International Coaching Psychology...

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Special Group in Coaching Psychology Interest Group in Coaching Psychology ISSN: 1750-2764 International Coaching Psychology Review Volume 5 No. 1 March 2010

Transcript of International Coaching Psychology...

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Special Group in Coaching Psychology

Interest Group in Coaching Psychology

ISSN: 1750-2764

International Coaching Psychology Review

Volume 5 No. 1 March 2010

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International Coaching Psychology ReviewEditorial Board

Co-ordinating EditorsUnited Kingdom: Stephen Palmer, PhD, Coaching Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, City University, London, UK.Australia: Michael Cavanagh, PhD, Coaching Psychology Unit, School of Psychology, Sydney University, Australia.

Co-EditorsSandy Gordon, PhD, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.Anthony M. Grant, PhD, Coaching Psychology Unit, School of Psychology, Sydney University, Australia.Travis Kemp, PhD, International Graduate School of Business, University of South Australia, Australia.David Lane, PhD, Middlesex University, London, UK.Alex Linley, PhD, School of Psychology, University of Leicester, UK.Alison Whybrow, PhD, Manchester University, UK.

International Editorial BoardHilary Armstrong, PhD, Institute of Executive Coaching, Roy Moodley, PhD, University of Toronto, Canada.Sydney, Australia. Richard Nelson-Jones, PhD, Cognitive Humanistic Institute,Paul Atkins, PhD, Australian National University, Thailand.Canberra, Australia. Lindsay Oades, PhD, University of Wollongong, Australia.Tatiana Bachkirova, PhD, Oxford Brookes University, UK. James Pawelski, PhD, Positive Psychology Center,Michael Carroll, PhD, University of Bristol, UK. University of Pennsylvania, USA.Ian Cockerill, PhD, University of Birmingham, UK. Ernesto Spinelli, PhD, Regent’s College, UK.Cary Cooper, PhD, Lancaster University, UK. Reinhard Stelter, PhD, Coaching Psychology Unit,Susan David, PhD, Melbourne University, Australia. University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Stephen Joseph, PhD, University of Warwick, UK. Dianne Stober, PhD, Fielding University, USA.Carol Kauffman, PhD, Harvard Medical School, USA. Mary Watts, PhD, City University, London, UK.

SubscriptionsInternational Coaching Psychology Review (ICPR) is published in March and September. It is distributed free of charge to members ofthe British Psychological Society Special Group in Coaching Psychology and the Australian Psychological Society Interest Group inCoaching Psychology members. It is available to non-members (Individuals £50 per volume; Institutions £60 per volume; single copies£25) from: The British Psychological Society, SGCP, St. Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7DR. UK.

Abstracting and indexing: The ICPR is abstracted in psycINFO and Google Scholar. In 2009 the ICPR will be included in the ninthedition of Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Psychology and Administration and Cabell's Directory ofPublishing Opportunities in Educational Curriculum and Methods.

Notes for ContributorsThe ICPR is an international publication with a focus on the theory, practice and research in the field of coaching psychology.Submission of academic articles, systematic reviews and other research reports which support evidence-based practice are welcomed.The ICPR may also publish conference reports and papers given at the British Psychological Society Special Group in CoachingPsychology (BPS SGCP) and Australian Psychological Society Interest Group in Coaching Psychology (APS IGCP) conferences, noticesand items of news relevant to the International Coaching Psychology Community.

Case studies and book reviews will be considered.

The ICPR is published by the BPS SGCP in association with the APS IGCP.

1. CirculationThe circulation of the ICPR is worldwide. It is available in hardcopy and PDF format. Papers are invited and encouraged from authorsthroughout the world. It is available free in paper and PDF format to members of the BPS SGCP, and free in PDF format to APS IGCPmembers as a part of their annual membership.

2. LengthPapers should normally be no more than 6000 words, although the Co-Editors retain discretion to publish papers beyond this lengthin cases where the clear and concise expression of the scientific content requires greater length.

3. ReviewingThe publication operates a policy of anonymous peer review. Papers will normally be scrutinised and commented on by at least twoindependent expert referees (in addition to the relevant Co-Editor) although the Co-Editor may process a paper at his or herdiscretion. The referees will not be aware of the identity of the author. All information about authorship including personalacknowledgements and institutional affiliations should be confined to the title page (and the text should be free of such clues asidentifiable self-citations, e.g. ‘In our earlier work…’).

Continued on inside back cover.

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The British Psychological SocietySpecial Group in Coaching Psychology

The Australian Psychological Society LtdInterest Group in Coaching Psychology

InternationalCoaching Psychology Review

Volume 5 No. 1 March 2010

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1st

International Congress of

Coaching Psychology 2010 – 2011

The UK event will be hosted by the

BPS Special Group in Coaching Psychology

14th

and 15th

December 2010, City University London, UK

This will be the first in a series of events, forming part of an international congress held around the world. The SGCP co-sponsored stage will debate and discuss coaching psychology, evidence the contribution this area of psychological enquiry and practice makes at an individual, group, organisational and societal level, and enhance the global integration of this rapidly developing discipline and profession. The events will bring together the coaching psychology community both at the individual and professional body levels.

Other stages of the congress will be held during 2011, hosted in a number of countries including Australia, sponsored by their regional coaching psychology groups. Pre-congress events may also be held.

Details of the UK event can be found at www.sgcp.org.uk

Details of all the events can be found at: www.coachingpsychologycongress.org

Drawing from a distinguished pool of national and international speakers, participants will be delighted with the breadth and depth of keynote presentations, masterclasses, symposia, mini skills workshops, research papers and poster presentations.

Delegates will have the opportunity to participate in debates and discussions, and continue to develop and consolidate relationships with peers across the community.

We invite you to consider presenting your work at this UK event. Participants in previous years’ events describe their experience as one of warmth, openness and

energy. For further information and submission details see the SGCP website: www.sgcp.org.uk or e-mail [email protected]

Call for Papers for SGCP hosted event: Deadline 28th

May 2010

For members of the BPS, the 2010 membership fee to join SGCP is £8.50 (The cost to join the BPS as an affiliate member is £24)

SGCP membership benefits include membership rates at our events and conferences and free

copies of the ‘International Coaching Psychology Review’ and ‘The Coaching Psychologist’.

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Contents

4 EditorialMichael Cavanagh & Stephen Palmer

Academic articles

6 Using signature strengths in pursuit of goals: Effects on goal progress, need satisfaction, and well-being, and implications for coaching psychologistsP. Alex Linley, Karina M. Nielsen, Alex M. Wood, Raphael Gillett & Robert Biswar-Diener

16 Applying psychological theories of self-esteem in coaching practice Alison Maxwell & Tatiana Bachkirova

27 Evaluating the impact of a peer coaching intervention on well-being amongstpsychology undergraduate studentsEmma Short, Gail Kinman & Sarah Baker

36 Developmental coaching: Business benefit – fact or fad?An evaluative study to explore the impact of coaching in the workplaceElouise Leonard-Cross

48 A grounded theory study of the coachee experience:The implications for training and practice in coaching psychologyJonathan Passmore

63 Exceptional executive coaches: Practices and attributesGavin R. Dagley

Reports

81 Executive coaching can enhance transformational leadershipTom Cerni, Guy J. Curtis & Susan H. Colmar

86 SGCP & IGCP News Update

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010 3© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

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EditorialMichael Cavanagh & Stephen Palmer

4 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

ELCOME, readers, to the first edition of the ICPR for 2010. As webegin the second decade of this

century the world of coaching psychologyand coaching is moving forward apace. LastDecember’s Second European Coaching Psychology Conference sponsored by theSGCP was a great success. Some of thekeynotes and papers presented will be pub-lished in this volume of ICPR.

Coaching psychology continues to makean important contribution to coaching glob-ally. As this issue goes to press, work in Aus-tralia is about two-thirds of the way towardcompletion on a national standards frame-work for workplace and executive coachingunder the auspices of Standards Australia.While several excellent competency andtraining standards already exist around theworld, (such as the British ENTO NationalOccupational Standards for Coaching andMentoring), the Australian project is a littledifferent in that it will be the first producedby a national standards authority alignedwith the International Standards Organisa-tion. While many bodies produce standardsin countries around the world, national stan-dards authorities (such as the Standards Aus-tralia, the British Standards Institute and theAmerican National Standards Institute)often contribute to the creation of interna-tional standards via the International Stan-dards Organisation (ISO). The StandardsAustralia project is also noteworthy in that itcovers a particularly wide range of areas. Itincludes standards and guidelines con-cerning provision of coaching services,coaches’ knowledge, competence, trainingand ongoing development, as well as coachselection and the management of coachingprocesses by organisations - making it one ofthe most comprehensive yet produced.

Coaching psychology is well representedin this process. Peter Zarris (National Con-venor of the APS IGCP, and Henry McNichol(National IGCP committee member), repre-sent the IGCP on the working committeeformed to help create and edit the standards.This working committee is made up of repre-sentatives of all stakeholder groups includingcoaches, coaching psychologists, trainingorganisations, universities, coaching/coaching psychology professional bodies andpurchasers of coaching. The document itselfis being drafted by the ICPR’s MichaelCavanagh. The project commenced at thebeginning of 2009. It is due to be publishedas a guideline later this year, and is expectedto become an official standard soon there-after. The process is being followed with keeninterest by coaching/coaching psychologybodies around the world, as is a similarnational standards process underway inMexico.

Publications like the ICPR, the confer-ences, symposia and congresses of SCGP andIGCP, and our contributions to conferencesand research worldwide mean that we ascoaching psychologists make a real contribu-tion to setting the standard in evidencebased practice. So keep those articlescoming in and submit papers to our confer-ences too!

This edition has another diverse range ofarticles for your edification and readingpleasure. Alex Linley and colleagues beginthis issue with a fine article exploringanother contribution of positive psychologyto coaching practice. They look at the use ofsignature strengths in the pursuit of goalsamong college students and find that the useof strengths is associated with improved goalprogress, psychological need fulfilment andenhanced well-being. They discuss someinteresting implications for coaching

W

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Editorial

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010 5

practice. Following the positive psychologytheme, Alison Maxwell and TatianaBachkirova review the concept of self-esteemin the literature to date and present a modelof self-esteem illustrated by four case studies.Again, the implications for coaching practiceare discussed. Emma Short, Gail Kinmanand Sarah Baker report on an intriguingempirical study in which undergraduate psy-chology students were provided some basictraining in coaching skills and conducted apeer coaching programme. They outline thepositive impact of this intervention and con-sider how it might be extended further.Elouise Leonard-Cross reports on a mixedmethods study that uses both quasi experi-mental methods and qualitative analysis toexplore the potential business benefits ofcoaching in the workplace. We will leave thereader to discover what she found! JonathanPassmore contributes another qualitativestudy on the coachee experience. Usinggrounded theory approach Jonathanexplores the behaviours and attitudescoachees look for in coaches, and discussesthe implications of this for coach trainingand practice. Our final article also uses aqualitative approach looking at the practicesand attributes of a group of coaches identi-fied by HR professionals as producing excep-tion results. This is the first of a series ofstudies conducted by Gavin Dagleyexploring the practice and impact of theseexceptional coaches from the perspectives ofthe coachee, coach and organisation. Theypromise to be a very useful contribution tothe literature. In addition to our full articles,we also have brief report by Tom Cerni thatlooks at the preliminary findings on a schoolbased programme that uses Epstein’s Cogni-tive Experiential Self Theory in coaching.This report is as tantalising as it is brief.

It is well worth reading the reports fromthe new SGCP Chair, Ho Law, and the IGCPConvenor, Peter Zarris. They both mentionthe exciting news that coaching psychologyis going to hold its own International Con-gress during 2010 and 2011 in different loca-tions around the world. The SGCP and IGCPare hoping that this on-going event will helpto bring the global coaching psychologycommunity even closer together, enhancethe profession and break new ground in thetheory, research and practice of coachingpsychology. We will be inviting other profes-sional coaching psychology bodies tobecome involved too. Watch this space.

We once again commend the articles inthis issue for your consideration. Happyreading.

CorrespondenceMichael CavanaghCoaching Psychology Unit,Department of Psychology,Sydney University,Sydney, Australia.E-mail: [email protected]

Stephen PalmerCoaching Psychology Unit,Department of Psychology,City University London,Northampton Square,London, UK.E-mail: [email protected]

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Using signature strengths in pursuit ofgoals: Effects on goal progress, needsatisfaction, and well-being, andimplications for coaching psychologistsP. Alex Linley, Karina M. Nielsen, Raphael Gillett &Robert Biswas-Diener

6 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

Objective: In recent years there has been a growing interest in research related to the use of strengths.Although results from past research have consistently suggested that the use of strengths is associated withhigher performance and greater well-being there is, as yet, no clear theory describing how using strengthsmight contribute to greater well-being or goal progress. The objective of the current research was to test amodel of how strengths use may support performance and well-being through an extension of the self-concordance model of healthy goal attainment.Design: We test a repeated measures cross-sectional model in which using signature strengths is associatedwith goal progress, which is in turn associated with the fulfilment of psychological needs, and in turn well-being.Method: Participants were 240 college students who completed measures of psychological strengths, needsatisfaction, well-being, goal progress and goal attainment at three time points over a three-month period.Results: Our results demonstrate that strengths use is associated with better goal progress, which is in turnassociated with psychological need fulfilment and enhanced well-being.Conclusions: Strengths use provides a key support in the attainment of goals, and leads to greater needsatisfaction and well-being, providing an extension of the self-concordance model of healthy goalattainment. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Keywords: strengths use, goal attainment, well-being.

THE SCIENCE OF positive psychology isthe study of psychological strengths andpositive emotions (Snyder & Lopez,

2007). This new discipline represents a para-digm shift in professional attention from‘what is wrong with people,’ psychologicallyspeaking, to ‘what is right with people.’ Pre-vious work has demonstrated many of thelinks between coaching psychology and posi-tive psychology (Biswas-Diener & Dean, 2007;Linley & Harrington, 2005; Linley &Kauffman, 2008). A major focus of positivepsychology research is on strengths; patternsof thought, feeling and behaviour that areenergising and which lead to maximal effec-tiveness (Linley, 2008a). Within the coachingpsychology literature, strengths use has been

shown to be associated with both subjectiveand psychological well-being, even when con-trolling for the effects of self-efficacy and self-esteem (Govindji & Linley, 2007), andstrengths coaching has been suggested as oneapplied link between strengths and coachingpsychology (Linley & Harrington, 2006).

Recent studies on strengths have exam-ined a number of issues ranging from theemotional consequences of using strengths(Seligman et al., 2005) to regional differencesin strengths (Park, Peterson & Seligman,2006), including specific analysis of the VIAstrengths in the UK population (Linley et al.,2007). Positive psychology is also an appliedscience, and increasing numbers of therapists,coaches and consultants are using strengths

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based interventions with their clients (seeBiswas-Diener, 2009; Seligman, Rashid &Parks, 2006). As a result, there is a specialresponsibility for researchers to examinestrengths-related outcomes and betterdevelop theoretical models by whichstrengths interventions work, especially giventhe growing appetite from coaching psychol-ogists to understand both the pragmaticapplications of strengths psychology and alsoits scientific underpinnings (Linley, 2008b).

Positive psychology and strengthsIn the introduction to the landmark positivepsychology issue of the American PsychologistSeligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) write‘Psychologists need now to call for massiveresearch on human strengths and virtues.Practitioners need to recognise that much ofthe best work they already do in the con-sulting room is to amplify strengths ratherthan to repair the weaknesses of their clients’(p.8). Two years later Seligman (2002) hadidentified six culturally ubiquitous virtuesthat included wisdom, courage, love, justice,temperance and spirituality and – underthese broad categories – he proposed 24 dis-tinct strengths ranging from creativity toleadership to humour (see also Biswas-Diener, 2006). Peterson and Seligman(2003) used this list, now known as the ‘VIA’(Values in Action), as the foundation of ataxonomy of strengths that they intended tobe an intellectual counterpoint to the widelyused Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders (DSM; APA, 1994). Withintheir classification system Peterson andSeligman identified 10 criteria by whichstrengths are included. Ultimately, Park andPeterson (2006) created an online measureof strengths using the VIA taxonomy.Although other measures of strengths exist,such as the Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0(Rath, 2008) and the Realise2 (Linley,Willars & Biswas-Diener, 2010) the VIASurvey is the most widely used strengthsassessment specifically associated with thepositive psychology movement to date.

The VIA Survey has been used exten-

sively in research on the correlates ofstrengths and preliminary evidence suggeststhat it can also be used effectively as an inter-vention to promote happiness and protectagainst depression (Seligman et al., 2005).In addition, studies have revealed an associa-tion between the VIA strengths and recoveryfrom illness (Peterson, Park & Seligman,2006), an association between societal eventsand the VIA Strengths (Peterson &Seligman, 2003), and a link between the VIAstrengths and occupation (Matthews et al.,2006; Peterson et al., 2009).

Asking ‘How strengths work’ ratherthan ‘Do strengths work’Traditionally, strengths researchers havebeen primarily concerned with establishingevidence that strengths use is a valuableendeavour, leading to such desirable out-comes as happiness (Govindji & Linley, 2007;Seligman et al., 2005) and better perform-ance at work (Clifton & Harter, 2003). Thisexploratory approach makes sense for a nas-cent science that must be established as legit-imate and worthwhile. Further, thisoutcome-based approach is of interest tocoaching psychologists, coaches, therapists,organisational consultants, and other practi-tioners who are interested in the positiveresults associated with strengths use (Lyons& Linley, 2008). Missing from this approach,however, is a crucial understanding of how,specifically, using strengths leads to well-being or other desirable outcomes.

Among the most important questions inpositive psychology, and related to strengthsspecifically, is whether or not using our sig-nature strengths helps us to achieve ourgoals and whether this, in turn, helps satisfyour psychological needs and leads to greaterwell-being. Little is known about the mecha-nisms by which strengths use might lead topsychological benefits such as enhancedwell-being and goal progress. The primarygoal of the current research is to examinepossible ways in which strengths use pro-duces higher well-being and how this mayenhance goal progress.

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One possible answers lies in under-standing the relationship between strengthsand motivation. Peterson and Seligman’s(2004) criteria for strengths to be includedin the VIA taxonomy suggest that strengthsuse is largely intrinsically motivated. Crite-rion One, for instance, defines signaturestrengths as those strengths that an indi-vidual considers to be very much their own.These strengths convey a sense of ownershipand authenticity in their use, an intrinsicyearning to use them and a feeling ofinevitability in doing so. Hence, using one’ssignature strengths is considered to be con-cordant with one’s intrinsic interests andvalues. In addition, using one’s signaturestrengths is considered to serve well-beingand basic psychological needs, such as com-petence, autonomy, and relatedness. Thereis, as yet, no firm theory of the processes thatmay explain how signature strengths con-tribute to these outcomes. In fact, we areunaware of any published research specifi-cally testing the mechanisms by which usingstrengths leads to positive changes in well-being.

One way that signature strengths maywork to promote beneficial outcomes isthrough their use in the pursuit of personalgoals. Previous research has linked goal pur-suit and progress with a range of well-beingoutcomes (e.g. Sheldon & Elliot, 1999;Sheldon & Houser-Marko, 2001). In thispaper we specifically examine the linkbetween strengths use and well-being, payingparticular attention to the role of goal pur-suit and attainment.

Previous research suggests that it is notsimply goal progress or attainment that leadsto well-being but, rather, the types of goalspursued and the motivation for pursuit. TheSelf-Concordance Model (Sheldon & Elliot,1999) elaborates the motivational sequenceof goal inception, pursuit, and attainment.In essence, people who pursue self-concor-dant goals (those that are consistent withtheir developing interests and values) putmore sustained effort into achieving thosegoals, and hence are more likely to attain

them. Interestingly, achieving well-being, inthis case, appears to be more than simply afunction of goal progress. Instead, goalattainment effects on well-being are moder-ated by the self-concordance of goals.Sheldon and Kasser (1998), for example,found that attaining self-concordant goalsleads to greater well-being than doesattaining goals that are not self-concordant.Sheldon and Kasser suggest that concordantgoal attainment leads to need satisfactionwhich, in turn, mediates changes in well-being. Sheldon and Elliot (1999) tested thishypothesis, and found that need satisfactionpartially mediated concordant goal attain-ment effects on well-being: part, but not all,of the change in well-being could beaccounted for by need-satisfying experi-ences.

Building on the Sheldon and Elliot(1999) and Sheldon and Kasser (1998)studies, together with work demonstratingthe effect of coaching on self-concordanceof goals (Burke & Linley, 2007), we hypothe-sised that using one’s signature strengths(i.e. acting self-concordantly) will contributeto goal progress, leading to need-satisfyingexperiences and greater well-being.

The link between strengths and well-being is especially important because it ispossible that well-being, as a cognitive andaffective legacy of self-concordant motiva-tion and goal pursuit, provides motivationalreinforcement. Therefore, for managers,coaching psychologists, coaches, organisa-tional consultants, educators and othersinterested in facilitating high performance abetter understanding of the mechanisms bywhich strengths use leads to goal attainmentand well-being may offer insight intolearning, growth and motivation.

MethodParticipantsThe participants in the current researchwere 240 second-year college students at amajor university in the Midlands of England.There were 49 males and 191 females with amean age of 19.95 years (SD=2.54 years).

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Participants were primarily white (78.8 percent) or Indian (8.8 per cent), and predom-inately ‘single/never married’ (91.7 percent).

MeasuresVIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS; Peterson &Seligman, 2004). The VIA-IS measures 24character strengths by means of a 240-itemself-report questionnaire (10 items perstrength). All subscales have been found tohave acceptable internal consistency reliabil-ities (all >.70; Peterson, Park & Seligman,2005). The measure is typically administeredonline, although for the present study weused a paper-and-pencil version. Responseswere scored by the researchers and partici-pants were notified with details of their topfive ‘signature strengths,’ together with adescription of these strengths. It was thesetop five signature strengths that were laterused to rate strengths use in general and inrelation to participants’ top three goals.

Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS;Watson, Tellegen & Clark, 1988). ThePANAS is a widely used 20-item measure ofpositive affect (10 items, e.g. ‘interested,’‘attentive’) and negative affect (10 items, e.g.‘irritable,’ ‘jittery’). Participants were askedto respond in relation to the extent ‘you gen-erally feel this way.’ The PANAS is one of themost widely used measures of positive andnegative affect, and is scored using a 1 (‘veryslightly or not at all’) through 5(‘extremely’) fully anchored Likert scale,thus giving a potential range of 10 through50 for each of positive affect and negativeaffect. Internal consistency reliability wasα=.82 for the positive affect scale and α=.84for the negative affect scale.

Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Dieneret al., 1985). The SWLS is a five-itemmeasure of life satisfaction, which is consid-ered to be the cognitive evaluation dimen-sion of happiness. It is the most widely usedmeasure of life satisfaction, and has excel-lent internal consistency, a single factorstructure, and temporal stability (r=.54 overfour years), while still being highly respon-

sive to the effect of psychological therapies(Pavot & Diener, 1993). It is scored using a 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree)fully anchored Likert scale, giving a potentialrange of 5 to 35. Internal consistency relia-bility was α=.81.

Semester Goals. Participants were asked tothink about, and then write down, the ‘topthree goals’ they held for the semester (athree-month timeframe). Goals were explic-itly defined as ‘projects that we think about,plan for, carry out, and sometimes (thoughnot always) complete or succeed at.’ Partici-pants were instructed to think carefullyabout their top three goals, and told thatthey should accurately represent their mainaspirations for the semester. Examples ofpossible goals were given, including ‘Attendmost of my lectures,’ ‘Make the university footballteam,’ ‘Have fun and enjoy myself,’ and ‘Stopdrinking alcohol during the week,’ although participants were informed clearly that theyshould record the three goals that repre-sented their own aspirations. They wereinstructed to write down the three goals on asheet headed ‘My TOP THREE GOALS,’and to retain a copy of the three goals withtheir course materials for future reference. A copy of their goals record was also sub-mitted to the researchers.

Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scales(BPNSS; Deci & Ryan, 2000). The BPNSS isa 21-item measure of need satisfaction forthe three basic psychological needs ofautonomy (seven items, three reversescored, e.g. ‘I feel like I am free to decide formyself how to live my life’), competence (sixitems, three reverse scored, e.g. ‘Most days Ifeel a sense of accomplishment from what I do’),and relatedness (eight items, three reversescored, e.g. ‘People in my life care about me’). It is scored using a 1 (not at all true) through7 (very true) Likert scale. Principal compo-nents analysis of the three need satisfactionscales showed them to load between .81 and.86 on a single component, eigenvalue=2.11,that accounted for 70.33 per cent of the vari-ance. Hence, for the present study a com-posite need satisfaction variable was created

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by aggregating the three need satisfactionscores. Internal consistency reliability for thecomposite scale was α=.86.

General Strengths Use. To assess the extentto which participants were using each oftheir five signature strengths in their life ingeneral, they responded to the question‘How much have you used each of your signaturestrengths in your life in general so far thissemester?’ Specifically, participants gave fiveresponses, one for how much they wereusing each of their signature strengths intheir life in general. These were scored usinga 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much) five-pointLikert format scale, such that a higher scoreindicates greater use of that signaturestrength in the participant’s life in general.Principal components analyses of theseitems showed them all to load on a singlefactor (see Table 1). We then calculated com-posite scores for ‘General Strengths Use’ bysumming the responses for each of the fivesignature strengths, thus giving an overallpotential range of 0 through 20. These com-posite scores are used in the analysesreported below.

Goals-Strengths Use. To assess the extent towhich participants were using each of theirfive signature strengths in the pursuit of each

of the three goals they identified at baseline,they responded to the question ‘How muchhave you used each of your signature strengths inworking towards the first [second/third] goal youidentified for this semester?’ for each goal. Specif-ically, they gave five responses, one for eachsignature strength, in relation to their first,second, and third goals. These were scoredusing a 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much) five-point Likert format scale, such that a higherscore indicates greater use of that signaturestrength in working towards the specifiedgoal. Principal components analyses of theseitems showed them all to load on a singlefactor (see Table 1). We then calculatedaggregate scores for goals-strengths use foreach of the three goals individually, by sum-ming the responses for each of the five signa-ture strengths for each goal, thus giving anoverall potential range of 0 through 20 foreach goal, that is, the extent to which partici-pants used their five signature strengths inpursuit of their three goals.

Principal components analysis of thesethree goals-strengths use scores showedthem all to load .76 to .84 on a single com-ponent, eigenvalue=1.95, explaining 65.05pe cent of the variance at Time 1, and toload .80 to .86 on a single component, eigen-

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Table 1: Principal components analyses of strengths use responses for general use andspecific goal use.

