During the past few years, the growth of an emergent "coaching industry" in many countries has resulted in some scholars calling for the development of a "coaching profession." Yet, contemporary HRD and OD professionals conceive of coaching as a necessary area of expertise. This paper reports the results of a qualitative study of different conceptualizations and definitions of "coaching," OD, and contemporary "HRD" as reported in the literature. Findings and implications are presented. (Contains 1 table.)