Ahern, G. (2005). Coaching professionalism and provider size. Journal of Management Development, 24(1), 94–99.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Essay on professional qualities of externally supplied coaches
Design / Methodology
• Examination of three provider size-types in relation to characteristic quality issues
Large conglomerates (often multinational)
Solo market (coaches work as individuals)
“Boutique” specialized coaching teams
• Characteristics Quality Variables
Clear initial framing (e.g., distinguishing coaching from consulting)
Written and distributed guidelines
Separating coaching project management from its delivery
Capability to match individual clients to appropriate coaches
External qualified supervision
Formal evaluation and internal quality control
Achieved confidentiality
Data protection
Securing a professional coaching identity
Findings / Implications
• Professional quality characteristically varies with different types of coaching provider
• Suggests provider size is key quality-related variable by offering pros and cons for each
Originality / Value
• Considers provider size as a key variable in coach quality
Strengths
• Provides examples to illustrate arguments
Limitations
• Discussion based only on author’s subjective field experience
Categories: T5, C1, P6
Alvey, S., & Barclay, K. (2007). The characteristics of dyadic trust in executive coaching. Journal of Leadership Studies, 1(1), 18–27.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach and Client Characteristics, Organizational Support, Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Explore development of trust in executive coaching relationships
Design / Methodology
• Semi-structured 35- to 45-minute phone interviews with high-level executives
14 of 80 coaches contacted recommended 32 executives; 27 participated
14 male/13 female; 30–50 years old, high-level executives (e.g., VP, GM)
Content analyzed using Atlas.ti; used 81 codes developed during manual analysis
Interrater reliability assessed by two raters with five transcripts (IRR not reported)
• Interviews coded for client readiness, organizational support, and coach behavioral styles
Findings / Implications
• Interplay of relational, situational, and behavioral factors influence development of trust
• Characteristics of close and trusting coaching relationship
Client readiness: willingness to change, willingness to disclose, open to feedback
Higher levels of honesty and willingness to be forthcoming with coaches
• Coaching situation setting the context for trust
Confidentiality was the single most important factor in developing/maintaining trust
Organizational Context: Organizational support and positive culture
Articulation of goals and approach (ground rules) helps define relationship
Use of assessment tools early in the relationship
Coaching Outcomes: professional advancement; balance professional/personal
• Coach characteristics and behaviors for establishing trusting relationships
Coach credibility: experience in business and experience as a coach
Coach background initially important; coach behaviors more important later
Coach’s objectivity/neutrality; supportive, confirming, and challenging behaviors
• Low Factors of Trust Development
Payment arrangements had no significant impact on trust or satisfaction
Gender, Location/Forum, Coaching Frequency, Coaching Certification
Originality / Value
• Presents five factors contributing to the development of trust as perceived by the client
1. Contextual (client readiness, organizational support)
2. Introductory (coach credibility)
3. Agreement (articulation of goals/approach, confidentiality)
4. Behavioral (Confirming → Challenging)
5. Outcome (perception of values, outcome of goals)
Strengths
• Provides interview quotes to illustrate findings
• Figure 1 summarizes essential factors of trust development (positive and negative)
• Figure 2 presents model of chronological factors contributing to trust development
Limitations
• No information regarding subject selection qualifications criteria
• No evidence for claims of significance
• Trust differences between clients nominated by coaches and non-nominated clients
Categories: T2, C36, P9
Armstrong, H. B., Melser, P. J., & Tooth, J. A. (2007). Executive coaching effectiveness: A pathway to self-efficacy. Sydney: Institute of Executive Coaching. Retrieved November 16, 2008, from http://www.iecoaching.com/files/CES%20Results%20Full%20Version%2003%2007.pdf
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach-Client Matching, Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Evaluate coaching effectiveness to improve coaching approach and practice
• Develop benchmarks for coaching effectiveness
• Understand benefits of coaching from client perspective
Design / Methodology
• Benchmarking study using a 15-minute online survey and semi-structured interviews
• 111 clients completed survey; 30 random clients interviewed
• Overall measure of client satisfaction and subjective assessments of benefit
• Measure of effectiveness of achieving changes/goals coaching expected to address
• Measure of client readiness based on client expectations and attitudes
• Measure of coaching relationship qualities that contribute to effectiveness
Findings / Implications
• Positive relationship between importance of an outcome and extent outcome achieved
• Benefits categorized by Self, Team, Organization, Career Direction, Work Life Adjustment (task performance and aspects of work life); reported using percentage responding
Benefits rated most high related to self-perception and impact on workplace relationships; suggests coaching impacts intra- and interpersonal relationships
Pursuing career goals and setting direction for self and others also rated high
• Ratings of coaching factors contributing to coaching effectiveness
Factors promoting meaningful personal and private conversations rated higher in importance
Factors emphasizing conventional learning, skill development or help with work organization rated lower in importance
• Provides global perspective with qualitative insights regarding perceived benefits of coaching beyond Kirkpatrick’s framework; also considers coaching relationships
Strengths
• Presents coaching framework that integrates qualities of coaching relationship
• Discusses training evaluation in terms of the relationship process (e.g., characteristics of the relationship account for 30 percent of effectiveness)
• Shares qualitative data with examples of written comments
Limitations
• Focuses only on the IEC coaching framework with minimal discussion to support
• Includes references to other research and relevant literature, though not succinctly
• Details of survey items not provided, although examples of items are found in tables
• Information regarding the survey and interview population/sample not presented
• Did not perform statistical analysis, comparison based on percentage of respondents and by item
Categories: T2, C53, P30
Axelrod, S. D. (2005). Executive growth along the adult development curve. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 57, 118–125.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Discuss relevance of principles of adult psychological development to executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Conceptual article that uses an adult developmental perspective to identify key transformational tasks of adulthood that help shape executive role functioning
• Case studies provide examples of key points
• Argues that core issues of adult development can serve as a template for evaluating executive competencies and fostering personal and professional growth
Adult development and growth of psychological and leadership competencies argued to help aid emerging capabilities contributing to job performance and personal growth
• Argues that interventions for behavioral change will be most effective when they are based on an understanding of where the client is on adult development curve
Middle managers are often at midlife
– Lots of drive and ambition but require more interpersonal skills
Executive vice presidents are often at late midlife
– Issues of continuing commitment to work and organizational life need attention
• Argues that coaches need to be mindful of what a client is trying to accomplish as both a leader and more broadly as an individual
Originality / Value
• Examines implications of adult development for the executive coaching process
Strengths
• Provides foundation for understanding developmental needs of coaches
Limitations
• Empirical support needed for framework
Categories: T4, C14, P8
Barner, R., & Higgins, J. (2007). Understanding implicit models that guide the coaching process. Journal of Management Development, 26(2), 148–158.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Present four prevailing theory-based models that inform coaching practice
• Discuss how the theoretical approach adopted shapes one’s coaching practice
• Based on authors’ combined 30 years of experience
• Organizational examples illustrate key concepts
Findings / Implications
• Coaches are eclectic in the methods they use but tend to center their practice around one of the four coaching models
Clinical model helps client gain insight into himself or herself as a leader to effect constructive changes in performance
Behavioral model supports personal change by encouraging clients to understand the impact of their behavior on themselves and others
Systems model emphasizes understanding the organizational context in which client behavior is embedded
Social constructionist model contends that it is through social interactions and symbolic frameworks that social identities are created
• These models inform the practice and shape the approaches coaches take in choosing their assessments and interventions
• Thinking through their theoretical assumptions, limitations, and caveats of models used allows coaches to bring a higher level of discipline and effectiveness into the coaching process and ensures client expectations are met
