From early forms of transportation i.e., stage coach or rail coach, the word Coaching literally means to transport someone from one place to another.   
One thing that all forms of coaching seem to have in common is that people are using it to help them move forward or create change. 
Put simply, coaching is a conversation, or series of conversations, one person has with another.  The person who is the coach intends to produce a conversation that will benefit the other person (the coachee) in a way that relates to the coachee?s learning and progress. 
The person who decides whether a conversation was a coaching conversation or not is normally the person who is being coached.   
If someone acknowledges the following to be true after a conversation, then they would probably accept that it was coaching: 
-          The focus of the conversation was primarily themselves and their circumstances 
-          Their thinking, actions and learning benefited significantly from the conversation 
-          They were unlikely to have had those benefits in thinking or learning within that time frame if the conversation had not happened. 
Where does coaching come from? 
The most recognized forms of coaching come from the sporting world.  The figure of a sports coach working alongside top athletes is accepted without question. 
There may seem to be a contradiction in having someone who can?t do what you can do, as well as you can do it, to help you improve.   
For example Roger Federer's coach can not play tennis like Federer does and yet he plays a vital role in improving Federer?s game.  So why does Federer get help from a lesser player?

The reason is quite simple: Because coaching is proven to work.   
It improves the results an individual is creating.  A tennis coach needs coaching skills more than they need to be a good tennis player themselves.   
By applying the principles of observation and feedback, sports coaches can make the difference between a world beater and an also ran. 
The same principle applies in business. Coaches work alongside individuals to help improve their performance at work, regardless of whether or not they could do that work themselves.