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In recent years coaching has become an increasingly popular intervention used in both personal and professional development spheres. This chapter draws on industry research from scholars as well as professional organizations to map the history, definitions, and trends of executive and organizational coaching to provide clarity on a complex and still-emerging discipline.

This article explores the findings from an action research project which tracked the evolution of The Executive Program (EP) (a pseudonym), a four-week open enrollment senior executive program at a major university in the United States. The decade-long journey grew from a program redesign initiative to a process of ongoing change through insider action research. Through the process the faculty director and collaborating faculty unexpectedly experienced an epistemological shift. The EP was transformed from a traditional ‘teacher as expert’ model with a focus on cognitive learning to a holistic learning community that emphasized broader participant involvement and a wider range of learning approaches. This article is the product of the authors' collaborative meaning-making through the lens of developmental action inquiry and adult learning theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]