Originality / Value
• Serves as a think piece for coaches
• Encourages coaches to reflect on how each individual’s practice is developed from, and informed by, a particular theory position
• Applies the four models to a hypothetical coaching situation
Strengths
• Bridges theory and practice
• Includes tables that provide a good summary of key characteristics that differentiate the four models, including:
Goals of coaching
Where the change occurs
View of the coach’s role
Focus of the coaching
Limitations
• Is not comprehensive in delineating the differences among the four models
• Only touches on the conditions that may determine which approach should be used
Categories: T1, C34, P9
Baron, L., & Morin, L. (2009). The coach-coachee relationship in executive coaching: A field study. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 20(1), 85–106.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach-Client Matching, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Investigate role of coach-client relationship in increasing client self-efficacy
Design / Methodology
• Field study conducted at a large North American manufacturing company
• Survey data collected from 31 coaching dyads (58 percent client, 38 percent coach response rates)
73 managers (average age 38 with 4.7 years experience as managers); 24 “certified” coaches
Data collected on Day One of eight-day classroom seminar and five months later
Executive coaching consisted of up to 14 90-minute face-to-face sessions
• Client Self-Efficacy: 8 items, 11-point Likert-type scale developed for the study
• Coach-Client Working Relationship: 12 items, 7-point Likert scale from Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-S short form; Corbiere et al., 2006; Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989)
• Executive Coaching: number of coaching sessions
• Coach’s Self-Efficacy: 18 items, 11-point Likert scale developed for the study; conceptual groupings were relational skills (a = .75), communication skills (a = .60), ability to facilitate learning and results (a = .76; appendix includes all items)
• Motivation to Transfer: 4 items, 5-point Likert scale from Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI; Holton, Bates, & Ruona, 2000)
• Supervisor Support: 6 items from LTSI
Findings / Implications
• Coach-client relationship mediates coaching sessions and client’s post self-efficacy
• Four (of six) variables significantly correlated with Coach-Client Working Relationship
Coach’s facilitating learning and results self-efficacy (r = .42, p < .01)
Client’s motivation to transfer (r = .36, p < .01)
Client’s perception of supervisor support (r = .29, p < .05)
Number of coaching sessions (r = .32, p < .01)
Two nonsignificant variables: coaching skills (relational, communication)
Originality / Value
• Provides support that coach-client relationship is a prerequisite for coaching effectiveness
• Discusses and encourages research regarding the interpersonal fit between the coach and client and issues of organizational culture and support
Strengths
• Focuses on the coach-client relationship; informed by psychotherapy literature
• Summarizes the current relevant literature, including a discussion of three empirical coach-client relationship studies (Berry, 2005; Dingman, 2004; McGovern et al., 2001)
Limitations
• Coach self-efficacy categories are conceptually based with low item reliabilities
Categories: T2, I, M, C77, P21
Baron, L., & Morin, L. (2010). The impact of executive coaching on self-efficacy related to management soft-skills. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(1), 18–38.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine the effects of coaching on junior and mid-level managers’ efficacy for engaging in leadership behaviors
Design / Methodology
• Empirical article that used a pre/post design to examine the effect of coaching on leadership self-efficacy
• Participants included 73 junior and mid-level managers (63 men and 10 women) enrolled in an eight-month leadership development program that included a coaching component
The number of coaching sessions was left up to the coach and client to decide—the number of sessions ranged from 1 to 11, with an average of 5 sessions
• Self-efficacy was assessed at the beginning of the leadership development program and then again eight months later
Findings / Implications
• In support of their hypothesis, the authors found a positive and significant relationship between the number of coaching sessions a participant went through and their post-coaching self-efficacy (r = .28)
Originality / Value
• Highlights the importance of examining criteria such as self-efficacy when evaluating coaching effectiveness
Strengths
• Pre/post design
Limitations
• No measure of the quality of the coaching sessions or what the focus was of the sessions
• Causality of relationship unclear—may have been that a drop in self-efficacy led to fewer coaching sessions
Categories: T2, I, C99, P21
Berman, W. H., & Brandt, G. (2006). Executive coaching and consulting: “Different strokes for different folks.” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 37(3), 244–253.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Define and clarify the balance between business and psychological competencies in executive coaching
• Proposes a four-category model of coaching methods:
1. Facilitative coaching ensures new leaders implement the steps likely to achieve their personal and strategic goals
2. Executive consulting offers senior leaders a thoughtful, challenging relationship with a neutral third party to think through difficult issues
3. Restorative coaching helps a valued individual overcome short-term problems at work due to personal or organizational changes
4. Developmental coaching builds strengths and addresses deficits in a mission-critical individual who has substantial and longstanding challenges and interpersonal issues
Design / Methodology
• The two authors’ unique conceptualization of executive coaching and consulting based on their highly divergent backgrounds, training, and experience
• Through the course of the authors’ collaboration, skills and competencies were differentiated, resulting in systematic and individual methods identified to best help clients
Findings / Implications
• A four-category model of executive coaching is defined by the intersection of focus (business versus personal) and technique (brief-directive versus extended-Socratic), producing four quadrants into which each of the four models fit
• There are many types of executive coaching and consulting but only some relate to traditional mental health services
• The shift of clinical psychologists to the corporate world is reasonable and achievable but requires effort and training or experience in the upper levels of the business world
• Training or experience in the upper levels of the business world is essential to developing the capability to help corporate leaders
• Developmental coaching is the most likely fit with traditional psychological training
Originality / Value
• Provides good insight into the role of psychology in executive coaching
• Presents a practical model of coaching that is straightforward and easily understood
Strengths
• Case examples provided
• Very specific “how to” information regarding the coaching skills required and coach’s role for each coaching model
• Nine practical steps are outlined for becoming a successful coach
Limitations: None noted
Categories: T1, C34, P17
Blackman, A. (2006). Factors that contribute to the effectiveness of business coaching: The coachees’ perspective. The Business Review, Cambridge, 5, 98–104.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics, Coaching Process, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Examine factors that coachees consider effective in the coaching process
Design / Methodology
• Questionnaires with both quantitative and qualitative questions administered to industry professionals who had been or were currently engaged in executive coaching
Questions asked about the coach, coachee, organization, and the coaching process
N = 114 clients
Open-ended questions content analyzed
Findings / Implications
• When asked to rank the importance of the coach, coachee, and what the coach does, participants were most likely to report the coach (35.1 percent) or what the coach does (33.3 percent) as most important
• Features of a coach identified as the most important were good communication skills (13.6 percent), credibility and experience (9.7 percent), empathy (9 percent), knowledge (8 percent), and sufficient contact time (4.7 percent)
• Factors perceived to contribute most to a coach’s effectiveness were maintaining confidentiality, communicating clearly, honesty, organization, and displaying self-confidence
• Features of the coaching process identified as most important were identifying blind spots, receiving help to constructively view difficult issues, and being encouraged to take appropriate action
• Most respondents believe their organization was very supportive (41.2 percent) or generally supportive (32.5 percent) of the coaching process
• The most frequently cited goals for participating in coaching were to get a promotion, add value to the organization, improve in one’s role, or become more effective
• The majority felt they put a great deal of effort into the coaching process (79.8 percent)
• The biggest barrier in the coaching process identified was preoccupation with work matters (66.7 percent)
• Examines a variety of factors influencing the coaching process
• Examines executive coaching from the perspective of the coachee
Strengths
• Considers a wide variety of factors influencing the coaching proces
Limitations
• Little background information on sample
• Only self-report data collected
Categories: T2, C21, P7
Blukert, P. (2005). Critical factors in executive coaching—the coaching relationship. Industrial and Commercial Training, 37(7), 336–340.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Examine the coaching relationship as a critical success factor in executive coaching
