“You Coach Coaches?” A Rationale for the Coach Developer Role and Practical Guidelines for Effective Working Relationships with Coaches.

There has been an increased focus on the role of the coach developer within the academic literature and coaching frameworks. However, limited attention has been given to the practical workings of the coach developer and coach relationship. Therefore, in this article, we share practical lessons learned from two coach developers who have worked extensively one-on-one with coaches and in situ. This article contains seven themes that have emerged from our experiences as coach developers in the field: (1) The Value of an Outside Opinion, (2) Payments and Contracts, (3) ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’: Recognizing the Complexity of Problems, (4) Practical Use of Theory, (5) Impact and Transformation, (6) Coach Development Conversations as a Therapeutic Experience and, (7) Disengagement. The practical lessons within this article demonstrate the value of coach developers in helping, supporting, and working with coaches in unique situations and using individualized methods. However, the working relationship is complex and requires mutual trust to be effective. Finally, we assert that the coach developer role requires extensive knowledge and resources, which should be fairly compensated, as in other jobs.