Coach developers as agents of change

There are numerous examples of top athletes using their success within the media to highlight numerous social issues, acting as agents of change. The concept of change agents originated in business, individuals who promote and support a new way of doing something within the company, also known as champions. There are many roles a change agent can undertake, for example, a role model, a decision maker or a knowledge translator. Mentoring has long been championed in many areas of work as a development tool that can change the culture of an organisation. However, many mentoring programs advocated by workplaces are little more than buddy systems where a perception exists that the exposure to an individual with more experience is both willing and able to structure the growth of another. Professional conversations essentially are any conversations between two professionals talking about their work rather than daily events or sporting results.