• Outline the characteristics of a successful coaching relationship and how to establish it
Design / Methodology
• Article is based on the basic proposition that the coaching relationship is the critical factor in successful coaching outcomes
• Characteristics of successful coaching relationships are explored
Findings / Implications
• A need to shift the emphasis of coach training more strongly toward the coaching relationship and improving coach with relationship-building skills
• Link is made to client-centered counseling and the influence of “Rogerian” thinking
• Characteristics of a successful coaching relationship include:
Client-centered thinking
Establishing rapport
Support and challenge
Trust
• When reflecting on their coaching experience clients remember the coach as a person, not the tools or psychological frameworks used
• Emphasizes the importance of the coaching relationship as a critical success factor in executive coaching rather than the current literature’s more common focus on coaching models and techniques
Strengths
• Focuses on the coaching relationship, which is an underemphasized aspect of the coaching process in current literature
• Highlights importance of coaching relationship
Limitations
• Given the proposed importance of the coaching relationship, the article only begins to skim the surface of its complexity
Categories: T1, C4, P5
Bluckert, P. (2005). The foundation of a psychological approach to executive coaching. Industrial and Commercial Training, 37(4), 171–178.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coach-Coachee Characteristics
Purpose
• Examine concept of psychological mindedness as an important yet neglected foundation for executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Defines coaching and psychological mindedness
• Outlines ways to develop psychological mindedness
• Explores the training and development of executive coaches
Findings / Implications
• Psychological mindedness is critical for the personal development of the coach as well as the development of a sound coach-coachee relationship
• Psychological mindedness requires both self- and other-awareness on the part of the executive coach
• Executive coaches can be taught the skills necessary for developing psychological mindedness
These skills include asking probing questions, becoming more observant, recognizing behavior patterns, and forming meaningful connections with the environment
• Very little of the executive coaching literature addresses the importance of psychological mindedness in coaching training and practices
Strengths
• Provides several definitions of executive coaching
• Outlines why psychological mindedness is important, as well as ways in which to develop psychological mindedness
Limitations
• No validation of the author’s Coach Competency Inventory (CCI), or process of developing psychological mindedness
Categories: T1, I, C14, P8
Bono, J. E., Purvanova, R. K., Towler, A. J., & Peterson, D. B. (2009). A survey of executive coaching practices. Personnel Psychology, 62(2), 361–404.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Address the role of psychology in executive coaching
• Compare the practices of psychologist and nonpsychologist coaches as well as the practices of coaches from various psychological disciplines
Design / Methodology
• 428 coaches (256 nonpsychologists, 172 psychologists)
• Web-based survey was administered
• Dependent variables:
Coaching practices
Coaching outcomes
Coach competencies
Findings / Implications
• Differences in coaching practices between psychologists and nonpsychologists were small (average d = .26)
• There were as many differences between psychologists from varying disciplines as there were between psychologists and nonpsychologists
• Caution against relying on educational background to predict a coach’s philosophy, process, or behavior
• Need to focus on training that will help all coaches be more effective
• As a whole results appear to favor psychologist coaches, especially with respect to strong measurement, use of data from multiple sources, and use of techniques with empirical validity
Originality / Value
• Provides a broad snapshot of the field of executive coaching
• Provides evidence that suggests the field of executive coaching should move beyond questioning the importance of psychological training for executive coaches to more pressing and relevant issues such as:
The knowledge, skills, and abilities coaches need to help clients gain insight and motivation
Coach behaviors that are the best predictors of long-term behavior change
Strengths
• A large representative sample of coaches with a variety of backgrounds and institutional affiliations was used
Limitations
• Survey methodology limited the ability to collect rich data on the intricacy of coaches’ practices
• Coaches self-reported their behaviors and approaches
Categories: T2, I, C52, P43
Boyce, L. A., & Hernez-Broome, G. (2010). E-coaching: Considerations of leadership coaching in a virtual environment. In D. Clutterbuck & Z. Hussain (Eds.), Virtual coach, virtual mentor (pp. 139–174). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Mediums
Purpose
• Outline a framework for executive electronic coaching (e-coaching), which includes four major components:
1. Coach and coachee characteristics
2. Coach-client match
3. Coaching process
4. Coaching outcomes
• Each component is examined in terms of an overview, examples, current research findings, as well as concerns and guidance for the future
• Draws on e-coaching research and anecdotal evidence from coaches, e-coachees, and organizations
• Presents model of coaching inputs, processes, outcomes, and moderators
Findings / Implications
• Important coach and coachee characteristics include readiness, motivation, and experience
While these are useful characteristics in any coaching relationship, their effects may be more pronounced in the complex electronic environment
• Coach-client match is especially important, as virtual avenues pose interpersonal and communicative barriers
Coach’s ability to establish commonalities and rapport via electronic means may help mitigate these challenges
• Coaching processes such as building trust and reducing miscommunication should be employed to reduce e-coaching drawbacks
• Assessment of e-coaching outcomes is vital for evaluating, understanding, and improving common practices
Originality / Value
• Employs an I-P-O model to address key issues in e-coaching research
Strengths
• Provides concise and clear framework for understanding e-coaching aspects
• Outlines concrete suggestions for responding to challenges of e-coaching
Limitations
• Does not address limitations of e-coaching or practice of blended coaching
• Many conclusions drawn from anecdotal evidence without scientific backing
Categories: T1, I, M, C65, P34
Boyce, L. A., Jackson, R. J., & Neal, L. (2010). Building successful leadership coaching relationships: Examining impact of matching criteria in a leadership coaching program. Journal of Management Development, 29(10), 914–931.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Examine the impact of relationship processes on coaching outcomes
• Examine mediating role of coaching relationship between client-coach match criteria and coaching outcomes
Design / Methodology
• Empirical study at a military service academy
74 client-coach pairs randomly or systematically matched
Undergraduate clients participating in a leadership coaching program: 65 percent male
Leadership coaches: 75 percent male, 86 percent military
• Data collected over two years
Pre-survey measures: commonality (bio data such as gender, ethnicity, hobbies), compatibility (Managerial Grid, Learning Style), credibility (leadership competencies ratings, military experience)
Post-survey measures: rapport, trust, commitment, outcomes (client and coach reactions, behavioral change, coaching program results), manipulation check
• Coaching program designed to support the development of leadership competencies for current and future leadership roles
Average eight face-to-face meetings between 10 and 90 minutes
77 percent communicated biweekly
Findings / Implications
• Relationship process of rapport, trust, and commitment positively predicted coaching outcomes
• Client-coach relationship fully mediated compatibility and credibility match criteria with coaching outcomes
Originality / Value
• Employs conceptual framework to systematically examine client-coach match criteria in terms of understanding their impact on coaching relationships and outcomes
Strengths
• Presents empirical evidence that client-coach relationships are critical to successful coaching and that different aspects of the relationships uniquely impact outcomes
• Provides evidence that complementary styles support the development of relationships
Limitations
• Standard statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations, correlations) not reported
• Figure illustrating the modeling of the coaching relationship not presented
• Limited generalizability
Categories: T2, I, M, C57, P18
Carr, R. (2008). Coach referral services: Do they work? International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 6(2), 114–119.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Examine value of services that match clients and coaches
• Propose three questions regarding the added value of the International Coach Federation’s (ICF) coach referral services (CRS)
Design / Methodology
• Query extended to 200 ICF coaches listed in the CRS (60 percent response rate)
• Participants responded by e-mail regarding a question on the value of the ICF CRS
Findings / Implications
• Describes how coach referral services work
Improved coach-client match expected to facilitate successful coaching
Typically match client preferences and goals with coach qualifications and expertise
• Indicates a large variation in how the match is determined and accomplished
