Hello, fellow Agile writers and readers!

As the organizer of AgileCoachCamp, and a coach myself, I've been thinking quite a bit lately about "what is a coach?" For example, XP's coaching role is different from the ScrumMaster role, and Agile coaches are also working at organizational coaching, in some cases working with PMOs or execs.

I'm also looking into professional coach training programs in Canada and the US, for myself. It's been interesting to investigate the different schools of thought. This has made me think more about the recent paradigm shift to "coaching" within organizations. What's this about? What has shifted, and does coaching really offer a better solution now than former consultant models?

So, I thought I'd check here: is anyone interested in writing an article on coaching for www.InfoQ.com/agile ? Some of the other questions that come to mind for me are:

• What role does a coach play in a new Agile implementation?
• Why/when would you want a coach for an established Agile team/organization?
• Are organizations creating "coach" job roles? If not, who plays this role? How does it work?
• What is the career path for someone who plays this role? Is it a dead end?
  
• Is coach just another name for "manager"? for "consultant"? for "trainer"?
  
• Is it possible to "coach up?" to upper management?
• How do we learn to be better coaches?

And, yes, we do pay for articles :-) so please pass this on if you think you know someone who'd like to write for us.

Happy Easter to those celebrating the holiday. And thanks!
deb

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Deborah Hartmann
InfoQ Agile Community Editor
deborah@...
deborah.hartmann.net