Time 1 Factor loadings Eigenvalue Variance explained (%)General .48 – .66 1.77 35.38Goal 1 .70 – .73 2.54 50.81Goal 2 .70 – .77 2.65 52.91Goal 3 .74 – .80 2.92 58.43

Time 2 Factor loadings Eigenvalue Variance explained (%)General .65 – .76 2.33 46.56Goal 1 .71 – .79 2.73 54.67Goal 2 .72 – .80 3.00 60.04Goal 3 .75 – .84 3.10 61.95

Note: General = Strengths use in one’s life in general; Goal 1 [2, 3] = Strengths use in pursuit of goal 1 [2, 3].Time 1 was 6 weeks after baseline; Time 2 was 10 weeks after baseline. All items loaded on a single component.

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value=2.08, explaining 69.37 per cent of thevariance at Time 2. Given that the goal con-tents of the first, second, and third goalsvaried across participants, we created a com-posite goals-strengths use variable by aggre-gating the responses for strengths use foreach of the first, second, and third goals.This composite goals-strengths use variabletherefore provides the equivalent of themean strengths use in relation to a genericset of goals, that is, it represents the extent towhich participants used their strengths (anyand all of their five signature strengths) inpursuit of their goals (any and all of their topthree goals). It was this composite goals-strengths use variable (a composite of fivestrengths rated in relation to three goals,giving 15 individual data points) that wasused in the analyses reported below.

General Progress. To assess the progressthat participants were making in their livesin general, they were asked ‘How well are youdoing in your life in general this semester?’ Thissingle item measure was scored on a 1 (not atall well) to 7 (very well) Likert format scale,and followed the section containing the gen-eral strengths use items.

Goal Progress. To assess the progress thatparticipants were making in their pursuit ofeach of their three goals, they were asked‘How well are you doing in achieving the first[second/third] goal you identified?’ This singleitem measure was scored on a 1 (not at allwell) to 7 (very well) Likert format scale inrelation to each of the three goals, and waspresented at the end of each section con-taining the goals strengths use items for eachof the three goals.

ProcedureParticipants were recruited as part of a com-pulsory practical module that comprised partof their undergraduate course. Alternativeoptions were provided if participants did notwish to participate in the study. In the firstclass, at the beginning of the semester, par-ticipants completed the baseline measures bypaper-and-pencil including the VIA Inven-tory of Strengths, the PANAS, and the Satis-

faction with Life Scale. Additionally, partici-pants recorded their top three goals for thesemester. After six weeks from baseline (Time1), participants again completed the PANASand the Satisfaction with Life Scale. In addi-tion, they completed the Basic PsychologicalNeed Satisfaction Scales, and the measures ofgeneral strengths use and goal-strengths use,together with the items assessing generalprogress and goals progress. These measureswere again completed after 10 weeks frombaseline (Time 2).

Analyses and resultsIn order to simplify the number of variables forthe analyses, we created a composite measureof goals-strengths use as described above, acomposite measure of need satisfaction asdescribed above, and a composite measure ofsubjective well-being. Principal componentsanalysis of the positive affect, negative affect,and life satisfaction scores showed them to loadfrom –.72 to .76 on a single component, eigen-value=1.66, which explained 55.33 per cent ofthe variance. As such, we calculated a com-posite subjective well-being (SWB) variable bysumming life satisfaction and positive affect,and subtracting negative affect.

We tested our hypothesised model usingstructural equation modelling (SEM;LISREL 8.7, Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1999). Inthis model (see Figure 1) we tested the sta-bility of our measures (van Dierendonck etal., 2004) by including paths from strengthsat time 1 to strengths at time 2, fromprogress at time 1 to progress at time 2, fromneed satisfaction at time 1 to need satisfac-tion at time 2, and finally, from well-being attime 1 to well-being at time 2. We included apath from strengths to progress, fromprogress to need satisfaction and from needsatisfaction to well-being to test for ourhypotheses. We included these paths at bothtime 1 and time 2, in order to test these path-ways cross-sectionally at both time points. Wealso tested the hypothesised direct effect ofprogress on well-being found in previousresearch by including direct paths fromprogress at time 1 to well-being at time 1 and

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from progress at time 2 to well-being at time2. The acceptable levels of fit used to assessthe adequacy of each model were accordingto the recommendations made by Hu andBentler (1999): the Standardised Root MeanResidual (SRMR) should be below .09 andthe Comparative Fit Index (CFI) above .95.

Our hypothesised pathway was examinedin model 1. The hypothesised model pre-sented an acceptable fit to the data. SRMRwas .077 below the recommended .09 andCFI=.97 was above the recommended .95.Inspection of the parameters estimatesrevealed that all paths were significant. Thefinal model is presented in Figure 2. As canbe seen in Figure 2, a large percentage of thevariance in well-being (63 per cent and 64

per cent) could be explained by strengthsuse, goal progress and need satisfaction.

The model demonstrates that signaturestrengths use is associated with higher goalprogress, which is in turn associated withgreater need satisfaction, which in turn areboth associated with higher levels of well-being and explain a large proportion of thevariance in well-being.

DiscussionAlthough past research has linked goalprogress and attainment, especially that whichis self-concordant, to well-being, there has notbeen empirical research aimed at explainingthe path from strengths use to well-being. Inthe current study we were able to use a

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Figure 1: Hypothesised model showing strengths use, goal progress, need satisfactionand well-being.

Figure 2: Final model showing strengths use, goal progress, need satisfactionand well-being.

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repeated-measures cross-sectional design tofollow individuals as they used personalstrengths to pursue meaningful personally rel-evant goals. Our analyses revealed thatstrengths use was associated with goal progress,which in turn was associated with both needsatisfaction and well-being at both six weeksand 10 weeks post-baseline. When we mod-elled the data to examine the relative andabsolute fit of the data we found that strengthsuse affects well-being both through goalprogress and through the psychological needfulfilment associated with goal progress. Thatis, to the extent that individuals make progresstoward personally relevant goals and to theextent that this goal progress feels concordantwith self-growth and autonomy, people will pre-dictably feel more positive affect, less negativeaffect, and greater life satisfaction.

Our findings support and extend earlierresearch by Sheldon and Elliot (1999) andSheldon and Kasser (1998) showing thatgoals that are self-concordant – those thatare personally valued and associated withgrowth, connectedness and autonomy – arespecifically associated with greater well-being. Sheldon and Elliot suggest that fac-tors such as controlledness (locus of control),personal ownership of a goal, perseveranceand personal interest are all factors in bothgoal progress and well-being. Our findingsindicate that strengths use offers an inter-esting and reliable avenue for pursuing self-concordant goals. Given that strengths are,by definition, associated with personal valuesand the expression of an integrated psycho-logical core, they are likely to suggest a self-concordant approach to goals and,therefore, to maximise the chances forgreater well-being and goal attainment.

Importantly, it appears as if the well-being that results from goal progress andpsychological need fulfilment may act as acognitive and affective reinforcer, leading togreater goal progress later on. To the extentthat this is true, it suggests that strengths usemight be an important part of an affectivelearning loop in which progress leads to well-being which, in turn, motivates sustained

effort and leads to further goal progress.This point is especially important forcoaching psychologists, coaches, therapistsand others who work with clients on per-sonal change or optimal performance.Understanding that employing strengths inthe pursuit of goals is more likely to lead toan upward spiral of success and well-beingestablishes strengths as a particularly impor-tant area for intervention and support.

Future research could be improve on thecurrent study in several ways. First, oursample included college students that were,in many ways (e.g. age and marital status)non-diverse. Therefore, caution must betaken in generalising these results to thewider population. This cautionary note isespecially important in terms of generalisingthe current findings across cultures, as goalsare differentially associated with well-beingacross cultural groups (Oishi, 2000). In addi-tion, our use of composite scores forstrengths use means that we cannot be cer-tain that this model holds true for allstrengths equally, or whether it is moreappropriate to a blend of primary strengths.In all likelihood, individuals rotate through anumber of primary strengths and/or useconstellations of strengths in tandem. Unfor-tunately, our current methodology does notallow us to look specifically at how strengthtype affects goal progress or well-being.Finally, our repeated measures cross-sectional design does not allow for the test ofpure longitudinal effects, and this is animportant area for future research.

This study is the first of which we areaware to explore the relation betweenstrengths use, goal progress, and well-being.Although we found direct evidence of linksbetween these variables, both across measuresand repeated across time, further study isneeded to better understand this complexpsychological relationship. We recommendthat future researchers interested in this topicexamine strengths use in specific, non-stu-dent contexts such as organisational (e.g.Linley, Woolston & Biswas-Diener, 2009) ortherapeutic (e.g. Linley, 2008c) settings.

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In particular, we recommend that futureresearchers include third-party performanceratings as well as other measures of well-beingsuch as surveys of meaning in life or psycho-logical well-being. It would also be beneficialfor future researchers to examine the relationbetween strengths use and obligatory goals(i.e. non self-concordant goals) as well asstrengths use during times of goal failure.

In the end, it is noteworthy that not allgoal progress is associated with well-being.Self-concordant goals are a special case ofenhanced well-being. The use of personalstrengths appears to be inherently self-con-cordant and, as a result, leads to better goalprogress and greater feelings of well-being,thereby providing a solid empirical base tosupport practitioners across many fields whoare using strengths approaches in their work.

The authorsP. Alex Linley Centre of Applied Positive Psychology, UK.Karina M. NielsenNational Research Centre for the WorkingEnvironment, Denmark.Alex M. WoodUniversity of Manchester, UK.Raphael GillettUniversity of Leicester, UK.Robert Biswas-DienerCentre of Applied Positive Psychology, UK.

CorrespondenceP. Alex Linley, PhDCentre of Applied Positive Psychology,The Venture Centre,Sir William Lyons Road,Coventry, CV4 7EZ,United Kingdom.E-mail: [email protected]: +44-2476-323-363

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‘Self-esteem is the reputation we acquire withourselves.’ Nathaniel Branden

T ITS SIMPLEST, self-esteem, as thequote implies, is the evaluation indi-

viduals place upon themselves, oftenrepresenting a comparison between a per-ceived sense of self and a perceived idealstandard (James, 1860; Hamachek, 1987;Burns, 1978). This comparison is necessarilyhighly subjective, but has the power to pro-duce a range of personally significant conse-quences. Studies consistently show(Baumeister, 1993, 1997; Coopersmith, 1967;Lent et al., 1986) that people with high andlow levels of self-esteem adapt to events inmarkedly different ways, with high self-esteem (HSE) associated, for example, withgreater confidence, less conformity, self-effi-cacy, optimism, risk taking and creativity. A coach, therefore, might well be interestedin working with self-esteem issues directly ordeveloping it as a happy by-product.

However, the issue of self-esteem is notprominent in the traditional coaching litera-ture. It is largely assumed that clients are suc-cessful, high achieving and capableindividuals who have every reason to feelconfident and worthy of self-respect. How-ever, according to Bandura (1998), many

talented individuals often feel dissatisfiedwith their achievements. Research recentlyconducted by Hindmarch (2007), as well asanecdotal data from our own coaching andsupervisory practice, suggests that in realitythe theme of confidence and self-esteem incoaching is often present in one form oranother.

Although no agreement is reached in thecurrent psychological literature on thecauses of self-esteem, Hartner (1999) arguesthat self-esteem is a product of the develop-mental path, strongly correlated to thequality of parenting received. Some studiessuggest (Coopersmith, 1967; Lent et al.,1986) that while self-esteem may fluctuateday to day, a base level tends to endure(Pelham & Swann, 1989). It is, therefore, notsurprising that issues of self-esteem are oftenfigural in counselling or psychotherapyprocesses. Deep seated self-esteem issuesmay, therefore, be beyond the scope ofcoaching. However, more transient or lesssevere issues may be more amenable to acoaching approach, assuming coaches aresuitably aware of the issues involved.

The psychological literature offers arange of conceptualisations of self-esteemand it could be said that there are as manyperspectives on self-esteem as there are

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Applying psychological theories of self-esteem in coaching practice Alison Maxwell & Tatiana Bachkirova

The study of self-esteem has a long history, and it is not without cause that self-esteem is seen by many ascentral to human functioning and happiness, governing our sense of self-efficacy as well as ability to learn,grow and change. It is, therefore, not surprising that self-esteem issues frequently present themselves withincoaching conversations and it behoves the competent coach to be aware of how self-esteem might mediate thecoaching relationship. In this article we discuss how the concept of self-esteem has been defined andaddressed in the psychological literature and how specific theories might apply in the coaching context. A model of self-esteem is used to illustrate four cases of coaching using 360° feedback within anorganisational setting. We conclude with a summary of implications for coaching practice.

Keywords: self-esteem, coaching, psychological theories, 360 feedback, adult development.

A

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branches of psychology and psychotherapy.Some theories emphasise the origins of self-esteem, while others describe manifestationin behaviour, dynamics of change over timeand ways of influencing it. In this article wehave chosen to comment only on thosetheories that present an applied value foradults who wish to make changes in theirworking lives with the help of a coach. Wetherefore offer both a description of relevanttheories as well as potential implications forpractice. As a way of synthesising and makingsense of the diversity of perspectives an adultdevelopmental framework is introduced anddiscussed.

The article continues by examining onemodel of self-esteem in more depth, using itto illuminate four coaching encounters. Thisis offered to practicing coaches as a prag-matic tool to both help make sense of dif-ferent types of self-esteem issues and informpotential avenues for intervention. Thepaper concludes with a summary of implica-tions for coaching practice.

Theories of self-esteemEarly conceptions: James and the Social Con-structionistsJames (1890) is credited with the initialwriting on self-esteem, defining it as contin-gent on the ratio of our successes to our fail-ures, in areas of our life that we deemimportant to us. Self-esteem, therefore, couldbe seen as a motivator in life, constantlydriving individuals towards success and awayfrom potential failure, and to maintain a levelof competence in key domains. In the con-text of coaching, this force can be tapped tofocus clients on desired outcomes and goals.However, it may also be an unhelpful factor ifthe client is overly attached to unrealistic orunattainable goals, or domains that are nolonger relevant to them.

An alternate early view (Cooley,1909;Mead, 1913) emphasises the social nature ofself-esteem, being regarded as the extent towhich we perceive ourselves as matching upto a set of ‘central self-values … [that] indi-viduals have learned to be worthy of emu-

lating or attaining through the process ofsocialisation’ (Mruk, 2006, pp.120–121).Self-esteem is, therefore, a comparison withan internalised set of standards or values,introjected from familial, social and culturalinteractions. Seen as such, self-esteem is con-tingent on others, in that individuals makecomparisons with a (real or illusory) stan-dard set by others, motivating them to main-tain their acceptance and approval withothers. This may also be unhelpful to theclient if those standards are unattainable,unreasonable or outdated. The work of thecoach, according to this conceptualisation,may, therefore, involve the re-examination ofsuch standards, either downgrading them, orshifting them to more relevant areas(Bachkirova, 2000, 2004).

Humanistic psychology and person-centredtherapyHumanistic psychologists build on theseearly notions of self-esteem seeing it as abasic need central to human functioning.For example, Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy ofneeds places self-esteem near the top of hispyramid, making self-actualisation contin-gent on the achievement of self-esteem. Self-esteem is seen to develop if a person receivessufficient ‘unconditional positive regard’(Rogers, 1951), and, therefore, becomescontingent when self-regard is conditionalon achieving the standard or approval ofothers. However, self-esteem can bereclaimed by developing congruence withone’s own organismic needs and desires.

This perspective on self-esteem impactsthe presence and values exhibited by acoach, who must be able to offer uncondi-tional positive regard to the client, irrespec-tive of their actions, achievements or values.It is, therefore, more important to help theclient to explore and reclaim a deeper senseof their self and their own needs, rather thannecessarily deliver on an externally-derived(e.g. organisational) agenda. This perspec-tive, therefore, potentially conflicts with theovert goal achievement orientation domi-nating in the traditional coaching literature.

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Recent researchMore recent writers (Epstein, 1973; Brown etaI, 1988; Baumeister, 1993, 1999; Mruk, 2006)concur with the view of self-esteem as a corehuman need, seeing it as driving behaviour todefend or maintain a perceived sense of self.Two motives are identified; the self-consis-tency motive and the self-enhancementmotive. The self-consistency motive drivespeople to seek out information that confirmswhat they already believe about themselves –whether good or bad. Once established,therefore, such a self-opinion may be difficultto discard or refine, and a coach may meetconsiderable defences if they attempt to dis-rupt the established ‘self-view’.

The self-enhancement motive differs inthat it drives people to acquire informationthat tends to show them in a positive light,discarding information which may cast anunfavourable shade upon themselves.According to Baumeister (1999), the self-enhancement motive dominates; however heargues that people with low self-esteem(LSE) favour the self-consistency motive,preferring to believe a consistent, albeit neg-ative, message about themselves, and willselectively discard positive information. Incomparison, HSE is associated with prefer-ence for the self-enhancement motive, selec-tively discarding negative information.Objective feedback from an external partysuch as a coach will, therefore, be filtered,according to the dominant motivation.

Self-esteem is, therefore, fraught with thepossibility for distortion (Dunning, 2006;Claxton, 1994) and various theoretical tradi-tions and studies (Fingarette, 2000;Goleman, 1997; Hamachek, 1987) docu-ment the many ways we may defend our-selves against threats to our self-evaluations.Some of these studies challenge the tradi-tional view that HSE is only associated withpositive and desirable characteristics,Baumeister et al. (1999), for example,pointing out that HSE may be associatedwith narcissistic and antisocial tendencies.The pursuit of HSE may, therefore, not bethe desirable goal that has been assumed

(Crocker et al., 2002, 2006). Baumeister(1993, 1999) has also challenged the con-ception of LSE in his research with others(Campbell & Lavallee, 1993), suggesting thatabsolute LSE is relatively rare. He postulatesthat LSE is actually a lack of clarity about theself, whilst HSE is associated with greaterdegrees of certainty. Other authors (Kernis,1993, 2003; Jones & Meridith, 1996; Wink &Helson, 1993) suggest that stability of self-esteem is as important as level. A coach,using this frame, may, therefore, need tohelp a client reach an optimal stable level ofesteem, working with the client to clarifytheir own sense of self, through explorationof their values, goals and needs, within a real-istic assessment of their competencies andresources.

It must be noted that some authors chal-lenge the very notion of self-esteem as a corehuman need (Ryan & Warren Brown, 2003),seeing any contingent evaluation as funda-mentally objectifying the self in an unhelpfulway:

‘Non-contingent self-esteem in contrastcharacterises persons for whom the issue of self-esteem is not salient, largely because theyexperience themselves on a fundamental levelas worthy of esteem and love. Successes andfailures do not implicate their self-worth, evenwhen they lead to a re-evaluation of actionsand efforts’ (Ryan & Warren Brown, 2003,p.72).

Described thus, ‘authentic’ self-esteem tran-scends the need for self-evaluation, and isrealistic, secure and enduring. In the light ofthis very different view, the role of the coachwould be to help the client avoid actionsdriven by esteem-related contingencies, andto reach for goals that contribute to some-thing larger than self (Crocker et al., 2006;Bachkirova, 2000, 2004).

Self-esteem within an adultdevelopment framework It may seem that the views of self-esteem dis-cussed above are describing wholly differentphenomena, such is the diversity of descrip-tion and explanation. However, recent

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thinking on adult development (Beck &Cowan, 1996; Kegan, 1982, 1994; Loevinger,1976, 1987; Cook-Greuter, 1999, 2004; Tor-bert, 1991, 2002; Wilber, 2006) may bothexplain this diversity and offer a new para-digm for understanding self-esteem. Thesetheories suggest that the concept and expe-rience of self-esteem is itself a product of theindividual’s stage of development. Adultdevelopment is seen as progressing througha logical sequence of stages, the relative com-plexity of meaning-making expanding witheach stage. Kegan (1982), for example, sug-gests that self-esteem has different meaningsfor people at different developmental stages.The following is the description of the threemain adult development stages as presentedby Kegan and Lahey (2009), showing howthe meaning of self-esteem changes withstage. We suggest that this may explain thedivergent perspectives of theories describedabove. ● ‘Socialised Mind’. At this stage,

individuals are seen as lacking in self-esteem, driven by the need to beapproved by others and to be liked bythem. They appear indecisive and may beperceived as a ‘push over’: ‘I am theprime candidate for the assertivenesstrainer, who may tell me that I need tolearn how to stand up for myself’ (Kegan,1982, p.96). Kegan suggests that strictlyspeaking ‘self-esteem ‘is not anapplicable term for individuals at thisstage, as ‘esteem’ does not come fromtheir sense of ‘self’, but rather from thereceived and unexamined opinions ofothers. It could be speculated that thisconception resonates with the ‘socialconstructionist’ view of self-esteem,where the sense of self is contingent onthe views of others.

● ‘Self-authoring Mind’. During this stage,self-esteem shifts to become a product ofa self-evaluation where a sense of ‘me’ isearned by sorting out the agendas ofothers that dominated in the SocialisedMind stage. Individuals enjoy thefreedom to form their own judgements

about themselves using their own criteriafor comparing ambitions with reality.However, they can still be caught in trapsof their own making when forming suchjudgement (Berger, 2006; Berger &Fitzgerald, 2002; Bachkirova & Cox,2007), with resultant potential distortionsin self-perception. The view of self-esteem at this stage may correspond tothe views of Baumeister and others(1993, 1999), and his competing self-enhancement and self-consistencymotivations.

● ‘Self-Transforming Mind’. The meaningof self-esteem at this stage changes again,and may look much like that describedabove by Ryan and Warren Brown. Thereis very little attachment in this stage toany specific self-image, which is seen asfluid in changing situations and inrelation to others. For this reason, self-esteem is not seen as an ‘issue’ butapproached with curiosity and reflexivity.

According to this conceptualisation of self-esteem a unified coaching approach thatprescribes a particular balance of supportand challenge for each individual clientwould certainly need to be questioned. Wesuggest that understanding developmentaltrajectories may help coaches to be betterequipped to address the diverse needs oftheir clients.

Table 1 (overleaf) presents a summary ofthe theories with their potential implicationsfor coaching together with an attempt tomap these theories onto the adult develop-ment framework.

A pragmatic model for coachingself-esteem issues.In our literature search for theoreticalmodels on self-esteem that may have a prag-matic value for the practicing coach we cameacross Mruk’s two dimensional model(2006). As the result of our experimentationwith this model in coaching we believe thatthis can offer coaches a practical approachto working with client issues in organisa-tional settings. An adapted version of Mruk’s

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Table 1: Summary of self-esteem theories mapped against three stages ofadult development.

Theories of Conception of Potential Potential Correspondenceself-esteem self-esteem Motivator implications to Adult

for coaching Developmentstages (Kegan &Lahey, 2009)

James (1860) Ratio of successes Goal achievement ● Clarification of Self-authoringto failures in and competence realistic goals Minddomains deemed enhancement in ● Clarification ofimportant important domain relevance

domains

Social Extent to which Maintenance of ● Establishing Socialised Mindconstructionists the individual acceptance of realistic standards(Cooley,1909; matches up to self in the eyes and expectationsMead, 1913) internalised/ of others of self

socialised values ● Negatingand standards outdated or

unfoundedstandards

Humanists Extent to which Reclaim deeper ● Clarification of Self-authoring(Maslow, 1954; we are congruent sense of self and sense of self and MindRogers, 1951) with our own own needs, not own needs/values

needs/values/ contingent on ● Unconditionalstandards others positive regard

from the coach● Avoidance ofunexaminedinternalised goals

Baumeister Defence or Self-enhancement ● Minimise self Self-authoring(1993, 1999) maintenance of a or self-consistency distortions Mind

perceived sense through feedbackof self ● Creating a

climate tominimisedefensiveness

Ryan & Authentic Goals and causes ● Transcend Self-transformingWarren Brown self-esteem as greater than self contingent Mind(2003) non-contingent self-esteem

on internalised ● Contributionsources . to goals larger

than self

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model is presented in Figure 1. This modelreflects some of the features of recentresearch, particularly the self-consistencyand self-enhancement motivators, describedby Baumeister (1999).

In this model, self-esteem is seen as theproduct of two factors, ‘worthiness’ and‘competence; ‘worthiness’ defined as theneed for approval from self/others, and‘competence’ as the need for achievementand success. The interaction of these factorsproduces four different forms of self-esteem:1. Competence-based self-esteem (CSE);

based on the need for constantachievement and successes, masking asense of worthlessness. At its worst thiszone represents the chronic over-achiever, perfectionist and workaholic,never satisfied with their accomplish-ments.

2. Worthiness-based self-esteem (WSE);based on the need for constant approvalfrom others and self, as a way of

compensating for perceived or actuallack of competence in important areas.At its worst this zone representsnarcissistic and egotistic behaviours.

Both worthiness and competence-based self-esteem are inherently unstable and fragile,and may be threatened, for example by fail-ures or negative feedback from others. Suchindividuals may be heavily defended againstperceived threats to their self-esteem for fearof the anxiety this would induce. 3. Low stable self-esteem; a consistently

poor and inherently stable self-appraisal.This form may also resist change, aperson choosing to believe a negativeself-concept rather than risk loosing asense of self-consistency.

4. High self-esteem; a consistently goodappraisal of one’s competencies and self-worth. This is inherently stable, butcapable of taking on board negativeappraisals or failures and respondingfunctionally.

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Figure 1: Self-esteem model (adapted from Mruk, 2006).

High

perceived

competence

Low

perceived

incompetence

High perceived

worthiness

Low perceived

worthiness

Worthiness-based

Self Esteem

(WSE)

Competence-

based Self Esteem

(CSE)

High stable

Self Esteem

(HSE)

Low stable

Self Esteem (LSE)

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To use this model an effective coachwould need both diagnostic skills and anawareness of how these forms of self-esteemmight influence the coaching relationship.The remainder of this article suggests strate-gies for working with these potentially verydifferent types of client, using the lens of thismodel. A recent coaching assignment thatinvolved delivering 360 feedback to a rangeof clients is used to illustrate some of theissues involved. Feedback of this sort forcesindividuals to confront the actual percep-tions of others, rather than continue to holdimagined perceptions. This can often be ahighly anxiety provoking experience(Smalley & Stake, 1996; Ashford et al., 2003),especially when the sense of self is insecure,potentially resulting in a range of defensivereactions and responses (Shrauger & Rosen-berg, 1970). Four client cases are used toillustrate different aspects of self-esteemissues.