Potential clients enter personal data and coach requirements, which generate lists of coaches with descriptions and qualifications
Search engine requires selection of keywords or phrases
Static list of coaches and their qualifications from which a client selects a coach
Referral service interviews prospective client, determines readiness, provides list and details of coaches who meet client’s needs
• Indicates that qualification requirements of coaches vary
Minimal with no screening, organization membership, specific requirements
Many coaches listed more than 50 areas of specialty as part of their coaching profile
• Concludes that ICF CRS minimally generates client revenue
Originality / Value
• Presents a logical discussion of the nature of coach referral services
• Hyperlinks to a chart of reputable coach referral and coach/client matching services
Strengths
• Introduction summarizes interesting data on the state of executive coaching
Coaching generates $1.5 billion in revenue worldwide (ICF, 2007)
Estimated 30,000 coaches around the world (Carr, 2005a)
291 coach training organizations (compared with less than a dozen in 1999)
More than 60 coaching credentials awarded by coaching schools and organizations (Carr, 2005b)
Half-million individual coach Web sites
12,000 members in ICF, largest membership in coaching industry
Limitations
• No information provided regarding the coach respondents to determine if they were representative coaches
• No statistics provided regarding their responses (e.g., vast majority, most, few)
Categories: T1, C5, P6
Cocivera, T., & Cronshaw, S. (2004). Action frame theory as a practical framework for the executive coaching process. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56(4), 234–245.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Explain how action frame theory (AFT) can be applied throughout a typical coaching process
• Build on Kilburg’s (2000) model of executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Demonstrates application of AFT in an actual coaching assignment as an analytic tool as well as a framework for planning and reviewing actions and results
Findings / Implications
• Clarifies definitions of each AFT element
Conditions: Constraints inherent in the situation over which the client has no direct control and must be considered as givens
Means: Enablers within the client’s control that can be brought to bear in shaping the action to achieve the result
Action: Goal-directed and voluntary movement of the client physically, mentally, and socially toward a desired state
Result: A systems state desired or not by the client and wanted or not by the organization
Consequence: Normative evaluation of the result and future impact on the client and the organization
• Four phases of the coaching process are mapped onto the foci of AFT
Phase 1, defining job context, maps to AFT component identifying conditions
Phase 2, assessment, maps to AFT component determining means
Phase 3, providing feedback, maps to AFT components action and results
Phase 4, implementation and follow-up, maps to AFT component consequences
• By applying AFT in a systematic way, executive coaches can collect behavioral information helpful to the coaching engagement
• AFT provides a broad, holistic view of and approach to coaching engagements that fits with existing coaching models and processes
Originality / Value
• Discusses a very specific and different approach to executive coaching
• Steps the reader through what AFT is, how it augments a current model of executive coaching (Kilburg, 2000), and how to apply it
• Provides insight and practical information to coaches as to how to apply AFT to their own coaching process
Limitations: None noted
Categories: T1, C13, P12
Coutu, D., & Kauffman, C. (2009). What can coaches do for you? Harvard Business Review, 87(1), 91–97.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Examine the current state of executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Survey of 140 coaches with commentary from five experts: Ram Charan, David Peterson, Michael Maccoby, Anne Scoular, Anthony Grant
• Sample: equally men and women
71 percent from the United States; 18 percent from the United Kingdom
61 percent more than 10 years of experience
Background: 50 percent business or consulting; 20 percent psychology
Findings / Implications
• Example of survey results highlighted with percentage responding
Reasons coaches are engaged: Develop high potentials or facilitate transition (48 percent), address derailing behavior (12 percent)
Coaching costs per hour: Range $200 to $3,500; Medium $500
Duration: Range 7 to 12 months
Necessity of certification: Very 29 percent; Not at all 28 percent
• Expert commentaries suggest
The coaching industry will continue to grow, particularly in developing economies (e.g., Brazil, China, India, Russia)
The coaching industry is fragmented and needs a leader to define the profession
Impact of coaching needs to be demonstrated and measured quantitatively and qualitatively
Purpose of coaching is dynamic and evolving and will continue to expand
Originality / Value
• Provides a brief summary of the state of executive coaching
Strengths
• Commentary provides differential insights on the survey results
• Survey is broad, including client characteristics (readiness), matching, and process (coaching tools) issues
Limitations
• Sample was by invitation only (70 percent response rate)
• Complete results of the Harvard Business Review survey at HBR Web site no longer available
Categories: T2, C0, P7
Dagley, G. (2006). Human resources professionals’ perceptions of executive coaching: Efficacy, benefits and return on investment. International Coaching Psychology Review, 1, 34–44.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Survey human resource (HR) professionals on their opinions of executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Face-to-face, structured interviews
• Sampled Melbourne-based HR professionals from both public and private sectors
• Participants were asked to rate executive coaching practices on a 5-point Likert-type scale
Findings / Implications
• Participants cited executive coaching as an effective and beneficial practice
• All participants rated efficacy of executive coaching at “moderately successful” or above
11 percent of programs were rated as “outstandingly successful”
• 67 percent (6 out of the 9 participants asked) estimated that benefits exceeded costs
• 5 out of 17 participants (29.4 percent) performed return-on-investment analyses following executive coaching interventions; of these 5, only 1 conducted a formal analysis
Most participants cited insufficient measurement tools as the reason for not conducting these analyses
• 88 percent indicated a “strong interest” in using executive coaches in the future
• Scheduling and cost were cited as the two biggest drawbacks to executive coaching
• Professional development was reported as the greatest gain from executive coaching
Originality / Value
• HR professionals provide valuable data, as they frequently encounter executive coaching practices, but still remain an external observer to the process
In contrast, most studies on executive coaching sample coaches or executives, who often have to justify or promote the coaching methods they have employed
Strengths
• Use of sound empirical techniques (i.e., structured interviews, large sample variance)
• Exploration of why executive coaching is effective
Limitations
• Small sample size (N = 17)
• Exploratory survey data prohibits causal conclusions
• Survey responses contain subjective and potentially biased opinions
Categories: T2, I, M, C11, P10
Dean, M. L., & Meyer, A. A. (2002). Executive coaching: In search of a model. Journal of Leadership Education, 1, 3–17.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Provide an operational definition of executive coaching, examine the goals of coaching efforts, and outline important competencies for executive coaches
• Presents findings from coaching literature and applied practices
• Lays out common goals and competencies necessary for executive coaching
Findings / Implications
• Nearly all executive coaching practices are aimed at developing self-awareness, motivation, and interpersonal skills, while limiting counterproductive behaviors
• Executive coaches must possess skills and abilities such as developing rapport, assessment, providing feedback, overcoming resistance, motivating and engaging clients, stress management, a knowledge of business and organizational dynamics, integrity, and ethics
• These can be obtained through academic training, supervised experience, or business experience
Originality / Value
• Provides a list of important competencies for executive coaches, as well as how to develop those competencies
Strengths
• Emphasizes many of the similarities and differences that exist among definitions of executive coaching
• Addresses implications for executive coach training
Limitations
• Scant empirical research to support the list of executive coach competencies
Categories: T1, C20, P14
de Haan, E., Bertie, C., Day, A., & Sills, C. (in press). Critical moments of clients of coaching: Towards a ‘client model’ of executive coaching. In press at Academy of Management Learning and Education.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Investigate whether coaching clients are aware of critical moments during coaching and, if so, how they experience these critical moments
Design / Methodology
• Administered a survey asking participants to describe a critical moment as a client
• 67 completed surveys (20 no-moments, 47 critical moments)
• Follow-up interviews with 8 participants (5 who responded they had experienced a critical moment and 3 who had not)
• Critical moments content coded
Findings / Implications
• New ways of understanding the client’s experience of coaching as distinct from the coaches’ experiences are warranted
• Two client distinctions in how they experienced coaching were identified:
