micro-cosmic attention to details that in turn enhance his overall conception of the theme