Coaching the CSE clientThe model predicts that the CSE client willhave a lurking sense of their own worthless-ness which they compensate for by hard-workand striving for achievement. Such a clientmay have work-life balance issues, may fail toprioritise effectively, and take little satisfac-tion for their many achievements, ascribingsuccess to circumstance rather than personalaction and influence. Workaholic tendenciesmay, therefore, be exhibited, with evergreater levels of achievement required tomaintain an adequate sense of self.

Such a description could be ascribed tomany in corporate life, and was a reasonabledescription of client R, who was workinglong hours despite increasing tensions withthe demands of his home life. His responseto 360 feedback was initial wariness,expecting it to confirm a low self-opinion,and he was considerably surprised at thehigh estimation he was universally held in.However, he rapidly justified why these posi-tive opinions were irrelevant and focused dis-proportionately on the few less than positiveitems.

The coach’s work with him initially,therefore, was to help him absorb more ofthe positive news rather than minimise ordeflect it. As a newly-appointed Director, hehad been selected over the head of a col-league who he regarded as more competent,and, in his eyes, more suited to the role. Inthe process of further coaching involved himclarifying his areas of expertise (using theStrengthsfinder diagnostic), reconnectingwith his values as a source of worth and cre-ating a personal vision for his new role. How-ever, he still remained attached to hisworkaholic tendencies, albeit now withgreater awareness.

Coaching the WSE clientIn contrast to the CSE client, a WSE clientwould be expected to have a high opinion ofself whilst devaluing others, possibly devel-oping workplace relationship issues. Thisproved to be an accurate description ofclient A, an apparently very confident manbut who continuously disparaged his col-leagues and team, displaying some narcis-sistic tendencies. He was highly defendedagainst feedback, criticising the 360appraisal process in some detail, despitehaving scored well on many dimensions. Thefeedback meeting with this client wasextremely difficult, with him challenging allless than positive perceptions as irrelevant orerroneous, picking out the positive messagesdisproportionately. The coach’s work was,therefore, to discuss why others might have aless positive view of him on some dimensionsand the possible value of developing skills inareas of inter-relating and team leadership.Interestingly, he saw no need for self-devel-opment and had no desire to continue acoaching relationship.

As with CSE clients, such clients are notuncommon in corporate life, and can bechallenging to work with for a coach. Themodel predicts that their unstable sense ofself will be heavily and possibly aggressivelydefended. Coaching is unlikely to be wel-comed especially if perceived as remedial,however, may be more acceptable if it is per-

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ceived as adding to their status or kudos.Cavanagh (2005) counsels against a direct‘attack’ upon the potential narcissist, andadvocates an appeal to their personal goals,and how they might need to work throughothers to achieve these. This poses an ethicaldilemma to coaches in that it continues topander to WSE, rather than address the per-ceptions of lack of competence.

Coaching the LSE clientThe LSE client may seem the most in need ofhelp from a coach. However, the model pre-dicts that they may wish to avoid coachingfor fear that it will make aggravate their poorself-opinion (Audia & Locke, 2003). Theyexpect feedback that confirms their poorself-image, but may be more accepting of itas it confirms their self-story. Client T, ini-tially avoidant of the coach’s feedbackmeeting, resignedly recognised its negativemessages, and deftly denied more positivethemes. He recited stories of former workdifficulties and how these were an unavoid-able consequence of his life circumstances.He had little or no interest in self-develop-ment, as he viewed himself as fixed andunchangeable, and declined furthercoaching on that basis.

According to Mruk (2006), LSE issuesspring from two sources, so a coachingstrategy might have to tackle both worthinessand competence issues simultaneously.Deeper seated issues might involve exam-ining the introjects that have been assimi-lated over the years, perhaps requiringdeeper and longer levels of interventionthan is typically possible in a coaching.Baumeister (1993, 1999), however, arguesthat true LSE is relatively rare, and that it isissues of lack of clarity that must be tackled,as well as challenging areas where an inaccu-rate view of the self has been formed.

Coaching the HSE clientIt is questionable whether a HSE clientneeds coaching, given that they have a high,stable and accurate sense of their own worthand competence. They are able to accept

failures and negative attributions fromothers with good grace and discrimination,adapting their actions as required.

Client D demonstrated many of thesequalities, accepting 360 feedback withcuriosity and a desire to improve. Shereceived positive and negative messages withalmost equal interest, and was quick to seehow development in some dimensions wouldaid her overall effectiveness. She was able todiscuss openly her feedback with her col-leagues and peers, taking on board their sug-gestions. She was keen to pursue a coachingrelationship, seeing it as a vital source of sup-port to develop in areas where she knew hercompetence was weaker. The coaching workstarted by defining the areas she wished todevelop, how these would contribute to heroverall goals, and then moved into devisingstrategies for developing these competen-cies. Interestingly her goals were not relatedto her own aggrandisement so much as pro-moting and developing the division sheheaded and was passionate to see succeed.Such clients are probably close to the Ryan’sidea of non-contingent self-esteem, secure intheir sense of self, irrespective of circum-stances or opinions

The model, based on Mruk’s ideas, helpsto predict how clients may respond tocoaching and the type of intervention poten-tially required. This model is, at least, apotentially useful diagnostic lens and impliesthat coaches require a range of worthiness-based and competence-based strategies attheir command. Further, it suggests that thecoach must be suitably adept at noticing andworking with defensive and protective strate-gies, potentially testing their interpersonalskills. Use of this model depends, however,on the coach being able to understand andinterpret the client’s self-assessments, andaccurately pick up associated behaviouralclues as the interaction unfolds.

This model, while a useful starting point,cannot pretend to map the complexity of theentire self-esteem terrain. We would, how-ever, argue that the model allowed the coachto perceive behaviours that would otherwise

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be difficult to make sense of and differen-tiate a range of strategies accordingly. Aslong as the model is not seen as the only oneuseful and does not overly simplify a com-plex phenomenon, we can recommend it forcoaches who are searching for useful tools tounderstand the issue of self-esteem in thecoaching context.

Conclusion Clearly the level and type of a coachingclient’s self-esteem has a bearing on theirfunctioning and performance, and is thus ofinterest to practicing coaches. While it isunlikely that clients present with explicit self-esteem problems, self-esteem as a mediatingfactor is likely to attend in many coachingrelationships. The theories outlined abovepredict that this may be both a positive forcepropelling change and growth in the client,but may also inhibit and limit what is pos-sible in a coaching relationship. At itsextreme, coaching may be rejected, notbecause of its inherent lack of value butbecause the client values themselves toomuch or too little to accept it. Similarly,those who might benefit from coaching themost might also have the greatest difficultiesin using it effectively.

It is less clear from the literature whether‘base’ self-esteem can be sustainably shiftedas authors appear to differ on this point. Iffixed, the level and type of self-esteem maycap the amount and direction of change thatis possible, and thus the scope of the coachto intervene productively in this direction.However, temporary dips in self-esteem, asthose caused by adverse external circum-stances, may be very amenable to a coachingapproach. Extreme low or high self-esteemmight contra-indicate coaching and requirereferral to therapeutic assistance.

It is clear that self-esteem is a complexarea, with a range of theories attempting to

make sense of it. We argue that adult-devel-opment theories offer a unique perspectiveon this very complexity suggesting that sim-plistic approaches are unlikely to be helpfulfor coaches. One model of self-esteem hasbeen used in this paper to illuminate avariety of coaching encounters with fullrecognition that it cannot reconcile all per-spectives on this phenomenon. We believe,however, that for pragmatic purposes ofcoaching this model can serve as a usefultool.

Finally, it is worth noting the dangers ofthe coach becoming a further source ofunhelpful comparison to the needy client,perpetuating a cycle of continued contingentlow self-esteem. Perhaps, as Ryan et al. (2003)implies, the true role of the coach in workingwith self-esteem issues is to help them escapethe trap of contingent self-worth, anddevelop an authentic and accurate sense ofthemselves, irrespective of successes, failures,opinions and the evaluations of others. Fur-ther, this might also suggest that the mostuseful coaches are those that have developedsuch a healthy sense of self and are able torestrain themselves from inflicting their owncontingent needs on others.

The authorsAlison Maxwell83 Empingham Road,Stamford,Lincs., PE9 2SU,United Kingdom.E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Tatiana BachkirovaOxford Brookes University,Business School, Wheatley,Oxford, OX33 1HX,United Kingdom.E-mail: [email protected]

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THE NEED FOR research to evaluate theeffectiveness of coaching strategies iswidely recognised in the emerging field

of coaching psychology (Linley, 2006).Indeed, it has been argued that without thesystematic empirical evaluation of the successof coaching interventions, coaching practicemay be seen as being based on hypotheticaltheories and conjecture (Biswas-Diener &Dean, 2007). It is, therefore, necessary todevelop coaching techniques that are firmlygrounded in evidence-based principles(Stober & Grant, 2006; Linley, 2006).

Solution-focused coaching is rapidlygaining popularity in the field. This tech-nique does not seek to alleviate long-termunderlying problems, but assists people in

meeting their goals by helping them developtheir skills and resources (Kauffman &Scoular, 2004). By examining the client’score values and life experiences, skills andresources that had previously been unrecog-nised may be brought to light. Solutions cansubsequently be developed that help achievethe identified goals. Research findingsindeed indicate that solution-focusedcoaching has the potential to enhance goal-setting and psychological functioning.Studies have found this technique mayimprove stress management capabilities andenhance goal striving, emotional well-being,hope, self-confidence and job satisfaction(Gyllensten & Palmer, 2006; Kauffman &Scoular, 2004; Seligman, 2002). There is

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010 27© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

Evaluating the impact of a peer coachingintervention on well-being amongstpsychology undergraduate studentsEmma Short, Gail Kinman & Sarah Baker

Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of a peer coaching intervention on aspects of well-being in students. Design: A two-factor mixed design was employed. Method: Two groups of third-year undergraduate psychology students participated in this study. The coachinggroup (N=32) comprised 24 females and eight males (mean age 25.23, SD=8.07) who were studying coachingpsychology. This group was introduced to a model of coaching and practiced skills during lectures/seminars.They subsequently conducted and received five sessions of peer coaching before an examination period. Thecontrol group (N=33) comprised 30 females and three males (mean age 24.77, SD=5.57). This group werealso third-year students, but were not studying coaching psychology or engaged in peer coaching.

Measures were taken at Time 1 (pre-coaching intervention) and Time 2 (post-coaching intervention).Demographic data was obtained and the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg, 1992) and theInventory of Personal Problems (Berkham et al., 1996), were utilised. The topics covered in coachingsessions and the perceived effectiveness of the technique were examined at Time 2. Results: Levels of psychological distress were high at both data points. Findings highlighted significantdifferences in outcome variables for both groups between Times 1 and 2. Nonetheless, the increase inpsychological distress was significantly lower in the peer coaching group. The most common topics coveredin coaching sessions were relationships, health and career issues and 67 per cent of the sample found theintervention to be at least moderately effective. Conclusions: Findings highlight the potential value of peer coaching in helping students manage their well-being during a potentially stressful period. Follow-up research is ongoing to examine ways of extending thistechnique in university settings.

Keywords: peer coaching, well-being, students, stress, interpersonal problems.

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some evidence that gains might be main-tained over time (Green, Oades & Grant,2006).

Coaching in educationPeer-coaching has been described as a rela-tionship between teachers based on sharingexperiences, practices and planning, withlearning taking place through observationand skills transfer (Joyce & Showers, 1996;Zwart et al., 2007). This technique has beenused as a means of facilitating the imple-mentation of new practices and approacheswithin teaching. The use of peer coaching toenhance the professional development ofteachers is strongly endorsed by the UKDepartment of Education (DfEE, 2001). Inthe US, large corporations such as Microsoft,sponsor programmes to promote the posi-tive benefits of peer-coaching interactionbetween teachers.

The model of peer coaching utilised inteaching typically entails groups of two tothree teachers coming together to offer sup-port, feedback and encouragement. Strate-gies employed include modelling fromobserved demonstration and skills transferby assistance. Direct verbal feedback isavoided, however, as it may be perceived bycolleagues as evaluative and, therefore, detri-mental to the coaching process (Joyce &Showers, 1996). Within these peer-coachingprogrammes, the coach is seen as the personwho teaches and the coachee as the personwho learns through observation (Joyce &Showers, 1996). It could be argued that thisapproach has more in common with men-toring than coaching, as the teacher withexperience offers guidance to a protégé tohelp them gain knowledge and skills(Greene & Grant, 2003). Coaching differsfrom mentoring as it is based on a collabora-tive relationship that aims to facilitate thedevelopment and enhancement of skills andperformance through feedback, reflectionand self-directed learning (Greene & Grant,2003; Green, Grant & Rynsaardt, 2007).

Life coaching in educationLife coaching is a systematic, structured andgoal-focused approach to helping individ-uals to construct individual solutions tomake positive changes in their lives (Green,Oades & Grant, 2006; Spence & Grant,2007). In contrast to standard educationaltutoring, mentoring and coaching, whichseeks to enhance and develop academic per-formance, the cognitive-behavioural, solu-tion-focused model of life coaching canpromote motivation, goal striving and attain-ment, and enhance personal growth in aneducational setting (Grant, 2003; Green,Oades & Grant, 2006; Spence & Grant, 2007;Grant, 2008; Green, Grant & Rynsaardt,2007; Spence & Grant, 2007). The coachingprocess can also exert a strong influence onpsychological well-being; studies have foundthat life coaching can also help studentsmanage anxiety and stress and, accordingly,enhance resilience and perceived quality oflife (Grant, 2003; Campbell & Gardner,2005; Spence & Grant, 2007).

Whilst life coaching is normally con-ducted in one-to-one sessions by trained pro-fessional coaches (Spence & Grant, 2007), itis argued that the use of peer coaching hasthe potential to enhance the skills and per-sonal development of students. It has alsobeen proposed that there can be benefits forthe peer coach as well as the recipient ofcoaching, in terms of enhanced socio-emo-tional development and improved interper-sonal skills such as active listening,questioning and probing (Ladyshewsky,2006; Laske, 2006). Although studies haveassessed the impact of life coaching in thiscontext, as yet, little systematic research hasbeen conducted that examines the impact ofpeer coaching techniques in students. Thestudies that have been conducted tend toyield contradictory findings. Sue-Chan andLatham (2004) and Spence and Grant(2007) reported that an external coach wasperceived to be more credible and effectivethan a peer-coach, whereas other researchhas yielded more positive findings.Ladyshewsky (2006) observed that student

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peer coaches have greater credibility thanacademic or support staff. Peer coaching byand for students has been found to promoteself esteem, motivation and personal growthand enhance achievement (Hudson, 1999Ladyshewsky, 2006; Zwart et al., 2007).Despite there being strong evidence that stu-dents can experience high levels of stress,especially during assessment periods, theimpact of peer coaching on psychologicalwell-being has been little examined in uni-versity environments. It is argued that thistechnique has the potential to enhance well-being in this context.

Student stress There is evidence that university students aresubjected to considerable stress and that thishas increased in recent years (Benton et al.,2003; Gall, Evans & Bellerose, 2000) Themost common stressors reported by studentsinclude relationship conflicts, academicpressure, health, financial difficulties, rela-tionships with family, friends and peers andlife transition problems (Green et al., 2007;Roussis & Wells, 2008). The final year of uni-versity study is thought to be particularlystressful owing to anxiety about examina-tions, dissertation preparation and plans forthe future (Abouserie, 1994; Deary et al.,2003; Devonport & Lane, 2006).

It is important for universities to help stu-dents manage the stress they experience, asthis is likely to lead to impaired academic per-formance as well as exert a negative impact onwell-being (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003;Struthers, Perry & Menec, 2000). As high-lighted above, final-year students may be par-ticularly vulnerable. It is argued thatinterventions that help students develop theirmulti-tasking solutions and enhance theirtime management skills are likely to providean additional benefit of providing life-longstress management skills (Hudd et al., 2000).

Aims of studyBased on the research reviewed above, it isproposed that cognitive behavioural, solu-tion focused peer coaching has the potential

to help students manage stress and enhancetheir well-being. This study, therefore, exam-ines the effectiveness of a peer coachingintervention on levels of psychological dis-tress and inter-personal problems in studentsduring the run-up to a final year examina-tion period. As it has been recommendedthat future research on the effectiveness ofpeer coaching in university settings shouldutilise students from the same cohort (Greenet al., 2007), a group of final year psychologystudents from the University of Bedfordshirewas studied.

The study contextPsychology students at the University of Bed-fordshire have the option to study coachingpsychology during the final year of theirundergraduate degree. The module is rigor-ously evidence-based and incorporates aca-demic and practical components. It aims toprovide students with an understanding ofthe skills of peer coaching, the psychologicalprinciples that underlie them and the oppor-tunity to develop and practice these skills.Students are required to engage in a super-vised peer coaching practice with two peers.As the use of a model has been shown to bebeneficial to the structure of coaching inter-ventions (Greene & Grant, 2003), theTGROW model is utilised (Downey, 2003).This is an extension of the GROW modelproposed by Whitmore (1996). The addi-tional ‘T’ stands for Topic or Theme, andrefers to the broad area that the coacheewants to work on.

Previous research that has evaluated theimpact of peer coaching has typicallyexposed participants to intensive training incoaching techniques through, for example,one-day workshops (Grant, 2003; Green et al,2006; Grant, 2008). There is evidence thatexposing learners to information over anextended period of time and allowing themto gradually accumulate and practice skills islikely to deepen learning and increase insight(Grant, 2007). The present study, therefore,extends previous research by providingcoaching training over a 12-week period.

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MethodDesignThis study utilised a longitudinal design,with two assessment points pre- and post-coaching separated by six weeks

ParticipantsTwo groups of third-year undergraduate psy-chology students participated in this study.The coaching group (N=32) comprised 24females and eight males with a mean age of25.23 (SD=8.07). This group was registeredon a module on coaching psychology andattended a one hour lecture and one hourtutorial each week. There were 33 partici-pants in the control group which comprised30 females and three males with a mean ageof 24.77 (SD=5.57). Like the study group, thecontrol group were final year psychology stu-dents, but were not studying coaching psy-chology or engaged in peer coaching. Theparticipants for the coaching group and thecontrol group were approached separatelyduring classes. The request to participate wasmade at the beginning of a lecture by aresearcher who was independent of theteaching team.

MeasuresDemographic informationAge, gender, marital status, dependents,accommodation, education, employmentand ethnicity were assessed.

Psychological distress This was assessed by the 12-item GeneralHealth Questionnaire (GHQ-12; Goldberg &Williams, 1988). This questionnaire is widelyused as a measure of general distress. Itemsare rated on a fully anchored four-pointscale. An example of an item is: ‘Have yourecently felt constantly under strain?’, whereresponses range from ‘not at all’ to ‘muchmore than usual’. Mean scores were takenacross items, with high scores representingpoorer well-being

Interpersonal problemsThe IIP-32 (Barkham, Hardy & Startup,

1996) is a reliable and valid short form of theoriginal Inventory of Interpersonal Prob-lems developed by Horowitz et al. (1988).The IIP-32 consists of 32 items. Nineteen ofthe items are based on behaviour partici-pants find difficult ‘It is hard for me to…’(e.g. ‘to disagree with other people’, ‘to besupportive of another person’s goals in life’)and 13 of the items are based on behaviourthat participants do ‘too much’ (e.g. ‘I fightwith other people’, ‘I open up to people’).Each item is rated on five-point scale rangingfrom ‘not at all’ (0) to ‘extremely’ (4). Meanscores were calculated across items, withhigh scores indicating general interpersonalproblems (Horowitz et al., 1988).

Topics addressed in coaching interventionA single item investigated the type of prob-lems that students discussed during thecoaching intervention. Participants wereasked to indicate areas from a specified list(e.g. ‘Relationships’, ‘Health’ and ‘Career’).Participants were also given the option notto disclose this information.

Level of satisfaction with coaching intervention This was examined by a single item thatassessed satisfaction with the peer coachingintervention on a five-point Likert scaleranging from 1 ‘not effective’ to 5 ‘extremelyeffective’.

ProcedureParticipants in the control group wereapproached at university and asked to partic-ipate as control in a peer-coaching study.The control group comprised final yearundergraduate psychology students who hadnot taken part in the peer-coaching inter-vention. Participants in the study group wereintroduced to the key principles and modelsof coaching, including the TGROW model(Downey, 2003) utilised in the study, duringlectures on the coaching psychologymodule. As described above, coaching skillswere practised and in seminars.

At Time 1 (pre-coaching intervention)measures of psychological distress and inter-

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personal problems were taken from both thestudy group and the control group. Thestudy group subsequently conducted andreceived five sessions of peer-coaching oversix weeks, prior to an examination period.

At Time 2 (post-coaching intervention)measures of psychological distress and inter-personal problems were once again takenfrom both groups. In addition, measures ofperceived effectiveness of the peer-coachingintervention and types of problems addressedin peer coaching were obtained from thestudy group. Time 2 measures were taken twoweeks before the final exam period.

EthicsThe research received full ethical clearancefrom the Departmental Ethics Committee.Peer coaches were instructed to work withintheir competencies and to be mindful of themental health of their coachees. Studentswere not obliged to participate in theresearch project. Codes were used to matchdata from Time 1 and Time 2 meaning thatindividual respondents were not identifiableto the researchers.

ResultsCoaching topics and perceived success ofcoaching interventionThe most common topics covered incoaching sessions were relationships (36 percent of participants), health (24 per cent)and career issues (44 per cent). Participantswere asked to indicate the extent to which

they believed the coaching intervention hadbeen effective. As can be seen from Figure 1,72 per cent found it to be ‘quite effective’ or‘moderately effective’. No respondents indi-cated that the intervention had been ‘veryeffective’ or ‘not at all effective’.

Impact of coaching intervention The means and standard deviations for thestudy variables at Time 1 (pre-coachingintervention) are shown in Table 1. Inde-pendent samples t-tests found no significantdifferences between the study and controlgroups on levels of psychological distress(p=.21) or interpersonal problems (p=.32).

In order to examine whether any signifi-cant change in any outcome variableoccurred between Times 1 and 2, repeatedmeasures t-tests were conducted. Table 2 pro-vides details for the study group and the con-trol group. As can be seen, for the studygroup no statistically significant differenceswere found between the two time points.However, the reduction in mean levels ofself-reported personal problems at Time 2approached significance at .06.

For the control group, mean levels ofpersonal problems and psychological dis-tress (indicated by the GHQ-12 scores) werehigher at Time 2 than Time 1. The differ-ence in levels of psychological distress wasfound to be statistically significant (t=–3.76,p=.002). Figure 2 shows the changes in theGHQ-12 scores for the study and controlgroups at times 1 and 2.

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Table 1: Mean scores for study variables at Time 1.

Study Group Control GroupMean scores (SD) Mean scores (SD)

IIP-32 75.37 (22.85) 68.29 (18.67)GHQ-12 15.71 (8.01) 14.82 (8.73)

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Table 2: Mean scores and SD for study variables at Times 1 and 2.

Figure 1: Perceived effectiveness of peer coaching Intervention.

Figure 2: GHQ scores for Study and Control Groups at Times 1 and 2.

Study Group Control GroupMean scores (SD) T value/significance Mean scores (SD) T value/significance

GHQ-12Time 1 15.71 (8.01) 14.82 (8.73)Time 2 16.08 (9.06) -0.59/ns 19. 89 (5.86) -3.76/p=0.002

IIP-32Time 1 75.37 (22.85) 68.29 (18.67)Time 2 68.77 (18.32) 2.00/p=0.058 71.65 (5.86) -1.01/ns

50

40

30

20

10

0

Per

cent

Effectiveness evaluationQuite Moderate A little

48

2428

Time 1 Time 2

30

25

20

15

10

GH

Q-1

2 sc

ores

Study groupControl group

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DiscussionThe findings of this study provide evidencethat a short programme of peer coachingmay be beneficial for students at a stressfultime in their lives. The peer coaching pro-gramme may have offered some protectionfrom an increase in psychological distressduring a stressful period. Some tentative evi-dence is also provided that peer coachingmay protect students from enhanced inter-personal personal problems during this time.

Mean scores for GHQ-12 for both groupswere high in comparison with publishednorms from occupational groups and com-munity samples (Mullarkey et al., 1999). Thisfinding, together with other studies thathighlight high levels of stress in final yearstudents (e.g. Deary et al., 2003) clearly indi-cates that interventions are required to helpthem manage their psychological well-beingmore effectively. Although levels of psycho-logical distress did not reduce after the peercoaching intervention, neither did theyincrease like those of the control group.

Coaching topics covered during sessionstended to correspond with those highlightedin previous studies as the main sources ofstress in students (Roussis & Wells, 2008).Relationships, health and career issuesappear to be the most salient sources ofstress for final year students. Nonethelessfuture research might examine the type ofproblems presented during peer coachingsessions using a more free format as theremay have been topics that were not includedin the categories provided.

Previous research findings have sug-gested that coaching by peers may be seen asless effective than coaching by professionals(Sue-Chan & Latham, 2004; Spence & Grant,(2007).) The present study, however, pro-vides strong evidence that peer coachingtechniques can be successful in universitysettings. For the majority of participants (67per cent), peer coaching was found to be atleast moderately effective. This highlightsthe potential utility of peer coaching inter-ventions for helping students formulategoals and manage stress. Findings have the

potential to enhance support structures tofoster resilience in student populations. Peercoaching might, therefore, be a practical,fruitful and low cost method by which stu-dent mental health might be managedduring stressful periods.

Limitations of this studyAlthough it has added to the evidence basefor the effectiveness of solution-focused peercoaching techniques in an educational con-text, the study had a number of limitationsthat should be taken into consideration.Firstly, the sample size is relatively small anda cohort from one year group . It is possible,therefore, that the results may not be gener-alised to the larger university population. Inaddition, self-report data was utilised, whichmay be subject to demand characteristics,such as social desirability bias; students maywish to represent their experience as posi-tive, as a way of demonstrating engagementwith the coaching process. Moreover, self-report of the benefits attributed to peercoaching may have tempered the validity ofthe results, as the data reflects a subjectiveestimate of the competence of the peercoach rather than an objective measure ofthe benefits provided. It is clear, however,that individual perceptions of the effective-ness of the process and individual well-beingare fundamentally important in studies ofthis type.

