We have been “barking up the wrong tree for years” with our business education models, according to Bob Garvey.
At his inaugural lecture on 31 October for his chair in Business Education at York St John Business School, Professor Garvey was set to challenge current frameworks for learning delivered by most providers in the market.
His lecture, ‘Learning Business’, shared an alternative model of business education based on conversational learning.
He said, “There can be little doubt that those that learn the fastest in business are often the most successful. But SME business leaders are often patronised by public and private sector education providers alike, who assume they know what they need. There is research evidence to show that entrepreneurs learn through practical experience and prefer to learn from their peers.”
Professor Garvey is one of Europe’s leading academic practitioners of mentoring and coaching and has extensive business experience across many sectors, including large and small business, the public and voluntary sectors.
He is known for his challenging stance. His latest book, A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Coaching and Mentoring, published by Sage last November, received a mixed reaction from the coaching and mentoring world.
“Some value the critical challenge found in the book but others find this challenge unpalatable. The book certainly provokes a response!”, Garvey said.
Currently, he is working on a new major textbook with Professor David Gray from Surrey University and Professor David Lane from Middlesex University, and is preparing a major reference text on the foundations of coaching and mentoring for Sage.
He is also preparing a new edition of the critical book Coaching and Mentoring: Theory and Practice, with Paul Stokes and David Megginson.

Volume 7, issue 6