Coaching, as a profession, is now over three decades old. And in many ways, those first 30 years have been a kind of dress rehearsal, an essential warm-up, an initiation, and a foundation-laying for what is now being asked of us. We’ve learned how to listen, how to hold space, how to ask powerful questions. We’ve built businesses, created frameworks, trained thousands of practitioners, and established global credentialing bodies. All of this matters. But if we stop here, we miss the point.

The world we live in today is profoundly different from the one in which modern coaching was born. We live in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Systems are breaking down. Trust is eroding. Polarization is rising. Climate change, social injustice, technological disruption, and geopolitical conflict are reshaping the landscape faster than most people can process. In the face of such challenges, coaching is not just relevant, it is essential. But only if we choose to see it, and ourselves, differently.

The invitation now is not just to coach individuals but to serve something greater, not just to grow our practices but to elevate our collective purpose, not just to hone our skills but to expand our vision. Coaching is ready for its next chapter, and it’s not about more credentials or clever tools. It’s about leadership, courage, and a deeper level of service.

Coaching as Catalyst

What coaching brings to the world is powerful. We offer presence in a noisy world. We bring curiosity where there is judgment. We foster agency when people feel powerless. We create clarity in the midst of complexity. But we must recognize that these are not just professional competencies. They are the catalysts for transformation, not only for individuals but for communities, organizations, and even societal systems.

If we continue to see coaching as only something that happens in a 60-minute session between two people, we limit its power. The coaching mindset, one that embodies humility, possibility, and radical respect, is a way of being that can and must be brought to teams, to movements, to boardrooms, to politics, to education, and beyond.

We are being called to scale our impact not just through growth but through contribution. The next evolution of coaching isn’t about expanding market share. It’s about expanding consciousness. It’s about helping humanity reconnect with itself.

The Era of Service Over Self

For too long, many of us, myself included, saw coaching as a path to personal freedom. And that’s not wrong. Coaching has given many the ability to work on their own terms, do meaningful work, and make a living aligned with their values. But the era we are entering now demands something more. It calls us to ask, “How can I be of greater service?” not just “How can I grow my business?”

This shift from self to service is subtle but profound. It doesn’t mean we stop charging, growing, or marketing. It means we anchor those activities to a larger purpose. We start to see our coaching as part of a broader movement toward healing, awakening, and regeneration.

To be in service of something greater is to see yourself as part of a collective mission, not just an individual endeavor. It’s to remember that your presence with a client ripples out into their families, their teams, and their communities. It’s to know that when you coach someone into greater alignment, they lead from that place. They parent from that place. They create from that place.

From Profession to Movement

What if coaching was never meant to be just a profession but a movement?

A movement of people committed to evoking the greatness in others.
A movement of presence in a world addicted to speed.
A movement of integrity in a time of performance.
A movement of stillness in the chaos.

We already have the infrastructure. We have schools, standards, and communities. Now, we need vision. We need to ask: What could this profession become if we stopped playing small? What could happen if we brought the coaching mindset to the global stage?

Imagine coaching embedded in government, helping leaders pause and listen deeply before passing policies.
Imagine coaching in the justice system, fostering true rehabilitation and empathy.
Imagine coaching in schools, raising a generation who are emotionally intelligent and purpose-driven.
Imagine coaches partnering with climate activists, helping them move from burnout to sustainable influence.

This is not a fantasy. It is already happening in pockets, in pilots, in prototypes. But to make it mainstream, we need to see ourselves differently.

Our Readiness Is Not in Question

There is a maturity now in the coaching profession. We’ve trained. We’ve refined. We’ve practiced. The question is no longer whether we are ready. We are.

What’s required is willingness. A willingness to step into unknown territory. A willingness to risk irrelevance in order to be revolutionary. A willingness to partner in new ways, to collaborate across disciplines, across borders, across worldviews.

This is a time to connect the dots between inner change and outer change, between personal development and collective liberation, between healing the self and healing the world.

The coaching profession is one of the few disciplines that can hold space for transformation at all these levels. But only if we see that this is what we’re here for. Only if we have the courage to leave the safety of our niches and step into a bigger YES.

The Bigger Yes

Each of us, at some point, faces the call to something greater. It might come as restlessness. Or inspiration. Or a deep knowing that your work could be part of something more meaningful than even your highest income goal.

That call is a sacred one. And it’s not about abandoning your business or becoming an activist. It’s about asking: What am I truly here to serve? And then letting that answer guide how you show up in sessions, in marketing, in conversations, in choices.

This is the time to say yes—not to more hustle or ambition, but to the bigger yes. The yes to soul-aligned service, the yes to being a coach who embodies not just skills but purpose, the yes to being part of a profession that leads not from ego but from vision.

Conclusion: A Call to Remember

So, let us remember who we are.

We are not just practitioners. We are stewards of potential.
We are not just business owners. We are agents of transformation.
We are not just listeners. We are builders of a more conscious world.

The first 30 years were practice. Now it’s opening night, my fellow coaches.

And the world is watching. Not to see our performance but to feel our presence.

Let us rise together.
In service of something greater.

by Amy Ruppert Donovan, MCC