ConclusionThis exploratory study has presentedoriginal data demonstrating some benefits ofpeer coaching within the higher educationcontext. There are several areas wherefuture research may be fruitful. Althoughpeer coaching has been generally found tobe effective, insight into the type of prob-lems that are most receptive to peercoaching techniques is needed. Furtherwork is also required to examine the benefitsof peer coaching to student well-being andacademic performance, together with theextent to which any benefits are maintainedover time. It has been suggested that peer

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coaching has benefits for the coach as well asthe coachee (Ladyshewsky, 2006). Thepresent study did not assess this issue, butthe nature of these benefits to well-being andpersonal development should be furtherexplored in a university environment.

Finally, although this study has examinedthe coachee’s perception of coaching effec-tiveness, it would be useful to assess thecoach’s perception of the coachee’s readi-ness and suitability to engage in peercoaching.

AcknowledgementsWe would like to acknowledge the assistanceof Guiseppe Turi, Dominika Dainoki, ViragDarida and Jennifer Vincent in collectingthe data for this study.

The authorsEmma Short, Gail Kinman & Sarah BakerUniversity of Bedfordshire.

CorrespondenceEmma ShortPsychology Department,University of Bedfordshire, Park Square,Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1 3JU,United Kingdom.Mobile: 0788 1521350E-mail: [email protected]

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OACHING, as a process, has existed indifferent guises for centuries. In abusiness setting coaching is generally

seen as a means of developing people, toenable more effective performance and fulfil-ment of potential (Zeus & Skiffington, 2006).Developmental coaching describes coachingthat addresses the whole person. Being holisticin nature it can include home and work life,plus more personal professional issues (Grant& Cavanagh, 2004), such as relationships andcareer issues. It is essentially non-directive, asthe coach assumes the role of the facilitator,primarily listening and asking questions andacting as a ‘thought partner’. This is also thetype of coaching preferred by most coachees(Bacon, 2003). The reported study considers

developmental coaching within the workplaceand begins with a literature review, looking atworkplace coaching and current trends, evalu-ating the Return on Investment (RoI) ofcoaching and the concept of self-efficacy andpossible coaching links.

Coaching within the workplaceCoaching is a large and expanding area, witha great deal of exposure within Learning andDevelopment in a business setting (CIPD,2006). Media coverage of coaching hastended to project a highly positive image andresearch suggests that the positive image ofcoaching presented in the media is sup-ported by the experiences of the peopleinvolved (Hall et al., 1999).

36 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

Developmental coaching: Business benefit– fact or fad? An evaluative study toexplore the impact of coaching in theworkplace.Elouise Leonard-Cross

Objectives: To contribute to research on the return on investment and business benefit of workplacecoaching by using a quasi-experimental design. Specifically, to investigate the impact that in-house coaches,using developmental coaching approaches, had on levels of coachee self-efficacy.Design: The study used action research (Lewin, 1946) and a quasi-experimental method to investigate theimpact and process of developmental coaching, evaluating coaching which took place over a two-yearperiod. A large sample and multiple data collection methods were utilised to ensure research was a validreflection of the current status and perception of coaching within the organisation in the reported study. Methodology: Thematic analysis of qualitative research informed the content of coach and coacheequestionnaires, supported by a holistic literature review. Coachees and the comparative group of non-coachedstaff completed questionnaires assessing their general levels of self-efficacy and personal experiences ofdevelopment. Coaches completed a self-perception questionnaire to capture their personal views on the experienceand if any changes had been observed in the coachee which could relate to the construct of self-efficacy. Results: Participants that had received developmental coaching (N=61) had higher levels of self-efficacythan the control group of participants (N=57) who had not received coaching. Conclusions: This research aimed to explore whether developmental coaching does actually deliver businessbenefits and results suggest that coaching can impact positively upon an individual’s level of self-efficacy.

Keywords: coaching, developmental coaching, self-efficacy, coaching return on investment (ROI), coachingculture, managers as coaches.

C

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Perceptions of coaching differ widely.With increased coverage it has become amore accessible development option whichcan help to shorten the learning curve andadaptation to new environment or role.Depending upon how coaching is usedwithin an organisation it can impact upon arange of aspects of working life. The benefitsidentified include teamwork, quality, com-munications, job-satisfaction, flexibility, per-formance, ownership, succession planningand career planning (Williams & Offley,2005). To develop and nurture talent of thefuture organisations must seek out staff thatcan grow and develop into roles, developingnot just technical skill and job experiencebut also interpersonal skills. Coaching is oneof the most powerful methods of developingthese ‘soft’ skills (Bloch, 1996), however, aswith any development intervention, it doesnot necessarily work successfully for all indi-viduals and in all situations.

A recent change to coaching within theworkplace has included the shift towardsusing internal coaches, as opposed toemploying coaches external to the organisa-tion (CIPD, 2006). Interest in line managerswho can coach is growing. In a review ofrecent coaching research Lucas (2007)found 73 per cent of HR professionals sur-veyed anticipate an increase in the use of linemanagers as coaches over the next few yearsand 64 per cent consider there will be adecrease in coaching by external practi-tioners. This suggests organisations are notonly looking to use coaching purely as a toolbut also to develop, on a larger scale, by pur-suing a ‘coaching culture’ which can beembedded into the organisation. This isechoed by research completed by CIPD(2006), whereby 75 per cent of organisationssurveyed admitted they were committingtime and effort in attempting to implement acoaching culture. This pursuit of a coachingculture can have benefits; with widespreadquality, coaching an organisation can learnnew things more quickly and adapt to changemore effectively, which is particularly desir-able in the current economic climate.

Implementing coaching within an organi-sation necessitates time, effort and a clearframework for stakeholders, coaches andcoachees to function within. It is essential thatcoaching has top management commitmentwith a clear strategy that supports otherorganisational strategies (Hipkiss, 2006).Time factor was found to be one of thebiggest barriers to an effective coachingprocess (Sutherland, 2005), tending to beabandoned in the face of more urgent, if lessimportant, demands on the manager’s time.To be successful coaching requires full inte-gration and using internal coaches necessi-tates considered decisions on how best toselect individuals who are capable to under-take what is required (Johnson, 2004). Havinginternal coaches allows the dual developmentbenefit of up-skilling managers and offeringcoaching to staff members. The genericnature of many coaching skills also allowsmanagers to improve their leadership skills(Wilson, 2005), which has the capacity to addstrategic value; the potential of which hasrarely been evaluated and remains largelyuntapped (Rider, 2002). In a study comparingmanagers’ successes on project work, fol-lowing either coach training or conventionalapproaches, there was a 22.4 per cent increasein productivity after management trainingbut 88 per cent after coach training (Oliveroet al., 1997). Considering this, it is clear thatby taking the view that coaching is a purelyindividual development option organisationscan fail to capitalise on the full benefit that isattainable through coaching (Rider, 2002)which can include not only benefits fromcoaching delivery but also the skills and per-formance development that can come fromfunctioning within a coaching framework andoperating coach and coachee development.

Investment must be made in coachtraining to ensure they are credible andeffective, with time and focus to raise self-belief, awareness and responsibility (Brown& Wilkes, 2004). The standard of the coachdevelopment is an important consideration,particularly for organisations pursuing acoaching culture, as a good quality internal

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coach can be instrumental in spreading thepositive message of coaching throughout anorganisation (King & Eaton, 1999). TheEuropean Mentoring and Coaching Council(EMCC) identify standards in coach devel-opment, for coaches working within a spe-cific context that is known to them(workplace) a foundation level trainingshould typically involve five days training(Parsloe, 2006). Within the host organisa-tion, which was the basis for the reportedstudy, the coach training was at two levels(first line management and middle/seniormanagement), externally accredited andinvolved facilitated teaching, reflection andsupervised practice.

Evaluating coachingLiterature and business media suggestcoaching is highly prevalent, however, a keycriticism levied at coaching is for the lack ofevaluation that takes place. Although estab-lishing the effectiveness of coaching isimportant, coaching programmes, if evalu-ated at all, are often only reviewed at thereactionary level of the coachees (Fairhurst,2007). Therefore, successful strategies andapproaches are less likely to be identifiedmaking it difficult to learn from and modelsuccess stories (Kearns, 2006). It is ques-tioned whether coaching offers a valuablereturn on investment (RoI) for organisationsand studies have identified different figuresfor this. The RoI identified through evalua-tive studies has ranged from 200 per cent netover one year (Kearns, 2006) to 5.7 times theoriginal organisation investment (McGovernet al., 2001).

Key issues in evaluating coaching centrearound separating tangible benefits, forexample, performance, improved incomegeneration and intangible benefits, forexample, interpersonal skills and workplacedynamics. Intangible elements, despitebeing less easy to assess than tangible ele-ments, are crucial when measuring theimpact coaching has on the bottom line(Fillery-Travis & Lane, 2006). A range ofintangible benefits identified by Sutherland

(2005) included career progression for overa quarter of coachees, 50 per cent imple-mented service improvement projects, 57per cent job enrichment and 43 per centundertaking or registering for further study.Increased levels of self-esteem, problemsolving skills and greater insight were alsoreported. Parker-Wilkins’ (2006) studyfound coaching produced intangible andmonetary benefits for seven out of eightbusiness impact areas and RoI of 689 percent. Smither et al. (2003) found managerswho worked with a coach were more likely toset specific goals and solicit ideas forimprovement from their supervisors and rat-ings from their direct line reports were alsomore improved.

To successfully evaluate a coaching pro-gramme, sources, in addition to the coachee,should be included. The perspective of thecoach can add valuable insights into aspectsof the coaching relationship and individualoutcomes. Fairhurst (2007) argues four mainsources should be considered when evalu-ating – coaches, coachees, organisationalperspective and documents. In addition, it isproposed evaluation should include attitudequestionnaires with rating scales, allowingfor both negative and positive perceptionsand face-to-face interviews which allow formore in-depth exploration.

Self-efficacy links to coachingConsidering the less tangible business bene-fits of coaching requires firstly looking at thebenefits for the individuals that have partici-pated in developmental coaching. Key bene-fits for coachees often include increasedconfidence and more effective problemsolving techniques, with change becomingeasier because the skills needed to make ithappen are more readily acquired (Redshaw,2000). An individual's estimate, or personaljudgment, of their own ability to succeed inreaching a specific goal is referred to as ‘self-efficacy’ (Bandura, 1997) and this appears toecho coaching outcomes for many individ-uals. Self efficacy has been seen to be inte-gral in an individual’s perception of

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reaching improved performance (Gist &Mitchell, 1992) and increases the likelihoodof achieving success. It has been suggestedthat self-belief may play a role in cognitiveengagement and that enhancing this maylead to increased use of cognitive strategiesthat, in turn, may lead to improved perform-ance (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). An indi-vidual requires relevant skills to accomplishtasks but self-perceptions of capability helpdetermine what individuals do with theknowledge and skills they have (Bandura,1986). Self-efficacy beliefs influence thechoices made and courses of action pursued;most engage in tasks they feel competentand confident in and avoid those which theydo not. Levels of self-efficacy help to deter-mine how much effort an individual willexpend on an activity, how long they will per-severe when confronted by obstacles andhow resilient they will be in the face ofadverse situations.

Pajares (1997) completed a review onself-efficacy research and found efficacybeliefs impact upon the amount of stress andanxiety individuals experience. Lower levelsof self-efficacy result in higher levels of anx-iety, as the individual believes things aretougher than they actually are, which fostersstress and depression. Coaching has twocomponents; skill development and psycho-logical development. The intent of the psy-chological component is to develop thecoachee’s self-efficacy (Popper & Lipshitz,1992). A key differential is between self-effi-cacy and the concept of self-esteem. Self-effi-cacy is a pre-requisite for successfulperformance, while self-esteem tends to beenhanced following that success (Cockerillet al., 1996).

Although self-efficacy is a key psycholog-ical concept, and scholars have increasinglyemphasised the importance of a person'scognitive estimate of their capability to per-form a given task, there are few studies of theconstruct within business literature (Luthans& Peterson, 2002). Verbal coaching andinformation that a person receives abouttheir performance, skills and any future

expectations of them all influence self-effi-cacy (Bandura, 2004), by persuading theindividual (explicitly and implicitly) that agiven performance level, goal or aim isattainable. An individual with high self-effi-cacy works harder and longer than an indi-vidual with low self-efficacy (Wood &Bandura, 1989) thus the construct has ahuge impact on individual performance andorganisational development. Self-efficacymay be a key variable that is altered by theprocess of coaching and, as this has beenseen to be such a central psychological con-struct in high achieving individuals, mayaccount, in part, for the success of develop-mental coaching.

AimThe reported study aims to contribute toresearch on the RoI and business benefit ofworkplace coaching by investigating theimpact of developmental coaching on levelsof self efficacy, using a quasi-experimentaldesign.

Hypothesis1. Participants that have received

developmental coaching will havesignificantly higher levels of self-efficacythan participants that have not, based ona multiple choice self-efficacy measure.

Rationale for methodologyAlthough there is often a positive regard forcoaching within business settings, many donot fully understand the concept ofcoaching, considering it to be a remedialaction for those with specific performancegaps, therefore, the need exists to develop amore coherent and well understood percep-tion of the nature and benefits of businesscoaching (Clegg et al., 2005). This supportsthe need for exploratory field research,using valid methods to investigate what isactually going on in practice and the realimpacts on all involved. In an attempt toidentify specific ‘intangible’ benefits fromcoaching the reported study has focusedaround changes in behaviour and percep-

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tions of the coach and coachee that havedirect business benefit, plus individual ben-efit. Comparing a coached group with a‘control’ group can be a very effectiveapproach (Carter, 2006); therefore, thisdesign was employed in the coachee ques-tionnaire phase of research. The successfulmastery and vicarious experiences of a coachmay mean that the process of coachingcould also improve the coaches’ levels of self-efficacy. This has not received extensive con-sideration within coaching researchliterature, so was built into the reportedstudy to explore the possibility of the coachdeveloping in this way.

The reported study contributes to thisgrowing area of coaching by using an internalcoaching programme, which trains manage-ment volunteers as coaches who then under-take a practical coaching role within a largeorganisation. The reported study includescoaches, coachees and stakeholders repre-senting the organisations perspective, plusaccess to organisational documentation sup-porting the process. Coaching within thehost organisation had taken place over a twoyear period which enabled the evaluation toencapsulate coaches and coachees at dif-ferent levels of the process, from a more reac-tionary initial ‘feel good’ factor to thoseseeing behavioural and business impacts andbenefits.

MethodologyThe overall design of the study was based onaction research, deemed suitable due to thenature of coaching and the insufficientvolume of experimental and field research.Action research, in the context of thereported study, is the process of researchthat uses knowledge gained as a basis forreflection for the researcher, the outcome ofwhich is used to inform and direct the sub-sequent action taken.

A quasi-experimental post-test design wasused for the study (Breakwell et al., 2000) asthe focus groups, interviews and question-naires were carried out following thecoaching intervention. To ensure validity a

host organisation was identified to enablefield research to be completed. Figure 1 out-lines the key stages in research. The researchtook place within a large public sector organ-isation, employing in excess of 3000 staffover 12 geographical locations. The organi-sation had implemented accredited coachtraining from July 2005, offering those inmanagement level posts the opportunity toundertake a coaching qualification. Thetime frame and extensive coach training thathad taken place within the organisationenabled access to a large sample.

Focus groups and interviewsThis stage of research was qualitative, withseparate focus groups held with coachedstaff and coaches. One-to-one interviewstook place with coachees and stakeholders. A range of open questions were used to facil-itate discussion around key areas. A vastamount of data was gathered and interro-gated for key themes, which were the basis ofquestionnaire design.

QuestionnairesThe staff questionnaire was quasi-experi-mental; participants were either in acoached or non-coached group, however,this was based on development over the pre-vious two years and the researcher had nocontrol over group allocation. As this phaseof the research was comparative an inde-pendent groups design was employed. Thepredictor (or independent) variable in thestaff questionnaire phase was membership ofthe coached or non-coached staff group.The predicted (or dependent) variable wasthe scorings given to the self-efficacy and selfrating questions. Equal numbers of ques-tionnaires were sent to coached staff andrandomly selected non-coached staff (with areturn rate of 82 per cent and 77 per centrespectively).

The coach questionnaire was non-com-parative and used to evaluate the pro-gramme and gain coach opinion on theimpact of developmental coaching upontheir coachee. Questionnaires were sent to

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all staff who had undertaken a coaching rolewithin the last two years (with a 70 per centreturn rate).

Questionnaires were sent to all 74 staffwithin the organisation who had receiveddevelopmental coaching during the previoustwo years (a greater number of staff in totalhad received developmental coaching buthad left the organisation). The same ques-tionnaire was sent to an equal number ofstaff who had not received developmentalcoaching, these staff were matched to thecoached staff based on geographical locationand job type and were randomly selected bycontacts in each geographical location whohad no additional knowledge on theresearch. Coach questionnaires were sent toall 75 staff who had undertaken coach

training and practical coaching deliveryduring the previous two years. All held man-agerial level posts.

Coached and non-coached staff question-naires were developed based on thematicanalysis of the coachee focus groups andinterviews. As data from the focus group sug-gested possible increases of general self-effi-cacy in a number of coached staff a reliableand valid self-efficacy measure was includedto assess general levels of self-efficacy. TheGeneral Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)(Schwarzer and Jerusalem, 1995) tool wasselected due to its simple questions andaccessible language, good reliability and cri-terion related validity. In samples from 23nations, Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .76to .90, with the majority in the high .80s. For

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Figure 1: Overview of stages of research.

Two coachee andtwo coach

focus groups

Interviews withcoachees andstakeholders

Thematic analysis of qualitative data andliterature review used to design staff and

coach questionnaire

Staff questionnaires sent to a random sample of coached and

non-coached staff

Coach questionnaires sent to allcoaches within the organisation

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consistency GSES four-option rating scalewas utilised for all subsequent questions.

Based on themes extracted from focusgroup data and literature, questions on per-sonal state, views on the future and under-standing of the concept of coaching werealso included. Two anxiety state questions,related to job changes and the future wereincluded based on research that suggestedanxiety is negatively correlated to higherlevels of self-efficacy. In addition generalquestions on access to development optionswere included to evaluate staff opinion.Three of the questions were designed in adifferent direction to the others thereforerequired reversing at the analysis stage.Eleven evaluative questions on the coachee’sexperience of coaching were included as aseparate section at the end of the question-naire, only staff who had received develop-mental coaching during the previous twoyears were directed to complete these.

The coach questionnaire was devisedbased on coach focus groups and coacheefocus groups and interviews. Questions wereincluded on the coaches perceptions of thecoachees levels of self-efficacy, specificallywhether the coach perceived that coachinghad increased these. These were similar innature to the content of the GSES but werere-worded to fit with the coaches’ perspective.For consistency the same rating scale used inthe staff questionnaire was used throughoutthe coach questionnaire. Three questionswere included to establish whether being acoach had any impact upon the coach’s per-sonal perceived level of self-efficacy.

ParticipantsAll participants were employed by the hostorganisation and worked within an Adminis-tration and Clerical function. All coachedstaff that participated had experienceddevelopmental coaching during the previoustwo years. All coaches that participated hadundertaken coach training within the pre-vious two years. Two focus groups were heldwith coached staff, eight individuals partici-pated in total. Two focus groups were held

with coaches, nine individuals participatedin total. Smaller focus groups were utilised asthey are often seen to be more appropriatefor complex topics (Kruger & Casey, 2000).

Analyses and findings

Qualitative dataTranscripts from focus groups and interviewswere analysed for key trends and concepts.This included coding to themes of self-effi-cacy, understanding of coaching, benefits ofcoaching, issues with coaching and careerperceptions. These were used as the basis forthe design of the questionnaire. This dataoffered insight into the real life experiencesof receiving developmental coaching and forcoaches the impact of coach training andundertaking a coaching role.

Staff questionnaireThe self-efficacy measure included in thequestionnaire was the key element ofresearch investigating whether participantsthat had received developmental coachingwould have significantly higher levels of self-efficacy than those who had not, based on amultiple choice self-efficacy measure. Initialanalyses of the data indicated the suitabilityof parametric testing so an independentsamples t-test was conducted to compare thecombined self-efficacy scores on the GSESfor coached and non-coached participants.Scores for coached staff (M=3.29, SD=.26)were significantly higher than those of non-coached staff (M=2.89, SD=.30), t(116)=7.70,p<.001. The magnitude of the differences ofthe means was large (eta squared=.34), sug-gesting 34 per cent of variance in self-efficacywas explained by whether coaching wasreceived.

Two anxiety measure questions wereincorporated into the questionnaire, basedon literature that suggested higher levels ofself-efficacy were linked to lower levels ofanxiety. The combined anxiety scores forcoached (M=2.32, SD=.76) and non-coachedstaff (M=2.13, SD=.81) were not found todiffer significantly, t(116)=1.30, p=.197. To

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support the concept of higher levels of self-efficacy increasing how optimistic an indi-vidual feels about the future, two questionswere included relating to this. Coached staff(M=3.04, SD=.57) were significantly happierwith their career progression and directionthen non-coached staff (M=2.61, SD=.56),t(116)=4.16, p<.001. Staff who had receivedcoaching (M=3.07, SD=.75) rated their satis-faction at work significantly higher thanthose who had not received coaching(M=2.63, SD=.65), t(116)=3.36, p=.001 andcoached staff (M=3.69, SD=.53) also feltmore aware of their strengths and weak-nesses than non-coached staff (M=3.30,SD=.46), t(116)=4.24, p<.001.

Figure 2 details the breakdown of ratingsfor each of the coaching experience evalua-tion questions in percentages. Data reflects agenerally beneficial experience of coaching.

Coach QuestionnaireThe coach questionnaire was issued to indi-viduals who had undertaken a coaching roleduring the previous two years and had nocomparative group. The data was interro-gated by gaining frequencies for each of theconstructs.

The perceptions of coaches supportedthe findings in the coachee questionnaire –that as a result of coaching levels of self-effi-cacy had increased. From the data 92 percent of coaches in the sample felt it was mod-erately or exactly true that their coachee wasnow more able to deal efficiently with unex-pected events, 88 per cent believed coacheeshad skills to address unforeseen situations,94.1 per cent believed their coachee wasmore able to deal with difficulties and 94.2per cent felt coachees were more able to gen-erate solutions to problems – all as a result ofreceiving coaching. All coaches in thesample felt it was either moderately orexactly true that their coachee was clearer oftheir goals and aims due to being coached.

Acting as a coach also appears to haveimpacted on the coaches’ perceptions of theirlevels of general self-efficacy with 98.1 percent of the sample feeling it was moderately

or exactly true that acting as a coach gavethem skills that would help them to deal withissues in the future. Additionally 86.6 per centof the sample felt that it had made themclearer on personal goals and 94.2 per centmore able to generate solutions to problems.

Discussion and conclusionsThe linking of the construct of self-efficacyas an intangible product of developmentalworkplace coaching opens up an interestingresearch avenue, such intangible benefits areoften very difficult to define and quantify(Fillery-Travis & Lane, 2006). This studyfound that levels of general self-efficacy weresignificantly higher in the sample of coachedstaff than the sample of non-coached staff. Inaddition to the GSES showing higher levelsof self efficacy, comments from coachees infocus groups and on questionnaires sup-ported this general feeling ‘…through thecoaching I have received I have learned toturn threats or barriers into opportunities’and ‘I can now go into different places that Ido not know and feel ok about myself andthat I can deal with whatever comes with it.’Coaches were asked about coachees levels ofself-efficacy by rating five questions based onthe GSES questions in the staff question-naire, this was to get a more reflective pic-ture from both perspectives of the process.This data supported the coachee percep-tions of higher self-efficacy with coaches per-ceiving areas around dealing withunexpected events, difficulties and unfore-seen situations, clarity on personal goals andgenerating solutions to problems asincreased due to being coached.

Increased levels of self-efficacy result infurther benefits for the organisation andindividual. These incude communications,job-satisfaction, quality, flexibility, perform-ance, ownership, succession planning andcareer planning (Williams & Offley, 2005).The questionnaire asked participants to rategeneral benefits (skills, confidence, self-understanding and career direction) fromthe coaching process and these were basedon examples identified during focus groups.

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Figure 2: Coachees evaluation of the impact of participating in developmental coaching(N=59).

Not at Hardly Moderately Exactlyall true % true % true % true %

I feel coaching has had a positiveimpact on me personally

3.3 6.7 35.0 55.0

Coaching has given me skills I willcontinue to use

6.7 6.7 40.0 46.7

I feel more confident in my abilitiesdue to being coached

5.0 13.3 36.7 45.0

Coaching has helped give me a clearercareer direction

13.3 21.7 41.7 23.3

I have made positive changes to mylife due to being coached

10.0 23.3 36.7 30.0

I would recommend coaching to others 3.3 9.8 26.2 60.7

Coaching has given me a greaterunderstanding of myself

6.7 8.3 40.0 45.0

I felt that coaching positivelychallenged me

10.0 13.3 38.3 38.3

The coaching I received mainly involvedme generating solutions, with the 3.3 6.7 51.7 38.3support of my coach

My coach clearly explained the processof coaching to me

1.6 1.6 31.1 65.6

My coach and I discussed ground rulesand we completed a coaching contract

3.3 4.9 19.7 72.1

These did support some of the specific ben-efits identified in previous literature, partic-ularly around confidence, performance andjob satisfaction. As these are all wide andcomplex areas each could be investigated ina greater depth to help to establish specificRoI for the organisation. The coachedsample of participants were significantly hap-pier with their career direction and progres-sion, more satisfied with work and moreaware of personal strengths and weaknessesthan non-coached staff. Contentment withrole and career direction links to organisa-tional commitment and loyalty (CIPD, 2006)and, as such, reduces attrition and supportsthe organisations ability to retain talent andemploy succession planning, developing

individuals in areas relevant to businessneed. Recent figures for the cost ofemployee attrition suggests the average costper employee to be £7750 (CIPD, 2007). If aclear link between developmental coachingand retention of staff can be made it wouldmake a strong argument for the RoI ofcoaching.

It has been suggested that coaching hassignificant benefit to both the coach andcoachee (Sweeney, 2007) and literature sug-gests that the process of coaching results inlearning for the coach, which is a largelyuntapped potential for adding strategicvalue (Rider, 2002). In the reported study,coaches responses indicated a perceivedincrease in personal self-efficacy. Three ques-

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tions on personal self-efficacy were included,based on comments made in focus groups.The majority of coaches in the sample feltthey had improved their ability to deal moreeffectively with issues, generate solutions toproblems and gain clarity on personal goals,due to undertaking a coaching role. This isan interesting addition to the area and onethat would benefit from further investiga-tion. As only three questions were includedthis would need to be expanded to offer dataof real value but this does offer a fascinatingavenue of research, particularly with someelement of post intervention measure takenand the introduction of a control group ofnon-coaching managers.