1. Incremental change versus transformational change
2. Internal versus external processing
• Not all clients experience critical moments
• Critical moments involve new realizations (increased self-awareness)
• The coach was mentioned significantly more as contributing to the experience by respondents describing negative critical moments versus positive critical moments
• Clients and coaches report different phenomena in describing critical moments, with coaches focusing on emotions and anxieties versus clients’ focus on outcomes and insight
Originality / Value
• Proposes a coaching model based on the client’s perspective and experience of coaching
• Demonstrates the importance of the dynamics of the coach-client relationship
• Demonstrates the importance of reflexivity in coaching (ability to experience and reflect on one’s inner world at times of heightened emotion)
• Explores the use of metaphors and the language clients use to describe critical moments
Strengths
• Examines coaching from the client’s perspective
• Compares client data to coach data collected from a previous study
• Good detail regarding the process used to code data and develop a coaching model
Limitations
• Low response rate
Categories: T2, M, C46, P46
de Haan, E., Culpin, V., & Curd, J. (2011). Executive coaching in practice: What determines helpfulness for clients of coaching? Personnel Review, 40(1), 24–44.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose: Examine what aspects of coaches’ behaviors and clients’ learning styles determine the helpfulness of executive coaching for the client
Design / Methodology
• 71 participants completed a Web-based questionnaire shortly after beginning coaching, and 31 of those same participants six months later
• The questionnaire consisted of items from The Coaching Behaviors Questionnaire, The Learning Styles Inventory, and open-ended questions
• The independent variable was helpfulness (the degree to which coaching has positively impacted on the conscious mind of the client) and the dependent variables were coaching behaviors
Findings / Implications
• Clients experience helpfulness in a generic way: if they find the coaching helpful, they view a wide range of particular aspects of coaching as also helpful
• The three qualities most appreciated in a coach are listening, understanding, and encouragement
• Specific techniques don’t impact perceptions of coach helpfulness but rather the coach’s ability to use many techniques well and at the right time
• Coaches should consider shifting their focus from specific behaviors or techniques to an emphasis on the quality of the relationship with their client
Originality / Value
• Examines coaching through the subjective lens of the client
• Provides support for common factors in coaching (i.e., the general factors present in every coaching relationship such as expectation, motivation, quality of the relationship versus specific behaviors, models, or techniques)
Strengths
• Multiple quantitative measures were utilized
• Discusses the importance of supervising and training coaches based on the client’s perspective of what’s helpful rather than relying only on established techniques and coaching models
• Small sample size
• Only the client’s perspective is addressed
• No control group
• Methodology is only conducive for assessing the impact of executive coaching on individual outcomes and not organizational outcomes
Categories: T2, M, C29, P37
De Meuse, K. P., Dai, G., & Lee, R. J. (2009). Evaluating the effectiveness of executive coaching: Beyond ROI? Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2(2), 117–134.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Conduct a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Reviewed the literature on evaluating executive coaching
• Meta-analyzed six studies
• Reviewed retrospective studies of coaching effectiveness
Findings / Implications
• Meta-analytic results suggested that coaching leads to an improvement in clients’ performance ratings (as rated by clients and by others)
• Evaluations of coaching suggest executives and organizations have favorable opinions of coaching
• In addition to individual-level outcomes, coaching also impacts group-level outcomes such as team performance
• Evaluations of the return on investment from coaching vary across situations
Originality / Value
• Conducted a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of executive coaching
Strengths
• Good overview of current state of coaching evaluation studies
Limitations
• Limited number of primary studies suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis
Categories: T3, I, C71, P17
Driscoll, M. (2005). E-mentoring and e-coaching. In M. Driscoll & S. Carliner (Eds.), Advanced web-based training strategies: Unlocking instructionally sound online learning (pp. 187–206). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer & Company.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Define and distinguish “e-coaching” and “e-mentoring”
• Outline benefits and drawbacks to e-learning strategies
• Suggest strategies for implementing e-mentoring or e-coaching programs
• Provide real-world example of an e-mentoring Web site
Design / Methodology
• Based on author’s experiences and examples from other applied settings
Findings / Implications
• Coaching and mentoring differ along six dimensions: focus, role, relationship, source of influence, personal returns, and arena
• Benefits of virtual coaching and mentoring include accessibility, flexibility, cost efficiency, and a recorded log of communications
• Virtual mentoring and coaching are limited in that they are impersonal, can create a delay in communication, and require the appropriate technology and technological skills
• E-mentoring/e-coaching can be entirely virtual, blended, or simply a Web-based service to provide online learning
• E-mentoring/e-coaching programs should also consider the cultural match between coach and client
Originality / Value
• Tailored toward organizations or executives eager to implement an e-mentoring and/or e-coaching program
• Provides examples from actual e-coaching Web site (MentorNet)
Strengths
• Provides clear distinction between “mentor” and “coach”
Limitations
• The terms “mentor” and “coach” are still used interchangeably throughout the chapter
• Little empirical evidence
Categories: T5, I, C6, P20
Ducharme, M. J. (2004). The cognitive-behavioral approach to executive coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56(4), 214–224.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Examine the concepts, techniques, and theoretical underpinnings associated with cognitive behavioral therapy in terms of its applicability to executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Identifies the unique aspects of interventions aimed at this high-performing client group
• Assesses whether the cognitive-behavioral approach (CBA) is appropriate and likely to be effective in the executive coaching context
Findings / Implications
• There are five unique aspects of executive coaching that must be taken into account:
1. Success of coaching is measured in concrete and objective terms
2. Individuals seek out coaching for new skills or to eliminate maladaptive behavior
3. Executives have unique needs including dealing with high levels of stress
4. Scope of executive coaching is broad and may require a variety of techniques
5. Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy is well documented across a variety of populations
• Cognitive-behavioral coaching (CBC) is an intuitive approach likely to appeal to executives because of its simplicity and transparency
• CBC should be part of any coaching engagement dealing with the management of stress
• CBC is highly effective in situations when there is no reason to delve into an individual’s psyche
• Limitations of CBC center around its simplicity, which may be seen by high-functioning clients as mechanical and unsophisticated
• These same reasons may draw some coach-client teams to the approach, i.e., its simplicity, ease of use, focus on results, efficacy, and goal orientation
Originality / Value
• The benefits of the CBA are discussed within the context of executive coaching
• Few authors have referred to a cognitive-behavioral perspective of coaching
• Provides a list of executive coaching goals that are met—e.g., measurable results, sustained change, stress management—and not met—e.g., wisdom development, self-awareness, systems approach—by CBC
• Calls attention to a different theoretical foundation for executive coaching
Strengths
• Discusses the practical value of CBC given the “specific and issue-focused” nature of this approach
• Strengths and weaknesses of CBC are discussed in a straightforward manner
• Discusses situations in which CBC is appropriate
Limitations: None noted
Categories: T1, C29, P11
Ely, K., Boyce, L. A., Nelson, J. K., Zaccaro, S. J., Hernez-Broome, G., & Whyman, W. (2010). Evaluating leadership coaching: A review and integrated framework. Leadership Quarterly, 21(4), 585–599.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Review the academic and practitioner literature to understand how coaching engagements are being evaluated
Design / Methodology
• Reviewed 49 studies evaluating leadership coaching
• Coded studies based on methodologies, data sources, analysis approaches, and criteria used to evaluate coaching engagements
Findings / Implications
• Greater efforts are being made to conduct and report the findings of summative evaluations of leadership coaching (i.e., reactions, learning, behavior, and results)
• The most frequently assessed coaching outcome was self-reported changes in clients’ leadership behaviors (82 percent of studies), followed by clients’ perceptions of the effectiveness of coaching (49 percent of studies)
• The majority of studies are limited in their methodology and analyses—relying on post-coaching surveys and presenting descriptive statistics of findings
Originality / Value
