Reinhard Stelter makes the case for coaching to evolve to a next level he describes as “Third Generation Coaching.” Here the coach becomes a fellow human companion by moving from facilitator to a co-reflective partner.

To engage in third generation coaching (Stelter, 2014; 2019) as a transformative and fruitful dialogue, rather than focusing on reaching goals the dialogue elicits the client’s reflections on core values, which drive personal enthusiasm at work and may be beneficial for the whole organization.

Reinhard describes case studies and explores the key relational factors of third generation coaching and their impact on the coach-coachee relationship:

1. Responsiveness
2. Relational attunement
3. Withness-thinking
4. Reflection-in-action and relational ethics
5. The importance of values as a central dimension in the reflective coaching process
6. Sharing “gifts” as collaborative meaning-making