Discussion of methodology Action research supported the explorativestyle of the study and enabled a blend ofqualitative and quantitative data, allowinggreater insight into how coaching impactsupon those that experience it and those thatact as coaches. Adaptations were made basedon information found during the qualitativephases and questionnaire design was heavilyinfluenced by content of the focus groups.As coaching experiences are individual andpersonal, it is appropriate that further explo-rative research employs similar methodolo-gies; a questionnaire alone would not revealthe complexities of experiences and varia-tions in impact that the process has. Thedata in the reported study integrated a rangeof experiences, which in itself was an inter-esting reflection of the distinctions betweendifferent phases of the process of coaching.Experiences ranged from more reactionaryperspectives, for coaches this includedfeeling as though they were on a steeplearning curve and for coachees a ‘feel good’factor, whereas others, who had a greaterlevel of experience, tended to have a moreholistic view of the overall process and couldreflect on the benefits or drawbacks. This isan important consideration for any futureresearch – that participants at a particularphase in the process may have similar view-points or experiences however this may not

truly represent the overall experience,rather that it is a snapshot reflecting the cur-rent level of personal experience. Including,in research, experiences gained within arange of timescales adds to the validity andcontributes to a more reflective picture ofthe complexities of workplace coaching.Action research allowed for a range of infor-mation to be integrated, blending data fromcoaches and coachees plus also key stake-holders and original material used for coachtraining, all of which are elements thatFairhurst (2007) advocates should beincluded in a thorough coaching evaluation.

Limitations and recommendations forfuture researchWithin the area of coaching research thereare few empirical coaching studies. Thisstudy used a quasi-experimental approach toinvestigate the levels of self-efficacy, however,due to the timescales of the study, the onlyaccess to coached staff was post-coaching, soa pre-intervention measure was not taken.Although a significant difference on levels ofself-efficacy existed between the coachedand non-coached sample groups it is not pos-sible to know whether a difference existedprior to the coaching intervention. A futurestudy with a design that incorporates a pre-and post-intervention measure would beinsightful and a significant change wouldhelp to offer a strong link between develop-mental coaching and increased levels of self-efficacy. A methodological issue was thatparticipants were only ‘informally matched’on the criteria of same work location and jobrole. As such, this was essentially a non-equiv-alent control group design with the key issueof sampling biases a weakness of the study(Breakwell et al., 2000). A more structuredmatched pairs design, particularly matchingwork experience, education level, age andgender would help reduce variation attribut-able to individual differences. Feldman andLanku (2005) criticise the lack of empiricalstudies in coaching, with many using a self-report approach rather than a more system-atic and evidence-based approach to more

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thoroughly document the effectiveness ofcoaching. Although the reported study hasemployed self-report measures, qualitativeresearch in the form of focus groups andinterviews were included to gain a greaterdepth and breadth of understanding ofcoaching within the host organisation.

Two limitations were caused by the ques-tionnaire scale. The first was that some par-ticipants felt that the limited four options didnot allow them to express what they felt fully,requiring more ‘middle ground’ – ‘thereseemed to be a big gap between these twostatements’ (not at all true and exactly true).The scale may also have contributed to thestrongly significant results and this must beconsidered. In any future studies the possiblyof further options added to the existing scale,such as a six-option rating scale to forcechoice to one end of the scale or the other, oreven a seven-option scale with an unknownor ‘equal’ choice could be considered.

SummaryAs an explorative study the research hasrevealed some interesting findings. The linkbetween self-efficacy and the experience ofreceiving developmental coaching givessome insight into the specific individual out-comes and may help to label benefits that

have in the past been seen as ‘intangible’.In the past much focus has been on the ben-efits brought by receiving coaching, however,the findings of the reported study suggestthat there are benefits to the coach, fromboth the skills training received and theexperience of undertaking a coaching role.Assessing the RoI of coaching is challenging,however, using psychologically groundedapproaches can greatly contribute to theeffectiveness of the evaluation by informingthe design of the process and supporting theidentification of the less tangible businessbenefits. The reported study aimed toexplore whether developmental coachingdoes actually deliver business benefits andresults suggest that coaching is indeed adevelopmental tool, capable of producing arange of positive workplace outcomes.

CorrespondenceElouise Leonard-CrossDepartment of Occupational Psychology,School of Psychology and Sports Science,Northumberland Building,Northumbria University,Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST,United Kingdom.E-mail: [email protected]

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Coaching’s emerging literature

THE TERM ‘COACHING’ has beenapplied to a wide range of activities acrossa diverse range of populations and issues.

Activities include resolving relationship diffi-culties (Jacobsen, 1977); job coaching to helpdisadvantaged individuals gain and retainemployment (Davis, Bates & Cuvo, 1983);careers coaching (Scandura, 1992); peercoaching within education (Scarnati, Kent &MacKenzie, 1993); coaching to improve exec-utive performance (Tobias, 1996); coaching tohelp people with cognitive difficulties learnnew skills (Dalton et al., 1997); coaching toimprove performance in interviews (Maurer,Solamon & Troxtel, 1998); coaching toimprove sales performance (Rich, 1998)coaching to support older couples coping withinfertility (Scharf & Weinshel, 2000); andcoaching applicants to fake malingering onpsychological tests (Suhr & Gunstad, 2000).While this is by no means a definitive list, itillustrates the wide range of activities to which‘coaching’ has been applied.

The literature on coaching has mush-roomed over the past five years, reflectingthe growth in coaching practice. Theemerging coaching market has been esti-mated to be worth US $2billion (Fillery &Lane, 2006), and there has been a plethoraof publications. However, the majority ofpublications have been atheoretical, offeringcase studies or new coaching models devisedby coaching practitioners. In the past fouryears this has begun to change. The focus ofrecent papers has been on two questions.Firstly does coaching have an effect and whateffect does it have on the coachee? Secondly,what does the coach do which contributes tochange in the coachee.

In 2001 a literature review undertaken byKampa-Kokesch and Anderson (2001) sug-gested that only seven studies had been pub-lished by that date which attempted toexplain the efficacy of executive coaching(Foster & Lendl, 1996; Garman, Whiston &Zlatoper, 2000; Gegner, 1997; Hall, Otazo &Hollenbeck, 1999; Judge & Cowell, 1997;

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A grounded theory study of the coacheeexperience: The implications for trainingand practice in coaching psychologyJonathan Passmore

Objectives: This study sought to identify the key behaviours used by executive coaches that were perceivedby coachees to have the most favourable impact on their experience and progress.Design: The study used a semi-structured interview design within a qualitative approach. Methods: Grounded theory was employed to analyse the transcripts and to build a series of descriptive andconceptual codes.Results: The results from this small-scale study suggest that coachees seek not only particular behavioursbut also certain personal attributes in a coach. Key behaviours and attributes identified were common senseconfidentiality, being collaborative, setting take-away tasks, balancing challenge and support, stimulatingproblem-solving, effective communication, staying focused, containing emotions, helping developalternative perspectives, use of a variety of focusing tools and techniques and use of self as a tool.Conclusions: The study makes some tentative practical recommendations for those involved in coachingpractice and coach training.

Keywords: executive coaching, grounded theory, coach behaviours, coach training, coaching research studyand coachee perceptions.

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Laske, 1999; Olivero, Bane & Kopelman,1997). The findings were the beginning ofthe development for a case for coaching’spositive effect. Specifically they suggestedthat coaching could act as a desensitiser toworkplace stress (Foster & Lendl, 1996), aidskills transfer (Olivero, Bane & Kopelman,1997) and contribute to changes in manage-ment style (Gegner, 1997). More recentstudies (Bush, 2005; Conway, 2000; Dawdy,2004; Day et al., 2008; Evers, Brouwers &Tomic 2006; Gonzalez, 2004; Gyllensten &Palmer, 2005; Kampa-Kokesch, 2002;McGovern et al., 2001; Orenstein, 2006;Smither & London, 2003; Sue-Chan &Latham, 2004; Turner, 2004; Wang &Wentling, 2001) have built on these earlyefforts and are critically reviewed elsewhere(Passmore & Gibbes, 2007). Others writershave reviewed the progress of coachingresearch and have suggested that coaching isbeginning to build a evidence base for itspractice which has been missing since Gorby(1937) popularised the notion that coachingcould contribute to workplace performance(Fillery-Travis & Lane, 2006). The range andquantity of studies is still developing, with aseries of on-going random controlled trialsand longitudinal studies underway. Thegrowth of communities of interest within psy-chology has increased in a number of coun-tries outside the US, from Australia and theUK to Norway and Denmark. These changesare also being reflected in practice with theemergence of postgraduate coachingtraining psychology courses and coachingresearch centres.

The published studies suggest thatcoaching can contribute towards leadershipbehaviours such as charisma and inspiration,(Kampa-Kokesch, 2002), it can contribute toimproved goal setting and self regard (Evers,Brouwers & Tomic, 2006), it can also aid thedevelopment of wider behaviours which arethe focus of the specific coaching interven-tion (Orenstein, 2006), it aids skills transfer(Turner, 2004), contributes to positive peerperceptions of the effectiveness of the indi-vidual (Smither & London, 2003), it can

enhance resilience (Green, Grant & Ryn-saardt, 2007) and have a positive impact onstress reduction (Gyllensten & Palmer, 2005).

The key question which follows for psy-chologists involved in coaching practice andcoach training is; if coaching is an effectiveintervention, what do coaches need to learnto be effective? The focus of this paper is onthe practical aspects of the coachee’s experi-ence and its implications for both experi-enced and new coaches working inorganisations.

Some writers have highlighted the simi-larities between coaching and counsellingand have argued that researchers can findthe answers to which coach behaviours aremost effective by reviewing research ontherapy (McKenna & Davis, 2009). Othershave argued that such a perspective is usefulbut it fails to take account of the differencesbetween the world of therapy and the organ-isational world of executive coaching (Pass-more, 2009). Such differences include themultiple clients, from the individual to theHR commissioning manager to the indi-vidual’s line manager. They all hold expecta-tions about the coaching assignments andthe outcomes which will be achieved. Usingcounselling research also fails to acknowl-edge the need for the coach to understandthe business environment, and use thisunderstanding to frame and inform theirquestions. Senior people have limited timeand do not want to explain the role of theCompany Secretary or what a ‘PID’ is forexample (a PID is a document used inproject management). There is recognitionthat overall the line between coaching andcounselling remains blurred (Peterson, Inpress).

Previous work has been conducted oncoach behaviours. Hall et al.’s (1999) studyused a thematic analysis based on coacheeinterviews. It identified a list of coachingbehaviours that coachees found helpful andless helpful. These included reflecting back,being caring and having good listening skills.Other factors have been identified as impor-tant including. The coaches’ credibility has

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been identified in a number of studies (Hallet al., 1999; Sue-Chan & Latham, 2004). Thecoaches’ collaborative style of working hasalso been cited (Gonzalez, 2004; Hall et al.,1999). Gonzalez has drawn attention to theuse of a discursive rather than instructivestyle, the need for the coach to be authenticand have integrity the coaches skills inprobing and challenging the coachee (Gon-zalez, 2004). Other writers have highlightedthat it is useful for the coach to have a richcareer history which they bring to thecoaching work (Bush, 2005; Hall et al.,1999). Jones and Spooner noted the valuefor the coach to be confident about theirown abilities, the importance of confidentialon the part of the coach and for the coach tobe friendly without becoming a friend (Jones& Spooner, 2006). Also identified in thestudies in this area has been for the coach tobuild the relationship (Day et al., 2008), toprovide candid feedback (Lubbe, 2005), tofoster self-awareness in their coachee(Luebbe, 2005) and for the coach to focusexclusively on the needs of the coachee(Hall, Otazo & Hollenbeck, 1999; Jones &Spooner, 2006). In respect of the coachee’sbehaviour few studies have considered thisarea, but Bush recognised the importance ofthe individual’s commitment to the processas a key determinant of success (Bush, 2005).

At an organisational level, aspects of cul-ture were identified as being important too(Bush, 2005). Of particular importance wasthe ability to build a partnership with theclient organisation and careful matching ofcoach and coachee (Bush, 2005; Laske,1999; Luebbe, 2005).

While the majority of these studies havegathered views from coaches, relatively fewpapers have given a voice to the coachee’sexperiences (Peterson, 1996; Keil et al.,1996; Blattner, 2005). The focus of thesepapers has tended to be on a single casestudy as opposed to a consideration of arange of coachees.

MethodThis study used a grounded theory qualita-tive methodology to explore data gatheredfrom participants. The objective was to dis-cover the personal experiences of coachees’.Grounded theory was selected as a tool for itsdual focus on both the grounded individualexperiences and it encouragement forresearchers to theorise with the data. As aqualitative methodology it was consideredideal as a tool to explore the social processesof coaching with a small participant sample(Charmaz, 2006). While a number of alter-native methods have been offered, this studyfollowed the original methodology offeredby Glaser & Strauss (1967).

ParticipantsThe qualitative study involved interviewswith six directors; three men and threewomen, five white European and one blackCaribbean participant from the publicsector. The age range of the participants wasfrom 40 to 55. All the participants heldboard level positions. The directors rangedin experience from new appointee; havingbeen appointed within the past six monthsand experienced directors in post for morethan five years. All participants had receiveda minimum of eight hours face-to-face exec-utive coaching from trained experiencedcoaches.

The coaches were trained executivecoaches and had completed a minimum of aPostgraduate Certificate in coaching and 100hours executive coaching experience. Twocoaches were selected; one man and onewoman, both were in the age range 45 to 55.The coaches used both GROW/behavioural(Alexander, 2006) and cognitive behaviouralcoaching approaches (CBC) Neenan (2006).One coach was a psychologist, the other ahuman resources professional.

The number of participants was limiteddue to a desire to engage in detail with thematerial and work to produce a conceptualrepresentation of their experiences ofcoaching.

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Data collectionAn initial interview protocol was developedand piloted on two participants. This datawas not used in the study. Participantresponses from the pilot led to furtherrefinement of the interview protocol for thestudy. This included the addition of anumber of prompts, to stimulate partici-pants, if limited responses were given.

A semi-structured method was chosen asit facilitated the development of rapport,allowed greater flexibility and allowed theresearcher to enter novel areas with the aimof generating richer data.

The final interview protocol centredaround six core themes:● Personal experience of executive

coaching.● The perception of usefulness of

executive coaching.● Impact of executive coaching on self-

regard.● Transfer of executive coaching

techniques into workplace practice.● Reflection of what the coaches practice

(tools and techniques).● Perception of its long-term value.In the study a detailed coding structure wasused. The transcription used a recognisedmethod in the transcription (Wetherell &Edley, 1999) which drew upon the Jeffersonsystem (Jefferson, 1985) which incorporateddata on both the words and the way in whichwords were delivered.

Data analysisThe creation of themes and sub-themes wereundertaken manually, rather than throughthe use of coding software. This decisionreflected a desire to obtain a detailed under-standing of the data through engaging withthe data line by line. Each segment of datawas given a separate code with the letterreferring to the participant and the numberreferring to the segment in the transcript.

The researcher used a seven-stageprocess (Figure 1). The first stage involvedthe collection and storage of data fromwhich the initial generation of codes were

produced. The second stage involved a seriesof reviews of the descriptive codes. Thisinvolved memo writing, creating linksbetween items and refining the codingsystem. The third stage was to group thesedescriptive codes into conceptual codes. Thefourth stage was to review the findingsthrough an independent researcher. Theindependent researcher developed her owncategories from the descriptive codes. Theresearcher then compared both categoriesand their contents and used these to developa revised coding structure. The fifth stagewas to build a framework based on thedescriptive codes from the researcher andthe reviewer. In the sixth stage a participantwas invited to review the descriptive modeland the results were compared with theexisting literature and with the quantitativestudy findings. The final stage was to use thecoding to build a conceptual diagram tosummarise the emerging model.

ResultsThe results were clustered under six themes(Table 1). This paper concentrates on thefindings relating to coach attributes andcoach behaviours. In this distinction, attrib-utes were considered to be personal quali-ties; ‘something which a coach has’. Incontrast coach behaviours were ‘thingswhich the coach does’. It is acknowledgedthat this is a fine distinction, but reflects thelanguage used by participants in their study.

The Coach’s attributes (i) Coach’s experienceThe previous experience brought by thecoach to the coaching session appeared tobe a feature identified as a positive contribu-tion to the relationship, giving confidence tothe coachee and contributing to the session.

‘…and then the coach pointing, you know,using valuable and relevant examples fromtheir knowledge of how…{XYZ company}…operates, to guide me through that process.’(J41)

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Figure 1: Seven stage research method.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6

Stage 7

Refining index system

Memo writing Category linking

Independent review

Code Initial Framework

Theme relationships Initial Framework

Participant review

Comparison with literature and quantitative study

Final framework

Data collection

Data storage

Coding

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Table 1: Main themes.

Main Theme Sub-theme

Coachee expectations ● Mentoring experiences● Action Learning Set (ALS) experiences● Coachee previous experiences

Properties of the session ● Length of session● Frequency● Timing

The attributes of the coach ● Coach experience● Coach is affirming ● Coach is non-judgemental● Coach is trustworthy● Coach is independent

The coach’s behaviour ● ‘Common sense’ confidentiality ● Holding emotions● Challenge and support● Problem solving● Setting take-away tasks● Being non-directive● Using self as a tool● Developing alternative perspectives● Questioning, listening & reflecting● Staying focused● Being empathetic ● Using tools and techniques

The coachee’s behaviour ● Preparation● Using notes● Being authentic

Outcomes ● Behavioural adaptation● Exploring motivation ● Sense of self ● Learning transfer ● Managing emotions● Holistic view ● A shared vision ● Team relationships● Staff retention

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(ii) Affirming and supportive coachA second attribute was the idea of the coachas an affirming and supportive individual.While for some this was expressed asaffirming, for others this was expressed asthe coach providing a space to confide andhelp sort out problems. Also important wasthe focus of the session towards thecoachees’ needs, rather than serving the pur-pose of the coach.

‘or affirming that I was right in terms of theapproach.’ (J33)‘I think it’s just, it’s just re-affirmation all thetime.’ (A99)

(iii) Coach non-judgementalThis slightly different perspective of thissame attribute was the idea of the coach asnon-judgemental.

‘…and having a listener who, you know, isnot judgemental, but pointing me in the rightdirection…’ (J32–34)

(iv) Coach is trustworthy Another perspective within this theme was ofthe coach being trustworthy. On some occa-sions this was described as an attribute of thecoach and on other occasions as a character-istic. It is difficult to differentiate betweenthese as attributes are in part revealedthrough behaviours as well as through thecredibility and reputation of the coach.

Coachees expected the coach to beworthy of their trust. This was central tobuilding a working relationship.

‘…and I felt I could trust, I think trust was akey element of it…’ (J75–76)

(v) Coach’s independenceA fourth attribute was for the coach to beindependent.

‘Um…so that was very valuable, and it alsoallowed, me to get that stuff out on the tableand talk about it from so…from a realoutsiders perspective. That was helpful…’(W22)

The Coach’s behavioursA second core theme that this paper focusesupon is the coach’s behaviour. Coacheesidentified 12 behaviours which contributedfavourably towards their coaching experi-ence; maintaining confidentiality, con-taining emotions, using a mixture ofchallenge and support, stimulating problemsolving, setting take-away tasks for thecoachee, being collaborative, using self as atool, encouraging the development of alter-native perspectives, using effective commu-nications skills such as questioning, listeningand reflecting, staying focused during thesession, being emphatic plus their use ofhelpful tools and techniques.

(i) Uses ‘common sense’ confidentialityThis has previously been identified as one ofthe cornerstones of the coaching relation-ship (Ahern, 2001). Generally coacheesdescribed a high level of faith in the process.This may reflect the contracting aspect whereclear ground rules were set out by thecoaches. It may also be an unspoken expecta-tion based on previous experiences of men-toring relationships, which a number of thecoachees had held in the past or were main-taining alongside the executive coaching.

(ii) Holding emotionThe aspect of the coach holding, containingor offering a safe space for emotions wasviewed by coachees not as a passive act but anactive process undertaken by the coach. Theuse of these behaviours encouraged thecoachees to feel confident to be even moreopen with information. There also appearedto be a link here to the attribute of trust builtup by the coach during the forming stage ofthe relationship.

‘the coach was a sponge really, no…a wallwhere I can bounce things off, stuff didn’tdisappear it came back at me, and I’manswering questions…’ (S35-36)

For others this space was critical as the coachstepped into roles neglected by others. Thiswas most prevalent for one of the coacheeswho described his experiences in stark terms

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during the period as he explained feelings ofdepression following the loss of a parent andchange in his role at work.

(iii) Challenge and support The ability of the coach to be both chal-lenging and supportive was identified as akey ingredient.

‘…but I think that, well they pushed andpushed in terms of trying to bring me out, inthe coaching sessions, and I was then gettingmore out of it by the second and thirdsessions…’ (F5-6)

The skill of challenging, however, was identi-fied as being most useful when the challengewas present. For some style was important inthis process, for others the style of challengewas less critically. What was important wasthat challenge was present within the rela-tionship.

‘the fact that they might have done that in anice way rather than an aggressive way, ismore about style isn’t it, but I think their styleis still to challenge.’ (S99)

Coachees were specific about the ways in thecoach used challenge. Challenge could beeffective both when used as a style withinquestioning but also through the coach’s useof listening and silence.

‘…sometimes the coach challenged me justthrough listening.’ (S99)

Coachee’s indentified that challenge was mosteffective in helping the individual to recogniseand move beyond the comfortable habitualbehaviours which they used day to day.

‘…that was the thing that was at first, wasreally bugging me, because I was in a comfortzone, and you know I quite like doing similarthings that I know I’m good at, and Iremember I take these higher things, complexalmost, but I wasn’t thinking about that, andthat’s one more thing that’s happened, that Ihave crawled out of completely out of some ofthe real comfort zones.’ (D56)

In addition to challenge was the empatheticbehaviours which could be characterised asbeing supportive. This was expressedthrough listening and displaying interest inthe coachee’s story.

The link between this behaviour and per-sonal attributes is difficult to separate. Insome cases the coachees saw this as thecoach acting in a particular way and otherssaw this as a personal quality or attribute ofthe coach.

(iv) Problem solvingCoachees identified two aspects in theprocess of effective problem solving. Thefirst was the adoption by the coach of a solu-tion focus towards issues which involvedhelping the coachee to explore barriers andhurdles and developing plans to overcomethese. The second was the coachee’s devel-opment of a meta-skill following engage-ment in the process. Coachees identifiedthat the coaching process had helped thembecome more effective problem solvers. Thiswas strongest where the GROW and CBCmodels were explained as part of thecoaching relationship.

(v) Setting take-away tasks The use of tasks outside of coaching hadmixed responses. Some found tasks irrele-vant, while others found them to be usefuland constructive exercises which encour-aged reflection and resolution to issues. A key factor in differentiating betweenvalued tasks and less valued tasks was thenature of the task itself. Where the task wasreflective, coachee’s expressed value in thetask. More action orientation tasks were lessvalued. This distinction was explained bycoachees in terms of the different types ofcoaching required for different types ofmanagers, with senior managers requiring afocus on strategy and reflection, whilemiddle managers require more operationaland behavioural tasks to take away.

(vi) Being non-directiveThe ability for the coach to work collabora-tively with the coachee, was identified ashelpful.

‘Um…I don’t think I would have respondedwell if the relationship had been a moredirective relationship.’ (F90)

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However, the coach needed to do more thanask questions. Coachees saw it as legitimate forcoaches to both offer and to give advice, espe-cially where this advice was grounded in thereal life and relevant experience of the coach.

‘I may have asked for them to expand, ratherthan just listen, but to actually give me someinformation.’ (S83)

(vii) Using self as a toolThe coach using themselves as a tool to helpillustrate a key point was referred to bycoachees as useful, such as the coachingsharing a story from their personal experi-ence of working in an organisation.

‘I can now see that they knew where theoutcome should be leading me, but not tellingme, getting me to think it through…’ (D66-69)

(viii) Offering alternative perspectivesThis behaviour was identified by coachees ofbeing particularly helpful. The developmentof an alternative perspective was facilitatedby the use of challenge by the coach or bythe coach asking probing questions.

‘you know they’d ask me a question and I’dgive them an answer, and then they’d justpush me a little bit further to make me thinkdeeper about the reality of the situation, orwhether there are extra dimensions actually tomy approach.’ (F31-32)

On other occasions the coachees identifiedthe behaviour developing from the positionof the coach as an outsider to the situation ororganisation.

‘…I wouldn’t talk in the way I did to themthat day to anyone in this organisation, andso I couldn’t possibly have got that fromanybody else in this organisation what I gotback that day…’ (A56-57)

(ix) Questioning, listening and reflecting backCoachees made reference to the coach’s useof questioning, listening and reflecting back.The use of questions encouraged coachees toconsider issues in more depth and in a morechallenging way. The questioning style wasalso valued for encouraging the coachee tomake clear the reasons for actions and artic-

ulate future courses of action, in particularmaking actions part of a conscious process.

‘…the techniques that they were using wasasking me the questions that forced me to thinkthrough…information I already had in mymind, and perhaps hadn’t acknowledgedconsciously.’ (S30)

A second aspect within the communicationbehaviours was the use of reflection by thecoach. In this behaviour the coach sum-marised the essence of the previous state-ment to capture its meaning and highlightpotential omissions or thinking errorsthrough the simple restatement of thewords. Coachees appeared to value thisbecause it provided space to think and con-sider the issue from a different perspective.

‘…turned things back on me that were plainlyridiculous, were plainly questionable, orplainly needed more consideration by me.’(A21)

The third aspect within the communicationbehaviours identified by coachees was lis-tening. Coachees suggested that the qualityof listening was different in coaching com-pared to how they were listened to else-where.

‘They might not have welcomed that, but Iwelcomed that, so you know, they were able touh…provide that uh listening…um, they likedto listen.’ (A20)

This was facilitated by the coach remainingfocused during the coaching session.

While valuable as separate behaviours,coachees identified how these elements wereintegrated to provide powerful interventionsthat helped them come to their own solu-tions during the coaching sessions.

‘…they listened and then they reflected backand through open questions they helped me tofind my own solutions…’ (J103-106)

Here the coachee implies the real skill iscombining these three qualities together,blending them into a set of behaviours.

(x) Staying focusedThe further theme was the ability for thecoach to keep the coachee focused. This wasseen as helpful and involved bringing the

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coachee back to the issue in hand andstaying solution focused rather than allowingthe conversation to slip towards a past orien-tated approach.