• A two-pronged approach is proposed to evaluate coaching, focusing on both outcomes (summative evaluation) to assess coaching’s effectiveness as a development intervention, and processes (formative evaluation) to account for the dynamic and customized nature of coaching
• Recommendations for future evaluation studies focus on examining changes in outcomes (e.g., pre- to post-performance), as well as the effects of different aspects of coaching (i.e., client, coach, client-coach relationship, and coaching processes) on coaching outcomes
Strengths
• Provides overview of how coaching engagements are being evaluated
• Provides comprehensive list of empirical coaching research studies with outcome-focused data
Limitations
• Only reviewed evaluation practices in published articles—may have missed segment of practitioners
Categories: T1, I, C113, P15
Evers, W. J. G., Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W. (2006). A quasi-experimental study on management coaching effectiveness. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 58, 174–182.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine whether coaching increases managers’ self-efficacy and outcome expectancies
Design / Methodology
• Quasi-experimental study used a pre/post design with a control group
• Sample included 60 managers—30 managers about to undergo coaching were matched to a control group of 30 participants not undergoing coaching
• A survey was administered at two points in time—initially (prior to the experimental group’s coaching engagements) and again four months later
• Six measures included in survey assessed clients’:
1. Self-efficacy for goal setting
2. Self-efficacy for acting in balanced way
3. Self-efficacy for mindful living and working
4. Outcome expectancies for goal setting
5. Outcome expectancies for acting in a balanced way
6. Outcome expectancies for mindful living and working
Findings / Implications
• Experimental group showed significant increases in two of the six variables measured: (1) self-efficacy for goal setting (F = 4.18) and (2) outcome expectancies for acting in a balanced way (F = 5.05)
Originality / Value
• Provides initial evidence of the effectiveness of coaching via increased self-efficacy and outcome expectancies
Strengths
• Pre/post design with control group
Limitations
• Relies on self-report data from clients
Categories: T2, C19, P9
Feldman, D. C., & Lankau, M. J. (2005). Executive coaching: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management, 31, 829–848.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Review the current executive coaching literature, as well as executive practices and their impact on organizations
• Article encourages more rigorous research in order to identify and confirm the factors, processes, and outcomes relevant to executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Examines the empirical research and coaching best practices of the recent decade (1995–2005)
Findings / Implications
• Executive coaching defined as a dyadic relationship that provides the executive (often a mid- to senior-level manager) with constructive feedback and strategies to improve performance
• Coaching is a distinct construct from therapy, advising, mentoring, or career counseling
• Executive coaching entails data gathering, feedback, periodic coaching sessions, and evaluation
While these phases are generally the same across practices, many different approaches can be taken, as executive coaches stem from a wide array of backgrounds
Originality / Value
• Integrates both empirical and applied findings on executive coaching in order to outline agenda for future research
Strengths
• Encourages future research to identify what aspects of each process produce positive and negative outcomes
Limitations
• Cursory explanation of different approaches to the coaching process and the advantages and disadvantages associated with each
Categories: T3, I, C75, P19
Garman, A. N., Whiston, D. L., & Zlatoper, K. W. (2000). Media perceptions of executive coaching and the formal preparation of coaches. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 52, 201–205.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Public perceptions of executive coaching examined through assessing how executive coaching was portrayed in mainstream and trade management publications
Design / Methodology
• Executive coaching articles appearing in mainstream and trade management publications between 1991 and 1998 were content coded
• Initial pool of 72 articles was identified and content coded
40 articles discussed external coaching
32 articles discussed internal coaching
Findings / Implications
• Media stories on executive coaching increased in number in the time frame considered
• Vast majority of articles (88 percent) presented coaching very favorably
• Only 31 percent of articles provided any mention of coaches as having psychological training
Psychology was mentioned less frequently over the time period considered
• Psychology was primarily mentioned in relation to providing a unique skill base for coaching 61 percent of the time it appeared in articles
Psychological skill base was viewed as being favorable 45 percent of the time
– Potentially favorable or unfavorable 36 percent
– Potentially harmful 18 percent
• When articles discussed selecting a coach, they rarely mentioned selecting someone familiar with assessment tools
• Articles discussing the selection of a coach focused mostly on past experience and “fit”
Originality / Value
• Examines executive coaching from the perspective of nonpractitioners
• Examines extent to which psychologists have been identified as providers of coaching services
• Examines perceptions of psychologists as executive coaches
Strengths
• Provides an overview of how executive coaching has been discussed in the media
Limitations
• More detail in how articles were coded would be helpful
• Additional research needed to evaluate perceptions of coaching and the preferred preparation of coaches through more direct means such as interviewing or surveying people considering selecting a coach
Categories: T2, C10, P5
Goldsmith, M. (2006). E-coaching: Using the new technology to develop tomorrow’s leaders. In M. Goldsmith & L. S. Lyons (Eds.), Coaching for leadership: The practice of leadership coaching from the world’s greatest coaches (2nd ed., pp. 213–220). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer & Company.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Outline advantages and disadvantages of the increasingly global and technological business world as they relate to coaching practices
• Identify steps required to implement effective e-coaching practices
Design / Methodology
• Based on the author’s personal experiences and research
Findings / Implications
• The increasingly global network of the future creates the following advantages for coaching practices:
A wider range of leaders and experts will be readily accessible
Development tools can be tailored to meet specific individual needs
International communication is possible without the restrictions of time zones or traveling costs
“Push” technology can provide frequent monitoring and
motivation for coachees
• The global network poses the following challenges for the e-coaching process:
Coaches and coachees can become overloaded with the amount of (often irrelevant) information available
Difficult to develop technological tools that can easily deliver effective coaching
Immediacy and breadth of information could discourage deeper thought processes
Access to the same information could create homogeneous leaders
• The following processes will be required of the “e-coach of the future”
Diagnosing a client’s needs in terms of development, depth, and urgency
Assessing a client’s resources (e.g., time, money, technology)
Understanding the costs and benefits of a wide array of learning options
Connecting leaders with useful resources and opportunities
Providing continuous guidance and information to leaders
• Identifies specific tasks, challenges, knowledge, and responsibilities required of the e-coach of the future
• Implies that e-coaches of the future will be responsible for finding valuable information and resources, rather than directly providing them
Strengths
• Provides specific, practice-based applications
• Identifies unique challenges to e-coaching practices
Limitations
• No definition of e-coaching
• Little empirical basis
Categories: T5, C0, P8
Grant, A. M., Curtayne, L., & Burton, G. (2009). Executive coaching enhances goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being: A randomised controlled study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 396–407.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine the impact of executive coaching on executives’ goal attainment, resilience, and well-being in a randomized controlled study
Design / Methodology
• Randomized controlled study in a large health agency in Australia
Participants included 41 (of 50) executives and senior managers who participated in a leadership development program
38 females and 3 males; mean age of 49.84 years
Randomized controlled-waitlist design; measures beginning of development program, 10 weeks, and 20 weeks later; group 1 completed coaching and measures at 10 weeks; group 2 completed coaching and measures at 20 weeks
Leadership development program consisted of multisource feedback, one half-day leadership training workshop, and four individual coaching sessions
Quantitative and open-ended measures used (goal attainment, resilience, depression, and workplace well-being)
• Goal attainment scores increased at the end of individual coaching sessions
• Resilience scores increased at the conclusion of individual coaching sessions
• Some evidence that depression, stress, and anxiety scores decreased at the conclusion of individual coaching sessions
• Workplace well-being scores increased at the conclusion of individual coaching sessions
