Columnist Susan Snyder: Attention trained on coach trend

Friday, March 15, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

More than 900 coaches were in town for a convention this week without a single whistle among them.

They might make people sweat, but that's not the point. Members of CoachVille.com are personal coaches, the latest phenomena in the self-help arena. Think of them as the corporate trainers of life.

"It existed before, but in a different form. Now (coaching) can be for any part of your life," Sylvia Russell, a Las Vegas coach, said.

CoachVille, a professional association for personal coaches that is less than a year old, hosted its first international conference at the Riviera this week drawing coaches from Europe, South America, Asia and Australia, in addition to the United States.

Hundreds showed up for Wednesday's pre-conference sessions, one of which was a "boot camp" for new coaches. Hotel workers carted extra chairs into the huge conference room for more than an hour after the session opened and still had trouble keeping it from being standing-room only.

The coaches themselves couldn't have looked as though they had less in common. Sport coats and loafers, droopy dresses and Birkenstocks, khakis and golf shirts, suits and sensible pumps. The only way to figure out this crowd was to read the name tags. Each person wrote words to define themselves.

"Business development coach," walked past a few seconds ahead of "Fun! Explore! Learn!" (I'll take Door No. 2, thanks.)

"I'm helping people realize they have choices in their lives," said Carol Mccabe, a California coach ("Your health. Your Life. Your choice.").

Mccabe is a nurse and hypnotherapist who started personal coaching about a year ago. She says many people come to her seeking changes. Most find they need to make life happen for them, rather than simply to them.

"We hand over our responsibility. 'Teachers, it's your fault' or 'Politicians, you're supposed to fix the system, but I'm not going to vote,' " Mccabe said. "It's time people learned to take back their lives."

The boot camp was led by CoachVille founder Thomas Leonard, who is considered a pioneer in the field. Leonard travels the country in his recreation vehicle, but similar to others counsels clients on the telephone.

This field would not thrive without technology. As cell phones and Internet connections improve, so do the connections between clients and coaches -- many of whom never see each other in person.

Dave Buck, Leonard's assistant, told the group that such independence is the future of the field.

"In the next 10 to 15 years, everyone is going to see themselves as an individual business," Buck told the group. "When someone calls in, I assume that's what they want to do, and I orient everything to that point of view."

So, who needs a personal coach? Anybody who isn't happy with his or her lot in life and can't seem to figure out how to change it.

Many people are seeking life changes since Sept. 11, Lynda Klau, a coach from New York City, said.

"You are the creator of your own life," Klau said. "After 9/11, a lot of people went in that direction because it destroyed the lives people had. In that way, it is a gift, not only a horror."