(xi) Being empathetic Coachees identified the response of theircoach to thoughts and feelings that theyshared as helpful. The ability to be empa-thetic to these thoughts and feelingsthrough both verbal and non-verbal commu-nications was noted and valued. There areclear parallels here with earlier statementson communication skills used by the coachas well as on holding emotions.

(xii) Tools and techniquesCoachees also appreciated a coach with anarray of tools and techniques which thecoach was able to draw on during thecoaching session to help the coachee con-sider things from a new perspective. In thecase of the quotes the coachees referred tothe use of visualisation techniques drawnfrom cognitive behavioural coaching(Palmer, 2008) and mindfulness meditation(Passmore & Marianetti, 2007).

‘It was very, very, very useful, at the verybeginning, you know using thatvisualising…’ (J84)

‘And the other technique, well it’s not atechnique, but the other, the other aspect I thinkwas just retracing what I said before, just beinggiven the time to um…you called itmindfulness…’ (S38–39)

The behaviours are summarised in Table 2.

Discussion This paper sought to derive, from the data, aset of practical implications which can use-fully inform the work of coaching psycholo-gists, both as practitioners but also as trainersof coaches.

The findings presented above provide adescriptive account of how coachees’ viewedtheir coaching experiences. This is wherethe previous published studies have stopped.In this paper an effort has been made, usingGrounded Theory methods, to conceptu-alise the data, and review this against mate-rial from previous studies.

A reflection on previous studiesThe nature of Grounded Theory studiesrequires an exploration and consideration ofthe literature after the completion of thestudy, rather than before, as a means of pre-venting the coding being influenced by pre-vious findings.

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Table 2: Summary of coach behaviours.

Key coaching behaviours

Agreeing ‘common sense’ confidentiality rulesHolding the emotions of the coacheeProviding both challenge and supportOffering mechanisms for problem solvingSetting take-away tasksBeing non-directiveUsing themself as a toolHelping the coachee develop alternative perspectivesQuestioning, Listening Reflecting backStaying focused on the topicBeing empathetic

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In this paper the subsequent research iscontained at the start of the paper. In broadterms the results from this research echoedearlier studies, such as Hall et al. (1999) withthe recognition of the need for the coach tooffer a style which is both collaborative anddiscursive, to have a rich career history andthus be credible. Also valued were the skillsin listening, questioning and summarisingalongside a mastery of coaching techniques,which all added to the credibility and per-ceived competence of the coach. In thissense the qualitative study drew together thefindings from the previous collection ofstudies on coach behaviour and identifiedthe common ingredients identified bycoaches and confirmed by coachees.

In reviewing these findings alongside pre-viously published work a number of implica-tions emerge which have been offered below.It is acknowledged that the nature of interpre-tation is that others who review the results maybe drawn to emphasise different aspects. Fur-ther the use of a sample drawn from seniormanagers at board level and using two coacheswho employed specific methodologies will alsohave implications for the results. The use ofpsychodynamic coaching or working withmiddle managers may have identified dif-ferent features. In this paper I will focus onthree possible implications for coaching psy-chology practitioners and three implicationsfor those involved in coach training.

Some implications for coachingpsychology practiceThe study identified a number of possibleissues for coaching practice and we will focuson three of these in this discussion; problemsolving, setting take away tasks and the roleof challenging the coachee. The selection ofthese three reflects that coaching practicediffers from practices in counselling, where adifference stance might be adopted in thesethree areas.

Problem solving Coachees valued using problem-solvingmodels as well as understanding the models

that they were using. There are two benefits.Firstly by using a problem-solving style thecoach encouraged the coachee to recognisepotential pitfalls and develop ways tomanage these. The second benefit is thepotential role the coach can plan in meta-learning (Argyris & Schon, 1978). Thislearning is enhanced when explicit informa-tion is shared with the coachee about thetechniques being used. This allowed thecoachee to begin to apply these techniquesfor themselves. While cognitive behaviourtherapy has traditionally encouraged thecounsellor to share the techniques as part ofthe approach, this is not discussed in thewider coaching literature. Coaching practi-tioners may wish to reflect on the way theywhich they work and where this is relevant toshare explicitly their approaches withcoachees, teaching them the techniques forlater use.

Takeaway tasks The use of takeaway tasks (homework) is afeature of counselling practice, but is rarelydiscussed in the coaching literature.Drawing on the experiences of this group ofsenior managers takeaway tasks were seenboth positively and negatively. The perspec-tive seemed to have been influenced by thetype of task or action agreed. Where the taskwas reflective coachees in this group experi-enced this as valuable, while more action ori-entation tasks were perceived by to be lessvaluable. The high value placed on morereflective tasks may reflect the seniority ofthe group who were all board level coachees.However, it may also reflect power dynamicswithin the coaching relationship. In coun-selling the power dynamic is often seen asthe client being less powerful than the ther-apist. In coaching, particularly in seniormanagement coaching, the reverse is usuallytrue. Two implications emerge. The first isthere may be value in the coach engaging ina two-way discussion about the type of take-away tasks, so the coachee considers thisopenly and explicitly with the coachee.Second, the coach needs to be sensitive to

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the status and experience of the coacheeand to make a judgement about these factorsand the nature of the individual.

Challenge and supportSome studies within the literature mentionthe importance of providing challenge(Gonzalez, 2004; Hall et al., 1999 Jones &Spooner, 2006). However, in the majority ofstudies the focus is more towards buildingthe relationship and skills in empathy. Thefocus in this direction may reflect the strongcounselling orientation within coaching.While these skills are valuable, participantsin this study also recognised the importanceof challenge. Reflective questions, body lan-guage and silence are power tools which par-ticipants in this study recognised as useful inhelping them reflect in a way they had notpreviously done about the issue.

Some implications for the training ofindividuals in coachingHaving discussed three aspects relating tocoaching psychology practice, I will discussthree issues from the study relating to coachtraining. These three aspects are; managingconfidentiality, understanding of sector andbusiness management and developing attrib-utes as well as skills.

Understanding confidentiality Coachees’ in this study valued coaches whotreated what was said in confidence. Theconfidence of the coachee was derived fromthe clear commitments given during thecontracting process as well as a lack of comeback from others on what had been said.However, coachees’ treated confidentiality as‘common-sense’. In many one to one rela-tionships, such as counselling, the bound-aries are clear. There is no report backmechanism to the doctor (general practi-tioner) on the detailed conversations in thesessions or sharing information with familymembers. It’s a confidential relationship,save for serious illegality or risk of harm.However, in coaching confidentiality is morecomplex, as a result of multiple stakeholders,

particularly when the ‘client’ (the personpaying) is the organisation, who may expectand request a detailed report.

This suggests a need in coach training foran exploration of confidentiality: what confi-dentiality includes and what may be outsideof the confidentiality agreement. It also sug-gests a need for greater levels of high qualitysupport for coaches, possibly for those whohave most recently trained. Such supportcould offer a wider well of experience fromwhich to draw.

Understanding leadershipA second issue to consider in coach trainingis the value of exploring wider organisationaland leadership issues as part of coachtraining. Participants identified the use ofnon-directive approaches as being preferableto directive approaches. This may reflecttheir status as senior managers and mayreflect wider psychological preferences whichwe as humans have in the way we respond todirective behaviours (Miller & Rollnick,2002). For the coach, these findings amplifythe need to develop skills of listening, sum-marising and asking open questions. How-ever, the coach needs to do more than usegood questions and summarising skills.Coachees identified value in the coach beingable to understand and interpret. Thisrequires the coach to understand andempathise with the leadership role.

The process of becomingA third issue is the development of skills andof personal attributes. The skills aspects maybe labelled the ‘doing’ aspect of coaching.The personal attributes aspects may be con-sidered to be the ‘being’ aspect of the coach.

In the UK counselling courses are oftenover-subscribed, with more students thanplaces available. Applicants are selectedbased on their perceived ability to be able toundertake the course successfully and ajudgement by the course team that they willmake an effective therapist. In contrastcoaching has a stronger market approach.The growth in coach training has been led

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by commercial organisations and mostcoaches still are either untrained or theirtraining consists of a few days with a com-mercial provider, or worse a video to watch athome. However, participants in this studysuggested they were seeking both skills andattributes; things the coach did, as well asthings the coach was. It may be argued thatsuch personal attributes take longer toacquire than the average commercialcoaching course and may even be innate. A move to more robust selection proceduresfor coach training may select out the indi-viduals who may be less able to take on thecoaching role.

SummaryThis paper focuses on a small-scale study ofcoaching practice as experienced by boardlevel executives using a Grounded Theorymethodology. This study identified a wide

range of coaching behaviours which werevalued by coachees and confirmed that thesefindings were echoed by a range of previousstudies. It suggests that coachees’ valuecoaching not only as a result of thebehaviours used by the coach but also as aresult of the attributes of their coach. Theseattributes may be more difficult and takemore time to acquire as they relate to per-sonal qualities of the coach. A series of prac-tical implications are drawn out from thestudy for coaching psychologists and thetraining of coaches.

CorrespondenceDr Jonathan PassmoreUniversity of East London,Water Lane,Stratford, London,United Kingdom.E-mail: [email protected]

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N SUPPORT of the needs of a young andrapidly growing discipline, coachingresearchers are producing literature at an

ever increasing rate (Grant, 2009). Withinthat body of research there exists a growingrecognition by researchers of the particulardifferentiators that make executive coachinga unique sub-discipline within the broadercoaching framework. Kilburg (2000), in anearly definition of executive coaching, recog-nised two important differentiating features:the dual-client aspects of the work (i.e. theexecutive and the organisation), and theconsequent need to produce outcomes forboth within a business context.

The limitation of interventionapproaches in the definition to ‘behavioural

techniques’ may have been unnecessarilynarrow. Grant, Curtayne and Burton (inpress) extended this definition by demon-strating that cognitive-behaviouralapproaches also produce change in execu-tive coaching work. Even Kilburg (2004) hasextended the ‘behavioural techniques’aspect of his earlier definition by providingextensive discussion of the applicability ofpsychoanalytic principles. Abbott andRosinski (2007) went further and discussedthe six evidence-based approaches tocoaching as being cognitive-behavioural, psy-choanalytic, adult development, actionlearning, systemic, and positive psychology.

Bluckert (2005) argued that outcomesfrom coaching were related to two different

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010 63© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

Exceptional executive coaches: Practices and attributesGavin R. Dagley*

Objectives: Human resources (HR) professionals responsible for purchasing executive coaching servicesrepresent a unique research resource as independent and invested observers of coaching practices. Theresearch objective was to explore this group’s knowledge to better understand what differentiates the work ofexceptional coaches.Design: The study was a survey design.Methods: Twenty experienced executive coaching purchasers completed 90-minute structured interviewsbased around a 40-item questionnaire regarding their experiences of locating and working with exceptionalcoaches. Saturation testing and a post-analysis survey provided support for the emergent themes.Results: Purchasers defined a ‘great outcome’ from coaching as ‘behaviour change.’ Descriptions ofexecutive-coachees’ experiences grouped around themes of engagement, deeper conversations, insight andresponsibility, and positive growth. The exceptional coaching capabilities that facilitated these experienceswere: credibility, empathy and respect, holding the professional self, diagnostic skill and insight, approachflexibility and range, working to the business context, a philosophy of personal responsibility, and skilfulchallenging.Conclusions: Themes resolved into a process model of exceptional executive coaching that incorporatedenvironmental, executive, and task characteristics as other influential factors. Discussion focused on theremedial implications of using behaviour change as the outcome definition. Despite this implication,executives nevertheless seemed to experience executive coaching as positive and, at times, transformational.The work of exceptional coaches may be at its most distinctive when the required behaviour change isparticularly demanding, and when outcomes are based on transformational change.

Keywords: executive coaching, coach capabilities, practices, attributes, factors influencing outcomes.

I

*In conjunction with the Australian Human Resources Institute.

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forms of executive coaching: one focused onlearning and development, leading to per-formance improvement, and the secondfocused on change. That is, one area of workis helping executives acquire new knowledgeand skills to help them be more effective intheir roles. Change-based work, by contrast,has less of a focus on educational aspectsthan on helping executives to make differentchoices regarding their behavioural pat-terns, particularly in their interpersonalinteractions.

Laske (2007) argued that these two formsmay in fact be different levels of the samework. Whether or not they represent levelsor substantially different genres, coachesworking in these different forms may requireidentifiably different skill sets and experi-ence bases. In a pair of studies, de Haan(2008a, 2008b) researched the differencebetween inexperienced and experiencedcoaches in critical moments of coachingpractice. De Hann found that experiencedcoaches were more able to tolerate tensionin the coaching relationship, and were morelikely to deliberately inquire into those ten-sions with the executive. This implies a levelof personal development in the coach to beable to tolerate and work with discomfort,and that such characteristics would not bedeveloped through a skill acquisition-oriented training programme. Bluckert(2005) made this call for change moreexplicit and advocated for a need to shift theemphasis of coach training to incorporate amore substantial focus on the personaldevelopment of the coach.

Coaches may be expected to deal withmore than discomfort in the coaching rela-tionship. Spence, Cavanagh and Grant(2006) called for coaches to be betterequipped to deal with the range and depthof issues that can be presented in a coachingenvironment, and that the coaching processmay open up deep-seated anxieties (Gray,2006). Grant (2007) indicated that coachesmay also need to be equipped to deal with arange of psychological pathologies existingin the executive coachee cohort. Even where

issues are not in the realm of disorders,coaches may be confronted routinely withlong-standing behaviour problems (Berman& Bradt, 2006), and that exceptionalcoaches will be those who are the most effec-tive in dealing with such issues.

Although there is a growing body of liter-ature discussing recommended coachingpractices and the factors that predict suc-cessful coaching outcomes, (e.g. Dagley, 2006;Greif, 2007), there seems to have been littleor no investigation of the practices of thosecoaches identified as exceptional practi-tioners. An understanding of the work ofexceptional coaches would serve to identifythe sorts of outcomes that are possible fromsuch work, and the practices that lead to thoseresults. Such data would also provide a usefulbasis to inform the measurement of out-comes, the training and accreditation of exec-utive coaches, and effective methods forcoach selection. The focus of the presentresearch was to provide a description ofexceptional executive coaching work throughthe use of interviews with informed observersand purchasers of executive coachingservices, and discussion of their experiencesof working with coaches who they believedwere exceptional. The specific objective of thestudy was to understand better what differen-tiates the work of exceptional coaches.

MethodParticipantsOf the 20 experienced purchasers of execu-tive coaching services who completed inter-views, 12 were female and eight were male.In their primary roles, 11 worked in generalHuman Resources positions and nine in spe-cialist leadership development roles.Regarding geographical spread, 10 of therespondents were from Melbourne, ninefrom Sydney, and one from Brisbane. Threeof the 20 participants now work as coaches orin coach training roles and two others areundertaking postgraduate study in coaching.

One of the purchasers became a partici-pant as a result of responding to an elec-tronic advertisement placed by the

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Australian Human Resources Institute. Allother purchasers participated as a result ofsnowball selection (Minichiello et al., 1995)through networked contacts. Only four ofthis group of purchasers were known to theresearcher prior to participation in theresearch.

Purchasers had an average of six-and-a-half years experience working with executivecoaches (ranging from six months to 15years), and had been responsible forcoaching programmes for an estimated 605executives (costing approximately $6.2 mil-lion) in the preceding two years. Althoughthe proportion of their roles spent on exec-utive coaching averaged 14 per cent (andonly one exceeded 25 per cent), the pur-chasers estimated that they had worked insome capacity with 210 coaches in the lasttwo years, and felt they had sufficient expo-sure to 98 of them to discuss their work.

MaterialsStructured interviews formed the basis fordata collection. The interviews centredaround a 40-item questionnaire designed toexplore the purchasers’ experiences andperceptions about the definition of ‘a greatoutcome’ from coaching work, descriptionof a nominated exceptional coach, and casestudies of exceptional coaching work. Thequestions are included in Appendix A. Theinterview included questions on a range ofrelated topics including purchaser demo-graphic information, coach location andselection methods, outcome measurement,and recommendations regarding executivecoach accreditation. Questions 3.7, and 5.1to 6.2 provided the bulk of the data that arethe focus of this paper.

Piloting of the questionnaire and inter-view with one potential participant in thestudy provided the opportunity to improvequestion wording, and to check for the com-pleteness of the questionnaire. As a result ofpiloting, the initial questionnaire was sub-stantially shortened to enable completion ofthe interview within 90 minutes. Data fromthis interview was excluded from the analysis.

ProcedureInterviews occurred face-to-face or by tele-phone and each lasted between 60 and 90minutes. Interview participants received acopy of the research proposal, and an infor-mation sheet describing the research, theprocedures, and the rights and obligationsof participation. The purchasers alsoreceived a written consent form for signature(which was agreed verbally in the case ofphone interviews). Prior to commencing theinterview, purchasers received a verbalbriefing and had the opportunity to ask anyquestions.

Handwritten records of purchaserresponses provided the source data for latertranscription into Excel spreadsheets. A sample of respondents received copies oftheir transcripts for verification of accuracyand all were returned with only minoramendments.

AnalysisAll interview data were transcribed intoMicrosoft Excel spreadsheets in groups thatfollowed the section headings of the ques-tionnaire (e.g. definition, assessment of out-comes, differentiation of coaches). Theresponses were then coded (within those sec-tion headings) regarding the concepts orlower-order themes that each commentaddressed. These lower-order themes werethen themselves coded to identify associatedlower-order themes and the higher orderthemes to which they appeared to relate(e.g. ‘maintains integrity of approach’ and‘able to hold the dark stuff’ as lower-orderthemes were coded to the higher ordertheme of ‘holds the professional self’).

Refinement and validation of the themesand development of propositions occurredthrough extracting the key supporting quo-tations and validating these against thehigher order themes, and re-investigatingthe original transcripts for conflicting data.These processes, along with the reportingphase, follow the qualitative data analysisstages described by Taylor and Bogdan(1984).

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The final three interviews in the serieswere not included in the initial analysisprocess. These last interviews were used as a‘saturation’ check (Glaser & Strauss, 1967)to provide assurance that all the majorthemes had been correctly identified andthat further interviewing was unlikely to addfurther information. No new themesemerged as a result of the analysis of thesefinal three interviews. Regarding the rangeof participants who have been quoted in thepaper, 14 of the 17 purchasers whose dataformed the original analysis supplied quotesincluded in the results section.

As a further check on the validity of theemergent themes, all participants received asurvey requesting them to supply impor-tance ratings for the themes identified in theanalysis. Seven of the 20 purchasers repliedto the survey and provided ratings.

Results‘Great outcome’Purchasers provided a range of responses inanswer to the question ‘what characterises a“great outcome” from coaching?’ Theresponses can be grouped under four broadheadings: direct coaching outcomes, identi-fiable measurement points, downstreameffects, and factors that were influential ingenerating those outcomes.

Purchasers provided a clear message thatgreat coaching results in ‘behaviour change.’As one purchaser described it, ‘the superor-dinate goal is based around the belief thatleaders shape culture, and improving thelevel of constructive behaviour of leaders isthe underlying goal.’ All but one of the‘direct coaching outcomes’ responses wererelated to behavioural change.

Of those purchasers who described a‘great result’ in terms of the identifiablemeasurement points of these outcomes, 11of 12 identified the observations of the exec-utives’ colleagues regarding the behaviouralchanges (in addition to the reports from theexecutive coaches themselves) as the bestevidence of success. Downstream benefits ofthe coaching outcomes grouped under two

headings: personal outcomes (increased self-esteem, confidence, engagement, and moti-vation), and realisation of potential(transition success, retention, and careerdevelopment). The downstream gains arewhat appear to produce the benefits toorganisations.

From my perspective, [a great outcome]is to hear about a [professional servicesfirm] partner that has turned around asituation that they were struggling with,or have stepped up to the plate and areoperating at the level you would expect.Our organisation uses practice teams andthe leaders of those teams are reluctantleaders. Management is frowned uponhere! They hadn’t been doing well, butthrough coaching they have been able toturn it around. Now they are able toinfluence and persuade partners to comeon board, and that wouldn’t havehappened without coaching, and it is animportant outcome for the business.

The purchasers also provided responses thathinted at the mechanisms for coaching suc-cess – the ‘how’ factors of achievingbehavioural change. Principal among thesewas the personal and professional develop-ment of the executive. One purchaserdescribed how ‘I enjoy watching the execu-tive uncover and develop an area which wasa blind spot or something that was“unchangeable”’. That is, rather than simplyadopting compliant behaviour, executivesmight be building the behavioural changeon a foundation of addressing and buildingawareness about a blind spot or difficultarea, and translating that awareness intoaction.

Exceptional coaching practicesIn response to a question about what it wasthe exceptional coaches can do that weakercoaches cannot, purchasers provided indica-tions about the experiences of the executiveswhen working with exceptional coaches. Asone purchaser described it, ‘They keep themotivation of the coachee. They producechange faster.’ Another reported that:

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They get the individual to believe there isa reason to and then go about gettingthat change. They are ‘lights on and go’right from the start. For tough issues theyget the executive to really understand theissue, what they want to change, and toown it.

Another indicated that exceptional coachesare ‘able to get to deeper conversationsmore quickly, and motivate people to takepersonal responsibility for their own devel-opment and growth.’

These quotations indicate that executives’experiences of exceptional coaching includethe following themes: engagement, deeperconversations, and insight and responsibility.The themes that emerged from theremaining questions identified the coachingpractices that prompted these executiveexperiences (as described in Table 1).

EngagementPurchasers indicated that one of the centralfactors in producing behavioural change wasthe ability of the coach rapidly to connectand engage with the executive around thecoaching task or mandate. Their responsesindicated that three factors or coachingcapabilities facilitated that connection: cred-ibility, empathy and respect, and the abilityof the coach to work effectively and in rolewhen under personal or professional pres-sure – to ‘hold the professional self.’

Credibility was established (or lost) fairlyearly in the relationship. As one purchaserphrased it, ‘It’s about building credibility. It’sall about those first impressions. If a coach isnot slick in the first meeting then it doesn’twork out as well.’

Purchasers indicated that credibility isbased on both acquired experience and per-formance in-the-moment. In relation toexperience, one purchaser commented that‘[exceptional coaches] relate to the indi-vidual they are coaching in terms of knowl-edge and experience. Lower-level coachesjust don’t have the experience of organisa-tions, organisational politics etc. It’s aboutbreadth and depth of experience.’

Experience, though, is not enough. As another purchaser described it:

The weaker coach just plays what is infront of him, and then drags out one ofhis tools or techniques. [The nominatedcoach] was able to slot into the executiveteam at a huge industrial organisationwhere he was coaching and was workingwith a very senior player who was notdoing well. He was able to navigate thatminefield exceptionally well. That is whyhe is top of the heap.

Purchasers also described a very humanquality in the interactions between coachand executive. They listed empathy andrespect, trust-building, rapport-building,subtlety, creating safety, and listening skills as

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Table 1: Exceptional executive coaching capabilities.

Executive experience Coaching capabilities

engagement credibilityempathy and respect holding the professional self

deeper conversations diagnostic skill and insightapproach flexibility and range

insight and responsibility works to the business contexta philosophy of personal responsibilityskilful challenging

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some of the factors that contributed to thatquality. One purchaser described her nomi-nated coach’s ‘ability to build rapport withour most difficult people. Other coacheswould not be as quick to build rapport andthat would give opportunities for the execu-tive to exit the coaching.’ Another said that‘[exceptional coaches] are able to immersethemselves in the coachee’s world. Otherspretend that they do but they don’t. That’sthe biggest [differentiator].’

The theme of holding the professionalself represents a complex mixture of interre-lated ideas. Sub-themes in this groupinginclude maintaining integrity of approach;the ability to remain un-phased and effectivein working with conflict, tension and anxiety;staying ‘ego-free’; maintaining professionalseparation and boundaries; humility; andremaining focused on the executive’s needsrather than on the coach’s own personal orbusiness development needs. One purchasercommented that:

to be extremely honest, we use [thisnominated coach] with our most difficultexecutives. She is able to engage withthem without engaging in a ‘pissingcompetition.’ These are usually men,very senior, and aggressive, and can easilyresult in a clash of egos. She seems to beable to do it ‘ego free.’

Another commented that:[Exceptional coaches] can sit with theambiguity of the situation. They arecomfortable in being uncomfortable.They are not overly concerned if theexecutive is uncomfortable and they arenot tied up in their own egos aboutmaking the executive feel good. It isabout getting the right result.

Deeper conversationsA number of purchasers commented onexceptional coaches’ diagnostic ability tointuit and understand the underlying factorsthat are at the core of the work with eachparticular executive. They commented thatthis ability relates to having a deep under-standing of the human condition and an

awareness of systemic issues at play. Com-ments included:

She is exceptional at seeing patterns andunconscious responses, defences andbehaviours … The most powerfulchanges occur at the core, where herexpertise is.She can really get to the nub of the issue– the difficult places that the individualdoesn’t want to go. Other coaches canwork with surface issues but haven’t theskills to get to the nub of the issue.

Purchasers indicated that exceptionalcoaches have a broad range of approachesand methods in their repertoires, and areflexible in the way they approach the work.

Weaker coaches have an ‘I have this 10-step method and I will apply it’approach, rather than tailoring the workto each executive. It is not ‘one-size-fits-all’. Weaker coaches’ work is amonologue, not a dialogue. It is not aboutengaging, not about discussing. Theycome with a preconceived notion anddump it onto the executive, give themhomework, and then expect outcomes.

Insight and responsibilityIn supporting the executive experience ofgreater insight and an increased sense ofpersonal responsibility for action, purchasersindicated that exceptional coaches remainaware that they are working in a businesscontext. They recognise that (usually) theyhave two clients – the executive and theorganisation funding the work. Commentsindicated the exceptional coach wasbusiness-centric, aware of the organisationalcontext, and was reliable in working to thebrief and thorough in following-up. Forexample,

[this coach] is thorough. Some coacheswill say they will do things and not do it.When we follow up together she opensher little notebook and she carefullycloses the loop on all things she said shewould do.

This does not necessarily imply that thecoach is constrained by the brief. A few

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purchasers alluded to the need to satisfy thebusiness brief and, where necessary andappropriate, go beyond the brief to get towhat is important for the development of theexecutive (as intimated by comments in theprevious sections about diagnostic insightand approach flexibility). By way of example,a purchaser commented that one of the keyfactors in the success of the work describedin his case study was due to ‘the flexibility of[the coach’s] approach and an open-mind-edness and willingness to push the bound-aries past what the organisation required.’