• Qualitative comments were coded and reflected increased confidence, increased ability to deal with organizational change, personal or professional insights, and assistance in finding ways to develop client’s career
Originality / Value
• Randomized controlled study
Strengths
• Examines a variety of outcomes hypothesized to be influenced by coaching
• Evidence that as little as four coaching sessions can influence important outcomes
Limitations
• Executives in this population had received very little leadership development previously; coaching may have been effective in part because participants had not received intensive leadership development previously
• Need to identify the mechanisms by which well-being and other outcomes are influenced by coaching
• All data provided from a single source (self-report)
Categories: T2, C52, P12
Gyllensten, K., & Palmer, S. (2007). The coaching relationship: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(2), 168–177.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Investigate client experiences and views of the coaching process
• Qualitative study using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
• Nine clients from two large organizations interviewed about their experiences
Three males, six females (mean age of 33 years); four held management positions
United Kingdom finance and Scandinavian telecom organizations (3,000-plus employees)
Findings / Implications
• Identified coaching relationship as a major but not the only factor of useful coaching
• Coaching relationship was valuable to clients and this relationship was dependent on trust and improved by transparency
Confidentiality helped build a relationship of trust
Transparency led clients to feel included in the coaching process, which might have a positive effect on subsequent commitment to the coaching
• Working toward goals and improving performance also identified as important factors
• Impresses the importance of coaches being aware of and working with the coaching relationship, particularly at the start of the coaching
Originality / Value
• Indicates that unless “a good enough relationship was developed in the coaching, relevant achievements would not be made” (p. 175)
Positive atmosphere needs to be developed from the beginning of coaching for client to feel comfortable and share information
Improves likelihood that the client will continue with the coaching and consequently gain something from it
• Results discussed in terms of previous literature
Strengths
• Provides a step-by-step description of IPA; Interview Outline at Appendix
• Shares the researchers’ interpretative framework and influences
• Presents a rich description of coaching relationships, including interview quotes
Limitations
• Article does not present a priori hypotheses, though authors acknowledge that the influence of their personal frame of reference influences their subjective analysis
• No details provided on the criteria used to select participants
• Article focuses on a portion of a larger piece of research on coaching and stress, which was mentioned but not explained
Categories: T2 I, C20, P10
Hakim, C. (2003). Virtual coaching: Learning, like time, stops for no one. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 23, 42–44.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Outline the benefits of virtual coaching and explain how organizations can begin to implement e-coaching efforts
Design / Methodology
• Presents a list of benefits and processes of electronic executive coaching, based on the author’s experiences as an executive coach
Findings / Implications
• Virtual coaching can be met with apprehension or resistance, as clients may not fully trust the effectiveness or confidentiality of the system
Coaches will need to work hard to address these concerns
• Benefits of virtual coaching include saving time, supporting ambiguity, building confidence, sharpening communication, allowing for quick “check-ins,” and converting abstract ideas into concrete goals
• Over time, coachees can learn from their experiences and coach others
Originality / Value
• Provides specific direction for setting up blended coaching strategies
Strengths
• Provides a good definition of virtual coaching
Limitations
• As a coach, author is biased toward practice of coaching and does not address potential drawbacks
Categories: T5, C0, P3
Hall, D. T., Otazo, K. L., & Hollenbeck, G. P. (1999). Behind closed doors: What really happens in executive coaching. Organizational Dynamics, 27(3), 39–53.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Review aspects of the executive coaching process
Design / Methodology
• Interviews conducted with more than 75 executives in Fortune 100 companies and 15 executive coaches
• Participants were randomly selected from a list of individuals involved in executive coaching from organizations participating in the study
Findings / Implications
• Trust in coach is critical
• Internal coaches
Pros: Accessibility; opportunity to develop trust over time; in-depth knowledge of organization
Cons: May have conflicting interest between coachee and the organization
• External coaches
Pros: Provide strict confidentiality; objectivity; can say the “unspeakable”
• Important characteristics of a coach from coachee’s perspective
Provides honest and challenging feedback
Good listening skills
Provides good action ideas
Accessible
Not guided by personal agenda
Competence
• Important characteristics of a coach from coach’s perspective
Strong connection and personal relationship with client
Good listening skills
Caring
Holds client accountable
Demonstrates honesty and integrity
• Concerns related to the future of executive coaching
Managing demand for executive coaching
Addressing ethical issues related to conflict of interest (for internal coaches)
Controlling costs of executive coaching
• Provides a good overview of the state of the practice of executive coaching
Strengths
• Provides perspective of both coaches and clients
• Provides a good overview of issues in the practice of executive coaching
Limitations
• Limited information on the study sample and how information was gained from interviews
Categories: T2, C0, P14
Hamilton, B. A., & Scandura, T. A. (2003). E-mentoring: Implications for organizational learning and development in a wired world. Organizational Dynamics, 31, 388–402.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Examine the benefits and challenges of electronic mentoring (e-mentoring)
• Discuss ways to incorporate technology into mentoring practices
Design / Methodology
• Presents dimensions and benefits of e-mentoring
Findings / Implications
• E-mentoring provides greater scheduling flexibility and increased accessibility to mentors
Can overcome organizational, individual, interpersonal, and scheduling barriers
• Especially useful as a supplement to traditional mentoring practices
• Progresses through the same phases of “initiation, cultivation, and separation” as traditional mentoring processes
• Technological factors (i.e., situational factors, social factors, usefulness, ease of use) moderate the effectiveness of e-mentoring
Technology can also interact with individual factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, and personality
E-mentors and mentees will need virtual communication skills, as they cannot rely on body language or visual cues for communication
• Implementation of an e-mentoring program requires a technology infrastructure, training, managerial support, establishing goals and expectations, and selection procedures
Originality / Value
• Highlights the values of e-mentoring in terms of reducing the effects of social biases
Strengths
• Provides clear definition of e-mentoring
Limitations
• Does not discuss the drawbacks of e-mentoring
• Findings and implications are not based on empirical evidence
Categories: T5, I, C0, P15
Hernez-Broome, G., & Hughes, L. (2004). Leadership development: Past, present and future. Human Resource Planning, 27, 24–32.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Examine leadership development trends over the past 20 years, current trends in executive coaching practices, and predicted trends that globalization and technology will bring
Design / Methodology
• Outlines common leadership development practices of the past 20 years
• Describes several themes in present-day executive coaching practices
• Based on past and present trends, outlines future challenges in the practice of executive coaching
Findings / Implications
• In the past two decades, leadership development has become increasingly focused on team research, leader interpersonal skills, and active learning techniques
• Current literature and practices focus on leader-follower interactions, competency development, work-life balance, and leadership development in the context of the workplace
• Globalization and technology of the future will create increased emphasis on:
Leader integrity and ethics
Deep understanding of executive coaching processes
Quantitative methods for calculating executive coaching benefits
Originality / Value
• Integrates past and current practices to pinpoint how executive coaching has developed and how it will need to adapt for the future
Strengths
• Provides concise history of executive coaching
• Outlines practices and challenges that may be relevant to the future
Limitations
• Little emphasis on the past, present, and future of empirical research in executive coaching
Categories: T1, C45, P8
Hollenbeck, G. P. (2002). Coaching executives: Individual leader development. In R. Silzer (Ed.), The 21st century executive: Innovative practices for building leadership at the top (pp. 137–167). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching, Coach and Client Characteristics, Overview
Purpose
• Identify and discuss issues and trends in coaching; addresses following topics:
How companies use executive coaching
Where coaching comes from and why it is so popular
What executive coaches do and how executive coaching differs from lifestyle or personal coaching and psychotherapy
Does executive coaching work?
