According to Mr Lang, coaching can be useful for parents with their children, managers with their subordinates, or sales people with their buyers because coaching can be applied to anyone.

'Coaching is useful to resolve conflicts, to help people become responsible, to influence people in a more effective way, and to take more ownership about changing your way of thinking. So these benefits can be applied in almost any context,' he said.

The category of non-coach members represents 20 per cent of the HKICC, but Mr Lang would like to raise this number to 80 per cent.

'The target audience of coaches is comparatively small, but the target for this [non-coach] category is endless,' said Mr Lang, who has been coaching since 2002.

Once becoming a member, there will be discounts to events held by the HKICC, where non-coaches can ask questions and exchange information with professional coaches.

As Mr Lang believes, obtaining knowledge about a skill isn't enough to improve your life. Therefore, the HKICC is planning to set up a mentoring system where members can find a buddy and practise coaching skills.

'Coaching is like playing the piano, even if you know how to do it, you probably aren't very good at it,' he said. 'It takes time to improve your listening skills, questioning skills, and build trust and rapport so you can deal with people in a more successful way.'

The group recently launched its online directory of coaches practising in Hong Kong.