Exceptional coaches are able to engageand motivate executives toward action andchange. This category of responses repre-sents two important sub-themes. Firstly, theexceptional coach uses an approach that isunderpinned by a philosophy that the pri-mary responsibility for change rests with theexecutive, not the coach. Secondly, thecoach uses highly-refined coaching practicesintended to raise and work with issues thatare difficult or uncomfortable for the execu-tive – the practice of ‘challenging.’ One pur-chaser indicated that both these key factorswere instrumental in the success of her nom-inated coach. ‘[It is not only] her philosophyof coaching and of personal responsibility,but also her courage. She would probe intoareas that were maybe uncomfortable.’

In assisting executives to take responsi-bility for action, exceptional coaches recog-nise the need for coaches to stay in thecoaching role rather than moving to anexpert or consultant role. The purchasersidentified the markers of this ability tomanage the responsibility for developingsolutions. Firstly, they identified what hap-pens in the coaching. As one purchaserobserved, his nominated coach is able to‘motivate people to take personal responsi-bility for their own development andgrowth.’

Secondly, the purchasers identified twopractices that supported this philosophy ofpersonal responsibility. Those practices areto ask good questions and never give advice.For example:

I’ve seen weaker coaches give misguidedadvice – choosing the path for theexecutive rather than the executivechoosing – for example, advising a personabout an important decision. You need tobe careful with coaching as you can endup with more issues, particularly if thecoach lets his or her ego get in the way.

More than half the respondents providedrelatively lengthy quotes about the impor-tance to success of the coach’s skilful chal-lenging of the executive, including theability to deliver difficult messages. As onepurchaser put it:

The skill was about delivering thefeedback that no-one else in theorganisation could give. The coachsupported the person, while deliveringthe hard stuff. That was the exceptionalbit. There is such a high potential forshame in those situations.

The purchasers were clear that skilful chal-lenging was more than just the ability toarticulate difficult, uncomfortable or anx-iety-provoking messages. The practice repre-sents a combination of: courage, the(previously discussed) ability to hold the pro-fessional self, the ability to deliver the mes-sage with sensitivity and respect, and theability to deliver the message while main-taining the connection and relationship.The following quotes provide some illustra-tion.

It’s … a style thing. Managers in thisorganisation expect to feel ‘push back’and exceptional coaches can do that. Ittakes a fair amount of personal fortitudefor a coach to do that considering therisks to the assignment. Executives havesaid about this coach that ‘he won’t letyou get away with things.’ [The outcome] was about the ability tochallenge and ask hard questions. [Buthe also] demonstrated a sense of respectand appropriateness in the way he wentabout the practice. And it was again thatboundary awareness.

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Other factorsPurchasers responded to a question aboutwhat factors, other than the coach, had amajor influence on outcomes and results.They identified three areas: factors in theenvironment, factors related to the execu-tive, and the characteristics of the task ormandate for the coaching work.

Environmental factorsPurchasers indicated that important envi-ronmental factors included: organisationalperceptions about executive coaching,organisational culture, the ability of theexecutive to make time for the work, thelength of the assignment, and the setup ofthe assignment including the negotiation ofconfidentiality. Regarding confidentiality,one purchaser commented that

[It’s about] confidentiality and the‘hygiene factors.’ Despite the fact that alot of senior executives use coaches, feware comfortable to talk about it. It is notabout weaknesses, but about buildingstrengths. A lot of HR managers ask ‘howis it going,’ but that confidentiality – it’salmost sacred. They should be focusingon outcomes, not what is going on insidethe coaching.

Among the organisational factors, the mostcommon theme was the involvement of andsupport from the sponsoring leader. Onepurchaser commented that ‘[an importantfactor is the] support from the direct man-ager. Without that support it doesn’t reallymatter what they do. But with strong buy-infrom the manager it usually means thecoaching will be successful.’

Executive factorsMore than organisational factors though, itwas factors related to the executive-coachee,and in particular, the executive’s orientationto the coaching task that drew the most com-ment. One purchaser’s response sum-marised the theme:

[A major influence was] the conclusionsthe executive has reached aboutthemselves and what they need to do,

[as well as] the conclusions of significantothers (be that the boss or the spouse orsomeone else) – who can focus theexecutive on doing somethingdifferently. It is also about the life stagethat they are at. There are transitionpoints in life and careers, and where [theexecutives] are in relation to those canaffect the coaching.

Purchasers generally did not discuss in anydepth the characteristics or circumstances ofthe executives that might predict or influ-ence their orientation to coaching tasks.One purchaser, however, shed some light onthe perception issues that might underpinexecutive reluctance.

[This] was a very senior manager who wasrecently promoted, but had previouslyhad a ‘fatal flaw.’ He was performingexceptionally well at the lower level butshowed behaviours that would just not beacceptable at the next level up. He wasgiven feedback that he would notprogress any further in the organisationif he didn’t change, and may even lose hiscurrent role. It was politically a verysensitive issue. The executive was nothappy about doing executive coachingand felt that in agreeing to do this hewould be accepting that he had aproblem, and he was a really challengingindividual to work with. It was prettycharged for the individual and for hismanager.

Task factorsPurchasers also identified the task itself as aninfluential factor, particularly as regards taskclarity and the extent of the communicationand agreement around the objectives. Themajority of those discussing the influence oftask indicated that it was important to ‘bereally clear on the outcomes you want toachieve for the individuals and the business.’

Sometimes, however, a coach will need tooperate in an environment where the taskdescription has not been well articulated.For example, one purchaser commentedthat ‘[it is important] there are clear goals

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upfront from both parties. [But] often themanager doesn’t convey his or her expecta-tions that well to the executive.’

OutcomesPurchaser responses suggest that the rela-tionship between task and outcome is notalways a direct relationship, but is mediatedby (or results in a concurrent outcome of) apositive and transformational change in theexecutive. In describing a case study ofexceptional coaching, one purchaser com-mented that ‘the coach inspired anincreased confidence in the executive in away I didn’t think possible.’ Anotherreported that ‘I’ve seen this [coach] start,and within the first few minutes, recognisethe acute anxiety of this person and be ableto reframe that as positive energy in a shorttime. That’s a really key attribute.’

The executives’ experiences ultimatelyseem to have been positive and personallyvaluable, despite the difficult materialaddressed. A purchaser described the fol-lowing example.

Six months into the programme I received a call [from the executivecoachee]. ‘I just had to give you thisfeedback. I have had this problem with

anger for most of my life but I regardthese six months as the best investmentof time in my entire life. I have learned somuch. I have come so far. It doesn’t meanI won’t regress, but it is the best thing I’vedone.’

This transformation might sometimes be evi-denced by the strength of the residual rela-tionship with the coach. Sometimes,however, that residual relationship can havenegative connotations.

Some other coaches in this organisation,the ones I call ‘the Rasputins’ have theirown hooks into the business. They havelost their objectivity and don’t really addvalue even though they charge a lot. Theyseem to act more as ‘trusted friend.’ Thecoaching I saw [from the nominatedexceptional coach] was the opposite ofthat.

ModelsThe following models, illustrated in Figures1 and 2, represent an interpretation of thelinkages between the various themes identi-fied in the purchasers’ responses aboutexceptional executive coaching work. Thefirst model (Figure 1) represents a high-levelinterpretation of the themes of what it takes

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Figure 1: Summary model of exceptional executive coaching.

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to achieve ‘great outcomes,’ without differ-entiating any individual coach interventionpractices.

The various components of exceptionalcoaching that exist between the identifica-tion of the task and the resulting behaviouralchange can be grouped on three levels.Level 1 represents the parts of the modelthat are visible to people outside thecoaching relationship – in particular, thetask or mandate that prompted the coachingwork, and any behaviour change thatresulted. Those external people (such as theHR manager, the sponsoring manager, andsubordinates) are usually not privy to theinteractions and events that occurredbetween coach and executive.

Level 2 represents the experiences of theexecutive within the coaching relationship.They are divided into two parts: theprocesses that the executive experiences(engagement, deeper conversations, andinsight and responsibility), and the results ofthose processes (being positive personaland/or professional growth). An assumptionunderpinning the model is that sustainedchanges in entrenched and complexbehaviours will not occur without personaland/or professional growth.

Level 3 of the model represents all thepractices and attributes that the coach bringsto the work. These, along with the otherexternal drivers, are described below inFigure 2.

This model represents a complex devel-opment of the previous model (Figure 1),and includes the detail of the eight excep-tional coaching practices discussed by pur-chasers. The other major development ofthis model over its predecessor is to describein more detail the construction and theongoing role of the working relationship.This model illustrates that the working rela-tionship is a result of three factors; environ-mental factors (such as the sponsoringleader’s involvement and support, and theorganisational culture), factors and charac-teristics related to the individual executive(such as personality, and motivation to

engage in coaching), and the coach’s abili-ties at forging a connection with the execu-tive. The linkages between these factors andthe working relationship are not direct, butare mediated by the characteristics of thetask or mandate of the coaching work.

The second important aspect of theworking relationship is its pervasive andongoing influence in facilitating the deeperconversations and the insight and responsi-bility components of the executive’s experi-ence of coaching. That is, the workingrelationship forms a foundational compo-nent of all the coaching work, and is recip-rocally interdependent with other aspects ofthe executive’s experience of the work.

Model validationTo test whether the model in Figure 2 repre-sented a valid interpretation of the data, the20 purchasers who participated in the inter-view process each received an e-mail thatlisted the components of the model. Theseven who responded provided ratings on a10-point scale regarding the importance ofeach component, with ‘1’ indicating notimportant, ‘5’ indicating moderately impor-tant, and ‘10’ indicating critically important.

Purchasers responded to two questions,and indicated the importance of each of thefactors to: ‘exceptional executive coachingwork that results in behaviour change in theexecutive’ (see Table 2), and ‘the ability ofthe coach to deliver exceptional executivecoaching’ (see Table 3). The average ratingsfor all factors were 7.4 or above, indicatingthat the identified factors were importantcomponents in achieving outcomes throughexecutive coaching.

Purchasers also described any factors thathad not been listed, but that they believedhad an important bearing on achieving suc-cessful outcomes in executive coaching work.Their responses described factors related totask clarity, executive commitment and dis-closure, and the sustainability of changes. Allof these factors had been identified in theoriginal data and had been subsumed underhigher-order factors in the model.

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DiscussionThe objective of the research was to under-stand the factors that differentiate the workof exceptional coaches. The results indicatethat such coaches are able to deliver againstan identifiable range of capabilities asrequired by the work, and deliver with con-siderable skill.

Exceptional coachingMultiple factorsBoth the interviews and the subsequent vali-dation inquiries indicated that exceptionalcoaching results are products of both thecoach’s delivery and of a number of other

critical factors that can materially affect out-comes. Those critical factors were: environ-mental factors (such as the involvement ofthe sponsoring manager, the culture of theorganisation, and the structure of thecoaching programme), executive factors(including the motivation and commitmentof the executive, personality factors, and out-side influences affecting the executive’s pro-fessional life), and task factors (such as theclarity of the objectives, and the perceivedremediality of the work).

The results also provide a clear indica-tion to purchasers of coaching services thatsimply hiring a good coach, without paying

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Table 2: Factors in exceptional executive coaching that result in behaviour change.

Factor Average importance rating* SD

Structural factorsEnvironmental factors 8.3 1.7Executive factors 8.7 1.3Task factors 8.0 1.7

Executive experience of the coachingThe working relationship 9.0 1.5‘Deeper conversations’ 8.1 0.9Awareness and insight 8.1 1.3Taking responsibility for change 9.3 1.1Positive growth experience 7.4 1.8

*Practitioners rated importance on a 10-point scale, with ‘10’ indicating the factor was critically important, ‘5’ indicating moderate importance, and ‘1’ indicating the factor was not important.

*Practitioners rated importance on a 10-point scale, with ‘10’ indicating the factor was critically important, ‘5’ indicating moderate importance, and ‘1’ indicating the factor was not important.

Table 3: Practices and attributes that affect a coach’s ability to deliverexceptional coaching.

Coach practices and attributes Average importance rating* SD

Credibility 8.6 1.1Empathy and respect 7.7 1.7‘Holding the professional self’ 7.7 1.8Diagnostic skill and insight 8.6 1.4Flexibility and range in approach 7.9 1.3Working to the business context 8.0 1.3A philosophy of ‘personal responsibility’ 8.4 1.4Skilful challenging 8.7 1.0

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attention to the other key factors, may welllimit results. Purchasers provided a long listof these detracting factors, the mostcommon being an unmotivated or uncom-mitted executive, poor feedback and clarifi-cation about the reasons for coaching andthe task being undertaken, and the lack ofinvolvement or lack of support of a spon-soring executive.

Exceptional coach characteristicsExceptional coaching seems to be related tothe ability of the coach to facilitate particularexecutive experiences (i.e. engagement withthe coach, in-depth conversations, the devel-opment of personal insight and responsi-bility for action, and a sense of personaland/or professional growth). The results,along with the subsequent validation work,indicate that exceptional coaches employeight practices and attributes in their work,and that these practices and attributes influ-ence the capacity of the coach to facilitatethose executive experiences.

One of the important findings from thisresearch is that exceptional coaches do notappear to display factors or characteristicsthat are absent in less accomplished coaches.The primary point of differentiation appearsto be that they are able to deliver against alland any of these quite basic characteristics(as is required in the work), and deliver at anobservably superior level of expertise.

The most demanding of these character-istics are likely to be those that create per-sonal discomfort for the coach (de Haan,2008a, de Haan, 2008b). The purchasersindicated that exceptional coaches tended toearn their reputations around the ability towork in conflicted situations, to resist thetemptation to move from a coaching role(and start to supply solutions), and to pro-vide uncomfortable and challenging feed-back while maintaining connection with theexecutive. As intimated by DuCharme(2004) and Laske (2007), effective func-tioning in such environments may makedemands that go beyond a cognitive-behavioural skill set, and are related to the

personal qualities and personal develop-ment of the coach.

Outcome definitionThe interviewees in this research were clearabout the purpose of executive coaching.Almost without exception they described a‘great outcome’ from coaching as being‘behaviour change.’ Behaviour change has aclear implication that the executive’s currentbehavioural set has been observed as inade-quate or detrimental to the effective per-formance of the executive in role, and thatthe task of coaching is to improve behaviours– to make a positive change.

Such a definition has an unpalatablystrong flavour of ‘remediation.’ This may bea key factor regarding difficulties with: thepositioning of executive coaching in organi-sations, the ability of sponsoring managers toprovide clear feedback about the issues thatthey would like to see resolved, and (there-fore) the ability to measure outcomes. Onecan almost hear the internal dialogue of thesponsoring manager or HR professional.‘The coaching is not remedial – really – it’sdevelopmental! So we can’t really say it’sbecause you’re not doing well here!!’ Thesepoints may mean that the differentiation of‘remedial’ and ‘developmental’ coachingmay not be as clear as one might hope. A possible redefinition of the two formsmight differentiate the work simply on thebasis of the starting point, with remedialwork having a larger element of mandatedparticipation.

This emphasis on behaviour change maybe the result of the study design. The pur-chasers who provided interview data werediscussing the work of exceptional coaches.Exceptional coaches are likely to distinguishthemselves when the work is at its most diffi-cult. It would not be a stretch to describethose assignments as the charged or com-plex ones, dealing with entrenchedbehavioural issues.

The term ‘behaviour change’ alsoappears to be an insufficient description ofthe results of exceptional work. The sorts of

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changes observed by purchasers were idio-syncratic, complex, and around entrenchedpatterns (which might not be obvious at theoutset of the work – see Berman & Bradt,2006). Further, the outcomes seemed to besustainable (rather than simply compliant),and such changes seemed to occur as a resultof positive individual personal and/or pro-fessional growth.

The purchasers did not, however, empha-sise (or even describe) negative experiencesfor executives when working with excep-tional coaches. They certainly provided evi-dence of challenging and demandingmoments in the work, but the executives’experiences overall appeared to be positiveand often transformational.

One of the characteristics of the work ofexceptional coaches may be the ability toidentify and persist with difficult tasks in sucha way that executives come away with a senseof accomplishment and increased self-beliefat the end of the work. Purchasers supportedBluckert’s (2005) contention that there aredistinctions between various forms of execu-tive coaching. Examples of these formsincluded ‘C-suite’-level coaching versuscoaching for mid-level managers, andcoaching for particular skills or issues versus‘fatal flaw’ coaching. One of the key differen-tiators between the coaching subtypes may bethe balance in the work between the execu-tive’s need for skill acquisition, and the needfor insight and taking on of responsibility forchange (or as one purchaser described it,building the capability in individuals to‘improve through reflecting on practice’).

Such a distinction would also tend to indi-cate what coaching attributes, and thereforewhich coaches, are likely to be the most effec-tive. The evidence from the interviews is thatexceptional coaches can be effective in bothareas – skill acquisition and more funda-mental change – but that less accomplishedcoaches (commonly with a more systematisedor rigid approach) may only be effectivewhen skill acquisition is the key task.

LimitationsIn respect of its generalisability, the obviouslimitations of this study are the smallnumber of respondents (in both the originalsample and in the validation study) and theopportunistic sampling technique. Theselimitations may result in biases in the datadue to under- or over-representation fromparticular purchaser groups.

The effects of these limiting factors havebeen mitigated to some extent by the use ofsaturation testing (Glaser & Strauss, 1967)and of post-data-analysis validation surveys toprovide some support that: (a) all thethemes that might be present in the popula-tion group have been captured in the datacollection process; and (b) that thosethemes have been correctly identifiedthrough the analysis process.

A further limitation to the generalis-ability of the results is that the themes iden-tified in this research may not be applicableto mainstream coaching work – work thatwould not satisfy the ‘exceptional’ label. Thedata collected in this study represent anexploration of one extreme end of a con-tinuum of coaching delivery, and thereforeits generalisability may be limited.

Future researchThis study is the first of three in a plannedresearch programme. The second study con-sists of interviews with the exceptionalcoaches nominated by purchasers in the cur-rent study. Interviews with executive-clientsof these nominated coaches form the basis ofthe third study in the series. Data collectionfor both these studies is well under way, witha number of interviews completed with nom-inated coaches and executive clients. It willbe fascinating to compare the impressions ofthe purchasers in the current study with therealities and perceptions described bycoaches and executives in the later studies.

The development and growth of a disci-pline (or industry, or profession) that pur-ports to hold integrity and human values atits core seems to demonstrate a remarkableresemblance to some of the early stages of

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human social development described byErikson (1963) – in particular, the strivingfor: a sense of personal (vs. professional)adequacy, intellectual and applied compe-tence, and an integrated image as a uniqueindividual (vs. discipline). Unfortunately,when compared to Erikson’s model, execu-tive coaching appears to be squarely in themiddle of its teenage years.

Drake (2008) described a hope that theexecutive coaching industry may be movingtoward an era that belongs to the artisan.That time may indeed be approaching, anda broad and thoughtful research base willmean that such an era can be embraced bothon the basis of evidence-based principles andthe recognition of artistry. One of the keymessages from this research is that excep-tional coaches may be artisans, and that whatdifferentiates them is not what they do (thedescribed factors are unsurprising), but theexquisite expertise in how they do it – andthe essentially human and personal qualitiesthat underpin such expertise.

The underlying purpose of this researchgoes beyond simple description of complexwork. Research such as this has little value ifit does not serve to inform (and possibly edu-cate) the buying public. Positioned in thatconflicted nexus between human develop-ment and organisational performance prag-matism, executive coaching can only flourishin the longer term in an environment ofinformed and critical purchasers.

CorrespondenceDr Gavin DagleyPerspex Consulting,PO Box 481,Flinders Lane,VIC 8009,Australia.Tel: 0425 795 675E-mail: [email protected]

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ReferencesAbbott, G. & Rosinski, P. (2007). Global coaching

and evidence-based coaching: Multiple perspec-tives operating in a process of pragmatichumanism. International Journal of Evidence BasedCoaching and Mentoring, 5, 58–77.

Berman, W.H. & Bradt, G. (2006). Executivecoaching and consulting: ‘Different strokes fordifferent folks.’ Professional Psychology: Researchand Practice, 37, 244–253.

Bluckert, P. (2005). The foundations of a psycholog-ical approach to executive coaching. Industrialand Commercial Training, 37, 171–178.

de Haan, E. (2008a). I doubt therefore I coach:Critical moments in coaching practice. ConsultingPsychology Journal: Practice & Research, 60, 91–105.

de Haan, E. (2008b). I struggle and emerge: Criticalmoments of experienced coaches. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research, 60, 106–131.

Dagley, G.R. (2006). HR professionals’ perceptions of exec-utive coaching: Implementations, efficacy, and efficacydrivers. Retrieved 6 September 2009, from:http://workingwithourselves.wordpress.com/publications/exec-coaching-research-g-dagley-2006[1].pdf

Drake, D. (2008). Finding our way home: Coaching’ssearched for identity in a new era. Coaching: AnInternational Journal of Theory, Research & Practice,1, 16–27.

DuCharme, M.J. (2004). The cognitive-behaviouralapproach to executive coaching. Consulting Psy-chology Journal: Practice & Research, 56, 214–224.

Erikson, E. (1963). Childhood and society. New York:Norton.

Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery ofgrounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research.Chicago: Aldine.

Grant, A.M. (2007). A languishing-flourishing modelof goal striving and mental health for coachingpopulations. International Coaching PsychologyReview, 2(3), 250–264.

Grant, A.M. (2009). Workplace, executive and lifecoaching: An annotated bibliography from thebehavioural science and business literature. CoachingPsychology Unit, The University of Sydney, Australia.

Grant, A.M., Curtayne, L. & Burton, G. (in press).Executive coaching enhances goal attainment,resilience and workplace well-being: A ran-domised controlled study. Journal of Positive Psychology.

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1 Definition of executive coaching:1.1 The following is a frequently quoted definition of executive coaching:

‘Executive coaching is a helping relationship formed between a client who has managerial authorityand responsibility in an organisation and a consultant who uses a wide variety of behavioural tech-niques and methods to assist the client to achieve a mutually defined set of goals to improve his or herprofessional performance and personal satisfaction and consequently to improve the effectiveness of theclient’s organisation within a formerly defined coaching agreement.’ (Kilburg, 2000)How well does this match with your ideas of a good definition? Does this match sufficiently to use as a definition for this interview?

1.2 In your view, what changes could be made to the definition to make it more complete oraccurate?

2 Experience of respondent and contact with coaches2.1 What is your current role?

What proportion of your work is related directly with executive coaching?2.2 For how long have you been in working with executive coaches (other than working as a

coach)?2.3 Approximately how many executives would have been involved with executive coaching

programmes for which you held significant responsibility in the last two years?2.4 What is the approximate average cost per executive for these coaching programmes?

What was the average duration (number of sessions or elapsed time) of the programmes?2.5 How many coaches have you worked with in the last two years? 2.6 How many coaches have you worked with in the last two years whose work you feel you

know well enough to discuss?

3 Methods of assessment of coaching outcomes3.1 In the executive coaching programmes you have been involved with, how have you or the

organisation measured the results? What is your principle method?

3.2 How strong and credible has the data been that resulted from these approaches?Which parts have been the most useful?

3.3 How difficult have you found it to get really strong measures of executive coaching out-comes?

Gray, D.E. (2006). Executive coaching: Towards adynamic alliance of psychotherapy and transfor-mative learning processes. Management Learning,37, 475–497.

Greif, G. (2007). Advances in research on coachingoutcomes. International Coaching PsychologyReview, 2(3), 222–247.

Kilburg, R.R. (2000). Executive coaching: Developingmanagerial wisdom in a world of chaos. Washington,DC: American Psychological Association.

Kilburg, R.R. (2004). When shadows fall: Using psy-chodynamic approaches in executive coaching.Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research,56, 246–268.

Laske, O. (2007). Contributions of evidence-baseddevelopmental coaching to coaching psychologyand practice. International Coaching PsychologyReview, 2(2), 202–212.

Minichiello, V., Aroni, R., Timewell, E. & Alexander,L. (1995). In-depth interviewing: Principles, tech-niques, analysis (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Longman.

Spence, G.B., Cavanagh, M.J. & Grant, A.M. (2006).Duty of care in an unregulated industry: Initialfindings on the diversity and practices of Aus-tralian coaches. International Coaching PsychologyReview, 1(1), 71–85.

Taylor, S.J. & Bogdan, R. (1984). Introdution to quali-tative research methods (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.

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Appendix A: Interview questions

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3.4 What constraints exist that might make the measurement of executive coaching difficultto achieve?

3.5 What advice would you offer to those seeking to use executive coaching regarding themeasurement of outcomes?

3.6 To what extent have you attempted to assess and compare the individual performances ofyour coaches? How well has that approach worked?

3.7 What characterises a ‘great outcome’ from coaching?

4 Nomination of an exceptional executive coach4.1 Can you offer the name of an executive coach who you believe is outstanding or excep-

tional?4.2 Would you be happy for me to approach her or him for participation in this research

programme, on your recommendation?

5 Differentiation of an exceptional coach from lesser coaches5.1 For what reasons do you rate this coach as exceptional?5.2 How much of your belief that this coach is exceptional is influenced by your personal

experience of the coach (vs feedback from other sources)?5.3 At what point and why did you suspect this coach might be exceptional?5.4 What characterises the differences between this coach and some of your weaker coaches?5.5 What can these exceptional coaches do that less effective coaches cannot?5.6 What other factors can have a major influence on outcomes and results?5.7 As regards coaching approach or method, how well does the use of a single consistent

model work in executive coaching?

6 Case example of exceptional coaching work6.1 Can you describe an example of the coach’s work that best illustrates what it is that makes

this coach exceptional?6.2 What was it about the coach that most contributed to this exceptional result?

7 Location and selection of coaches7.1 How do you currently go about finding your coaches?7.2 What selection methods do you use to evaluate potential coaches?7.3 What is the relative importance of the following criteria in your selection process (using a

4 (high rating) to 1 (low/nil rating) scale)?qualifications and training business experiencecoaching experience/clients list counselling experienceface credibility psychologistclarity around method(s) industry experienceuse of supervision professional/ethicsother (please specify)

7.4 What important things have you learned about how to go about selecting coaches?7.5 What proportion of your selection decision would actually be based on your subjective

opinion (be that an impression, your intuition or your experience) vs. strict criteria?7.6 What things to do not necessarily point towards coaching efficacy (that is, what can lead

someone astray in the selection process)?

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7.7 Can you remember a time when you have been fooled that a coach seemed better than heor she was? What were the circumstances?

7.8 How did you find this particular nominated exceptional coach? 7.9 What selection methods highlighted the particular factors and skills that make him or her

exceptional? 7.10 If you urgently had to find another exceptional coach, how would you go about it?7.11 In your opinion, can anyone be an excellent coach with appropriate training?7.12 If you could mandate it, what would you require in terms of (1) training and (2) experi-

ence as the minimum for a professional accreditation?

8 Changed perceptions as a result of interview8.1 How, if at all, has this interview clarified your perceptions of exceptional executive

coaching?8.2 What question would you have liked to discuss that wasn’t asked?

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XECUTIVE COACHING aims toenhance the effectiveness of leaders andperformance of organisations (Nelson

& Hogan, 2009) by connecting the who(talented employees) and the how (leader-ship development) with organisational goalsand strategies (Wood & Gordon, 2009). Toachieve these outcomes coaches first need todevelop a personal understanding of them-selves and their responses to change (Kemp,2009). In the educational setting, high-per-forming principals, much like CEOs, recog-nise that the tensions created by dailydilemmas require attention from both thecognitive and affective perspectives, andfinding a balance involves considering thelogical solution as well as the intuitive one(Lindsay, Halfacre & Welch, 2004). Onetheory that provides a relevant frameworkfor leaders and coaches to understand their

behaviour and how to respond effectively tochange is the Cognitive-Experiential SelfTheory (CEST; Epstein, 1998).

Epstein et al. (1996) proposed that:‘people process information by two parallel,interactive systems’ (p.391), which interactharmoniously but operate in different ways.The rational system, falling within the realmsof conscious control, is analytical, whereasthe experiential system operates both at theconscious and preconscious level and isholistic (see Figure 1). It is hypothesised thatthe overlapping region between the twosystems is an expandable region of intuitivewisdom and creativity (Bucci, 1985; Epstein1994). In the CEST model the experientialsystem acts as a default, unless the rationalprocessing system is consciously activated(Sadler-Smith, Hodgkinson & Sinclair,2008).

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010 81© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

Report

Executive coaching can enhancetransformational leadershipTom Cerni, Guy J. Curtis & Susan H. Colmar

Objectives: Epstein’s (1998) Cognitive-experiential Self theory (CEST) suggests that all behaviour is guidedby two different processing systems – the rational and experiential. This brief report presents results of astudy looking at the impact of a 10-week coaching intervention programme based on Epstein’s CEST theoryon transformational leadership among 14 secondary school principals. Design: Set up as a pre-test, post-test control-group research design, the present study tested whether changesto CEST information-processing systems could bring about changes in leadership style. Method: School principals in the intervention group focused on developing their rational system andconstructive elements of the experiential system. At the commencement of the coaching interventionprogramme all school staff in the 14 schools were invited to rate their school principal using the MLQ (5X)questionnaire. Results: The results of a 10-week coaching intervention programme showed that there was a significantdifference between the pre-test and post-test scores for the intervention group, as rated by their school staff.The control group remained unchanged. Qualitative results indicate that the school principal in theintervention group became more reflective about their thinking processes and leadership practices.Conclusion: This study provides initial evidence that by creating changes to rational and constructivethinking, it is possible to increase coachee’s use of transformational leadership techniques.

Keywords: coaching, leadership, transformational, information-processing, education.

E

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Both the rational and experientialsystems can offer assistance to leaders. Therational system appears to complement man-agement learning, as it can assist leadersmake logical inferences and solve abstractproblems. The experiential system on theother hand, with its intimate association withaffect, can be both constructive and destruc-tive (Epstein, 1998) when it comes to leader-ship. Constructive thinking is defined ‘as thedegree to which a person’s automaticthinking, that is, the thinking that occurswithout deliberate intention – facilitatessolving problems in everyday life at a min-imum cost in stress’ (Epstein, 1998, p.26).For example, good constructive thinkerstend to interpret new situations as chal-lenges rather than as threats, and view issuespositively but not to an unrealistic degree(Epstein, 2001). The constructive compo-nents of the experiential system are: globalconstructive thinking, emotional coping,behavioural coping and their respective sub-scales. The destructive components are: per-sonal superstitious thinking, categoricalthinking, esoteric thinking, and naïve opti-mism (Epstein, 2001). If leaders are betterable to understand their own rational andexperiential systems, and how the twosystems regulate each other for them torespond adaptively (Berger, 2007), the devel-opment of more productive leadership out-comes may result.

Research has found that transformationalleaders increase motivation (Bogler, 2001),job satisfaction, and commitment (Koh,1990). Transformational leadership appearsto be a particularly effective approach in edu-cational settings (Leithwood, 1994). In rela-tion to CEST, the rational system andconstructive elements of the experientialsystem have a strong positive relationship totransformational leadership (Cerni, Curtis &Colmar, 2008). However, the connectionestablished by previous research only demon-strates that these systems are related to, butnot necessarily that their use causes, transfor-mational leadership techniques (Cerni et al.,2008). The present study addressed this limi-tation of previous research by coachingschool principals in their use of the rationalsystem and constructive elements of the expe-riential system, and measuring its impact ontheir use of transformational leadership tech-niques.

MethodUsing a pre-post control group design, eightsecondary school principals participated inthe coaching programme over 10 weeks. Sixother principals were assigned to a controlgroup. At the commencement and end ofthe coaching-intervention programme allstaff (intervention N=242, control N=109)from each of the 14 schools rated their prin-cipal using the Multifactor Leadership Ques-

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Figure 1: Association between information-processing and levels of consciousness.

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tionnaire (MLQ-5X; Bass & Avolio, 1997).The MLQ-5X assesses five factors associatedwith transformational leadership: idealisedinfluence – attributed, idealised influence –behaviour, inspirational motivation, intellec-tual stimulation, and individualised consid-eration.

The coaching-intervention programmedeveloped for this study was based onEpstein’s constructive thinking programme(Epstein, 1998). As an experienced coun-selling psychologist, the first author deliv-ered the coaching-intervention programmeto principals in the intervention group. Thesequence of the coaching-intervention pro-gram consisted of the following three steps:

Step 1. During the initial meeting the schoolprincipal was presented with the coaching-intervention workbook and the first authorexplained the structure of the coaching pro-gram, the CEST information-processingsystems and constructive thinking.

Step 2. One-hour individual meetings wereheld weekly with principals in the interventiongroup. During the meetings principals wereasked to select 10 specific items to apply in theforthcoming week: four from the rationalsystem, two from global constructive thinking,and two each from emotional and behaviouralcoping, which are subscales of constructivethinking. For example, if the principal wantedto further develop their rational system, theymay have selected the following item, ‘I willprovide clear, explainable reasons for my deci-sions.’ (Rational-Experiential Inventory;Epstein, Pacini & Norris, 1998).

Step 3. During the follow-up meeting theschool principal commented on the eventsduring the week and explained how theselected 10 items influenced their primaryconstrual of experience, their secondarymental responses to that construal, andbehavioural outcomes that attended thismental response. If the construal, secondarymental response, and behavioural outcomewere maladaptive or destructive, the

researcher worked with school principals todevelop a set of alternative constructiveresponses. At the end of the session princi-pals were given the opportunity to select 10new items to work on during the followingweek. The remaining seven meetings typi-cally involved working through the identi-fied events, evaluating the 10 selected items,select 10 new items for the following week orrepeating previously chosen items. A one-hour semi-structured interview was con-ducted during the last session.

Results and discussionThe study combined both quantitative andqualitative approaches to evaluating the suc-cess of the coaching-intervention and thepotential causal relationship between CESTinformation-processing systems and transfor-mational leadership. Quantitative resultsshowed a significant increase in principals’staff-rated transformational leadership scoresfrom the pre-test (M=60.35, SD=10.10) to thepost-test (M=61.33, SD=9.76) scores(t(240)=2.13, p<.03). Results also showedthat the intervention group had a significantpositive change in the transformational lead-ership factors of idealised influence (attrib-uted) t(240)=3.33, p<.0001 andindividualised consideration, t(240)=2.81,p<.0001. There was no significant differencein staff ratings of principals in the controlgroup on the transformational scalet(107)=.140, p=.89, or the five factors thatmake up transformational leadership.

The qualitative results showed that themajority of principals found that thecoaching-intervention programme enabledthem to be more aware of their thinkingprocesses, and to use intentional choice ofstrategies to develop effective communica-tion. As one principal indicated: ‘I guess I have always had a sense of working towards apositive outcome but I didn’t have a sense of tech-nique, whereas now, I have a sense of techniquesthat do that’ (Principal 6).

In summary, the eight principals who par-ticipated in the 10-week coaching-interven-tion programme were rated higher by their

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staff on transformational leadership com-pared to the principals in the control group.The 10-week coaching-intervention pro-gramme appears to have been effective sinceit deeply engaged leaders in thinking,reflecting, analysis, and practice with thestrong component of coaching and feedback(Peterson, 2002). This study provides initialevidence that changing information-pro-cessing styles can influence leadership style.These results could be of assistance tocoaching professionals who wish to employan evidence-based technique for improvingthinking and leadership (Biswas-Diener &Dean, 2007).

The authorsTom CerniSchool of Psychology,University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797,Penrith South DC,NSW 1797,Australia.E-mail: [email protected]

Guy J. CurtisSchool of Psychology,Murdoch University,90 South Street,Murdoch Western Australia 6150,Australia.E-mail: [email protected]

Susan H. Colmar Program Director School Counselling,Faculty of Education and Social Work,Room 805 Building A35,The University of Sydney,NSW 2006,Australia.E-mail: [email protected]

CorrespondenceTom CerniHead of Counselling Services,The Scots College,Victoria Road,Bellevue Hill,NSW 2023, Australia.Tel: + 61 2 9391 7603 (w)Tel: + 61 2 9576 1123 (h)E-mail: [email protected]

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Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (1997). Full range leadershipdevelopment: Manual for the multifactor leadershipquestionnaire. Redwood City, CA: Mind Garden,Inc.

Berger, C.R. (2007). A tale of two communicationmodes: When rational and experiential pro-cessing systems encounter statistical and anec-dotal depictions of threat. Journal of Language andSocial Psychology, 26, 215–233.

Biswas-Diener, R. & Dean, B. (2007). Positive psy-chology coaching: Putting the science of happiness towork for your clients. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &Sons.

Bogler, R. (2001). The influence of leadership styleon teacher job satisfaction. Educational Adminis-tration Quarterly, 37, 662–683.

Bucci, W. (1985). Dual coding: A cognitive model forpsychoanalytic research. Journal of the AmericanPsychoanalytic Association, 33, 571–607.

Cerni, T., Curtis, G.J. & Colmar, S.H. (2008). Infor-mation-processing and leadership styles: Con-structive thinking and transformationalleadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 2, 60–73.

Epstein, S. (1994). Integration of the cognitive andthe psychodynamic unconscious. American Psy-chologist, 49, 709–724.

Epstein, S. (1998). Constructive thinking: The key to emotional intelligence. London: Praeger.

Epstein, S. (2001). Constructive Thinking Inventory: Professional manual. Lutz, FL: PsychologicalAssessment Resources, Inc.

Epstein, S., Pacini, R. & Norris, P. (1998). The Rational-Experiential Inventory, long form.Unpublished inventory. University of Massachu-setts at Amherst.

Epstein, S., Pacini, R., Denes-Raj, V. & Heier, H.(1996). Individual differences in intuitive-experi-ential and analytical-rational thinking styles.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71,390–405.

Kemp, T.J. (2009). Is coaching an evolving form ofleadership? Building a transdisciplinary frame-work for exploring the coaching alliance. Inter-national Coaching Psychology Review, 4(1), 105–109.

Koh, W.L. (1990). An empirical validation of the theory oftransformative leadership in secondary schools in Singapore. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,University of Oregon.

Leithwood, K. (1994). Leadership for school restruc-turing. Educational Administration Quarterly, 30,498–518.

Lindsay, S.R., Halfacre, J.D. & Welch, F.C. (2004).Dancing with the tensions. Principal Leadership, 5,30–34.

Nelson, E. & Hogan, R. (2009). Coaching on thedark side. International Coaching Psychology Review,4(1), 9–21.

Owens, R.G. & Valesky, T.C. (2007). Organizationalbehaviour in education: Adaptive leadership andschool reform (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Peterson, K. (2002). The professional developmentof principals: innovations and opportunities.Educational Administration Quarterly, 38, 213–232.

Sadler-Smith, E., Hodgkinson, G.P. & Sinclair, M.(2008). A matter of feeling? The role of intuitionin entrepreneurial decision-making andbehaviour. In W.J.Z. Zerbe., E.J. Härtel & N.M.Ashkanasy (Eds.), Emotions, ethics and decision-making (pp.35–55). Bingley, UK: Emerald GroupPublishing Limited.

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References

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86 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

SGCP & IGCP News Update

Special Group in Coaching Psychology NewsHo Law

ELLO. As the new Chair for the SpecialGroup in Coaching Psychology(SGCP), I would like to welcome you

to the first edition of the InternationalCoaching Psychology Review for 2010. It stillseems like only yesterday since I met many ofyou at our annual conference – the 2ndEuropean Coaching Psychology Conferenceat the Royal Holloway, University of Londonin the UK. Having just become the Chair,within 24 hours, I received many heart feltcongratulations from the participants at theconference. Many of you told me how won-derful the conference had been and that youhad thoroughly enjoyed the experience.Thank you for your feedback and support.The conference was a great success; it islikely that we shall have our next annual con-ference at the same venue in December. Ilook forward to meeting as many of you aspossible at our next conference.

Before I set out my vision for 2010, I would like to pause for a moment to reflecton and celebrate the coming of age of theSGCP as a community, and coaching psychology as a profession. On reflection,SGCP would not have existed or becomewhat it is now without many selfless contri-butions from the past Chairs and Committeemembers.

As part of honouring their work, I wouldlike to mention the significant work that thepast Chairs achieved during their terms ofoffice. There is a long list of significant con-tributions from our former Chairs; I shallname a few here:● The setting up of the Coaching

Psychology Forum and then theformulation of the proposal for the SGCP(Stephen Palmer, 2005).

● The setting up of TheCoaching Psychologistand the InternationalCoaching PsychologyReview publications(Stephen Palmer,2005).

● The establishment ofour profession andcommunity of coaching psychologists(Siobhain O’Riordan, 2007).

● The inclusion in the British PsychologicalSociety Directory of CharteredPsychologists for those who providecoaching psychology services (PaulineWillis, 2006, and Alison Whybrow, 2008).

● The continuous improvement of thewebsite (Vicky Ellam-Dyson, 2009).

● The introduction of the peer practicegroups as a means of engaging ourmembers. (Vicky Ellam-Dyson, 2009)

Many congratulations to Dr Alison Whybrowfor getting the Award for her distinguishedcontribution to the discipline of coachingpsychology in 2009.

All of these achievements have providedus with a firm foundation to move forward.Now we can be more externally focused,more outward looking, beyond the currentmembership and look at how we can start tospread the word far and wide.

Looking ahead for the year 2010, myvision for the SGCP is to aim to:● Engage our wider communities that are

beyond coaching and coachingpsychology.

● Raise the public awareness of the SGCPand coaching psychology, about thebenefits that coaching psychology canbring to our everyday life, be it about personal development, career

H

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progression, business performance,community cohesion, social or climatechange.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWx_3YnBfE

The above is an integral part of our strategyfor next year and I am delighted to knowthat we have a ‘Fresh’ and ‘Engaging’ com-mittee. Vicky Ellam-Dyson and I are veryproud of the work of the Committee andhow engaged they have been in supportingthe extensive work of the SGCP. The achieve-ments of the SGCP would not have been pos-sible without your support and hard work.

For many organisations, the start of thenew year is usually the away-day season forcorporate bonding and strategic planning.SGCP had its strategy away-day on 22 Jan-uary. My vision was shared and supported byall the Committee members. Our strategicplan was discussed, debated and re-drafted.The overall strategic aim (in draft) was trans-lated as: To promote, develop, encourageand support coaching psychology in a waywhich engages and is responsive to both ourcurrent membership and the wider commu-nity. We aim to translate the above vision intoour business plan for this year and beyond. Iwill announce the achievement and progressof our plan in the next edition.

The above strategic aim resonates withPeter Zarris’, IGCP (p.90) enthusiasm insupporting the first International Congressof Coaching Psychology (ICCP). I too hopethat SGCP will help jumpstart the Interna-tional Congress as part of our annual con-ference in December 2010 with the aims to‘promote and advance coaching psychology’and engage the international community.Year 2010 is truly an exciting time. Watch thisspace.

We strive to continuously promote thebenefits of our members. In 2010 we areoffering many new features; resources andcontinuous professional developmentevents. Please do visit our websitewww.sgcp.org.uk and you will notice the newdesign and updates.

The International Coaching PsychologyReview (ICPR) represents one of our distin-guished achievements; and I thank you – theeditors, contributors and readers for yoursupport. Through the publication of ICPRand various other means, we shall continueto build a relationship with other profes-sional bodies to achieve our aims. I welcomeyour ideas and feedback – please e-mail me.

Ho LawChair, British Psychological SocietySpecial Group in Coaching Psychology.E-mail: [email protected] www.sgcp.org.uk

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SGCP & IGCP News Update

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88 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010© The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764

N BEHALF of the National Committeeof the IGCP I would like to wish youall a successful, healthy and inter-

esting 2010. We look forward to continuingour relationship with each of our membersand continue to build our alliance with ourgood friends and partners at the British Psychological Society Special Group forCoaching Psychology.

Over the last couple of years we havebeen successful at maintaining a solid mem-bership base and also in providing what Ibelieve to be outstanding professional devel-opment events. This has been a credit to thelocal state committees and I would like atthis stage to express my gratitude to the StateConvenors of the east coast, namely NicEddy, David Heap and Patrea O’Donoghueand the various local committees. I wouldalso like to acknowledge and pass on mythanks and support to the rest of theNational Committee, including the NationalExecutives Aaron McEwan and HenryMcNicol who are the Secretary and Treas-urer respectfully. And finally my sincerethanks to Rebecca (South Australia) andVicki (ACT) for taking over and initialisinggroups in those areas. Obviously Perth stillremains one area of focus for us.

The next 12 monthsThe next 12 months of course will be crucialfor the IGCP, as we seek to move away frommerely a group that provides professionaldevelopment to also seeking to have astronger impact in defining the role ofCoaching Psychology and in accreditationfor Coaching Psychology skills and experi-ences.

Nonetheless the keythings to look out forover the next 12 monthswill be:

1: The InternationalCoaching PsychologyReview (ICPR)

The ICPR will continue as a bi-annualpublication in partnership with the SCGP.

This will be made available online andthe National Committee will be consideringthe options and possibilities in makingprinted versions available for purchase.

2: The fourth National SymposiumThe fourth National IGCP Symposium willoccur in Melbourne later this year.

The head of the Symposium Subcom-mittee is Nic Eddy who is also the State Convener.

Details of the National Symposium will bemade available and this event continues tobe one of the cornerstones of the IGCP pro-fessional development focus.

3: 1st International Congress of CoachingPsychologyWhilst we are very much in the early stages ofdiscussion, the IGCP is hoping to play animportant role in the first International Con-gress of Coaching Psychology, which may beheld late in 2010 through to 2011.

The aim of this will be to promote thedevelopment of the Coaching Psychologyprofession and to bring together theCoaching Psychology community amongother positives. The IGCP hopes to be anactive participant and partner in this event.

SGCP & IGCP News Update

Interest Group in Coaching Psychology NewsPeter Zarris

Dear IGCP members.

O

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In addition to this there will be other initiatives including encouraging and cre-ating incentives for members to contributeto the ICPR and other coaching publicationsand also continuing our local state basedevents on an ongoing basis.

Looking forward to continuing workingwith all of you and continuing to developCoaching Psychology, particularly in thesechanging times.

Peter ZarrisNational Convenor, IGCP.E-mail: [email protected]

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Notes

90 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010

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Notes

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010 91

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92 International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2010

1st

International Congress of

Coaching Psychology 2010 – 2011

The UK event will be hosted by the

BPS Special Group in Coaching Psychology

14th

and 15th

December 2010, City University London, UK

This will be the first in a series of events, forming part of an international congress held around the world. The SGCP co-sponsored stage will debate and discuss coaching psychology, evidence the contribution this area of psychological enquiry and practice makes at an individual, group, organisational and societal level, and enhance the global integration of this rapidly developing discipline and profession. The events will bring together the coaching psychology community both at the individual and professional body levels.

Other stages of the congress will be held during 2011, hosted in a number of countries including Australia, sponsored by their regional coaching psychology groups. Pre-congress events may also be held.

Details of the UK event can be found at www.sgcp.org.uk

Details of all the events can be found at: www.coachingpsychologycongress.org

Drawing from a distinguished pool of national and international speakers, participants will be delighted with the breadth and depth of keynote presentations, masterclasses, symposia, mini skills workshops, research papers and poster presentations.

Delegates will have the opportunity to participate in debates and discussions, and continue to develop and consolidate relationships with peers across the community.

We invite you to consider presenting your work at this UK event. Participants in previous years’ events describe their experience as one of warmth, openness and

energy. For further information and submission details see the SGCP website: www.sgcp.org.uk or e-mail [email protected]

Call for Papers for SGCP hosted event: Deadline 28th

May 2010

For members of the BPS, the 2010 membership fee to join SGCP is £8.50 (The cost to join the BPS as an affiliate member is £24)

SGCP membership benefits include membership rates at our events and conferences and free

copies of the ‘International Coaching Psychology Review’ and ‘The Coaching Psychologist’.

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4. Online submission process(1) All manuscripts must be submitted to a Co-ordinating Editor by e-mail to:

Stephen Palmer (UK): [email protected] Cavanagh (Australia): [email protected]

(2) The submission must include the following as separate files:● Title page consisting of manuscript title, authors’ full names and affiliations, name and address for corresponding author.● Abstract.● Full manuscript omitting authors’ names and affiliations. Figures and tables can be attached separately if necessary.

5. Manuscript requirements● Contributions must be typed in double spacing with wide margins. All sheets must be numbered.● Tables should be typed in double spacing, each on a separate page with a self-explanatory title. Tables should be comprehensible

without reference to the text. They should be placed at the end of the manuscript with their approximate locations indicated inthe text.

● Figures can be included at the end of the document or attached as separate files, carefully labelled in initial capital/lower caselettering with symbols in a form consistent with text use. Unnecessary background patterns, lines and shading should be avoided.Captions should be listed on a separate page. The resolution of digital images must be at least 300 dpi.

● For articles containing original scientific research, a structured abstract of up to 250 words should be included with theheadings: Objectives, Design, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Review articles should use these headings: Purpose, Methods, Results,Conclusions.

● Overall, the presentation of papers should conform to the British Psychological Society’s Style Guide (available at www.bps.org.uk/publications/publications_home.cfm in PDF format). Non-discriminatory language should be used throughout. Spelling should beAnglicised when appropriate. Text should be concise and written for an international readership of applied psychologists.Sensationalist and unsubstantiated views are discouraged. Abbreviations, acronyms and unfamiliar specialist terms should beexplained in the text on first use.

● Particular care should be taken to ensure that references are accurate and complete. Give all journal titles in full. Referencingshould follow BPS formats. For example:Billington, T. (2000). Separating, losing and excluding children: Narratives of difference. London: Routledge/Falmer.Elliott, J.G. (2000). Dynamic assessment in educational contexts: Purpose and promise. In C. Lidz & J.G. Elliott (Eds.), Dynamic

assessment: Prevailing models and applications (pp.713–740). New York: J.A.I. Press.Palmer, S. & Whybrow, A. (2006). The coaching psychology movement and its development within the British Psychological

Society. International Coaching Psychology Review 1(1), 5–11.● SI units must be used for all measurements, rounded off to practical values if appropriate, with the Imperial equivalent in

parentheses.● In normal circumstances, effect size should be incorporated.● Authors are requested to avoid the use of sexist language.● Authors are responsible for acquiring written permission to publish lengthy quotations, illustrations, etc. for which they do not

own copyright.

6. Brief reportsThese should be limited to 1000 words and may include research studies and theoretical, critical or review comments whose essentialcontribution can be made briefly. A summary of not more than 50 words should be provided.

7. Publication ethicsBPS Code of Conduct – Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles and Guidelines.Principles of Publishing – Principle of Publishing.

8. Supplementary dataSupplementary data too extensive for publication may be deposited with the British Library Document Supply Centre. Such materialincludes numerical data, computer programs, fuller details of case studies and experimental techniques. The material should besubmitted to the Editor together with the article, for simultaneous refereeing.

9. Post acceptancePDF page proofs are sent to authors via e-mail for correction of print but not for rewriting or the introduction of new material.

10. CopyrightTo protect authors and publications against unauthorised reproduction of articles, The British Psychological Society requires copyrightto be assigned to itself as publisher, on the express condition that authors may use their own material at any time withoutpermission. On acceptance of a paper, authors will be requested to sign an appropriate assignment of copyright form.

11. Checklist of requirements● Abstract (100–200 words).● Title page (include title, authors’ names, affiliations, full contact details).● Full article text (double-spaced with numbered pages and anonymised).● References (see above). Authors are responsible for bibliographic accuracy and must check every reference in the manuscript and

proofread again in the page proofs.● Tables, figures, captions placed at the end of the article or attached as separate files.

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Contents

4 EditorialMichael Cavanagh & Stephen Palmer

Academic articles

6 Using signature strengths in pursuit of goals: Effects on goal progress, need satisfaction, and well-being, and implications for coaching psychologistsP. Alex Linley, Karina M. Nielsen, Alex M. Wood, Raphael Gillett & Robert Biswar-Diener

16 Applying psychological theories of self-esteem in coaching practice Alison Maxwell & Tatiana Bachkirova

27 Evaluating the impact of a peer coaching intervention on well-being amongstpsychology undergraduate studentsEmma Short, Gail Kinman & Sarah Baker

36 Developmental coaching: Business benefit – fact or fad?An evaluative study to explore the impact of coaching in the workplaceElouise Leonard-Cross

48 A grounded theory study of the coachee experience:The implications for training and practice in coaching psychologyJonathan Passmore

63 Exceptional executive coaches: Practices and attributesGavin R. Dagley

Reports

81 Executive coaching can enhance transformational leadershipTom Cerni, Guy J. Curtis & Susan H. Colmar

86 SGCP & IGCP News Update

St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7DR, UKTel 0116 254 9568 Fax 0116 227 1314 E-mail [email protected] www.bps.org.uk

© The British Psychological Society 2010Incorporated by Royal Charter Registered Charity No 229642