What can organizations and executives do to make the best use of coaching?
• Target HR audience; focus is about coaching executives, not how to coach them
Design / Methodology
• Responds to the questions based on relevant research, personal experience, interviews with subject-matter-experts, and review of various organizational practices
• Large organizations with a coaching pool are concerned with fit of the coach with the organization and coaching competence
Coach screening includes review of résumé, screening survey (Figure 3), interviews, reference checks
Example of interview topics include coach’s definition and approach to coaching, previous assignments accepted or rejected, orientation, and flexibility
• Emphasizes the importance of a good match
Defines “right” in terms of expertise and style
Can be achieved by allowing clients to choose from several coach options, referred to as “the beauty contest” (p. 160)
Originality / Value
• Provides an experience-based discussion regarding how organizations select coaches and match them with executives, using examples
Strengths
• Stipulates that they know of no research that prescribes a scientific process for ensuring a good coach-client fit
Limitations
• Addresses a number of coaching issues briefly rather than examining a few in greater detail
Categories: T5, I, C24, P30
Homan, M., & Miller, L. J. (2008). Developing master coaching skills. In Coaching in organizations: Best coaching practices from the Ken Blanchard Companies (pp. 181–209). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching, Coach and Client Characteristics, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Define and describe coaching competencies
Design / Methodology
• Presents insights based on authors’ “years of experience in recruiting and deploying coaches” (p. 182)
• Four categories of coaching competencies: General, Corporate, Executive, Master
General: basic competencies, such as ability to build trust, listen, offer feedback
Corporate: competencies needed for coaches working in an organization
Executive: competencies needed for coaching top-level members of organizations
Master: competencies needed for coaches coaching coaches
• Ability to match personal style with client style (General competency)
Coaches should be able to match the client’s style preference
Coaches should, if needed, influence client’s style preference
Style issues include: energy, thinking style and speed, and humor
Originality / Value
• Provides perspective of experienced practitioners regarding match factors
Strengths
• Discussion presented succinctly
Limitations
• Minimal inclusion of examples to illustrate concepts or outside evidence to support competency inclusion
Categories: T5, C1, P28
Hooijberg, R., & Lane, N. (2009). Using multisource feedback coaching effectively in executive education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8(4), 483–493.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics, Coaching Process, Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine what coaches do in executive education programs to foster behavior change
Design / Methodology
• Open-ended survey administered to managers in eight different executive education programs at a leading European business school
Questions asked about effective coaching, obstacles and facilitators of implementing action plans, and behavior changes made as a result of coaching
Survey mailed to 700 managers; 232 managers participated (33 percent response rate)
82 percent male; 84 percent between 35 and 54 years old
Grounded theory approach used to identify major categories and subcategories
Findings / Implications
• Perceptions of what determines effective coaching
Client responsibility, coaches’ skills, and chemistry (33 percent of responses)
Coach professionalism, interpretation of results, and inspiring action (85 percent)
Most important coaches’ skills identified: giving recommendations, interpreting results, and helping assimilate feedback
• Perceptions of whether coaching leads to change
Almost all participants (97.4 percent) reported leaving multi-source feedback session having identified 1 to 3 issues or areas to work on and somewhat high or high commitment (81 percent) to work on the issues identified
A majority (61 percent) reported working on their identified issues in their workplace
• Perceived obstacles to coaching effectiveness
Clients themselves, including attitude and habits (27.3 percent)
Lack of time (21.1 percent) and daily routine (15.7 percent)
• Perceived facilitators of implementing action or development plans
Clients themselves, including changing one’s mind-set and seeing positive results (37.1 percent), other people (19.2 percent), and actions taken (14.1 percent)
Originality / Value
• Examines what coaches actually do to facilitate behavior change
• Highlights importance of context in which coaching occurs
Strengths
• Explores what coaches actually do that facilitates performance improvement in clients
• Highlights need to consider the context in which coaching occurs
Limitations
• Research is primarily exploratory in nature
• Multisource feedback and coaching occurred as part of a broader executive education program, creating an alternative explanation for the results observed
• All data provided from a single source and at a single point in time (self-report)
Categories: T2, I, C23, P11
Jay, M. (2003). Understanding how to leverage executive coaching. Organization Development Journal, 21, 6–19.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coaching Outcomes, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Assess how to leverage executive coaching practices by incorporating emotional intelligence and “fourth-loop learning” into the coaching process
• Define aspects of emotional intelligence and how these aspects can be applied to executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• A conceptual model is derived from common coaching practices and the author’s own expertise and experiences
• Extends previous research on emotional intelligence by Goleman (1988)
Findings / Implications
• Coaching practices should increase emotional intelligence in order to provide coachees with the advanced social skills to understand and subsequently manage behaviors
• Article outlines the definitions and uses of single-, double-, triple-, and fourth-loop learning
Single-loop learning involves aligning behaviors with expectations
Double-loop learning considers the variables that may be causing discrepancies between behaviors and expectations
Triple-loop learning requires the learner to view his or her own actions objectively
– This can fully address the internal, external, financial, and developmental domains of the business system
Through fourth-loop learning, coachees simultaneously process the behaviors, expectations, identities, and governing variables that exist among parallel systems or streams of consciousness
– Achieves the most leverage in executive coaching practices
Originality / Value
• Extends Goleman’s (1988) emotional intelligence typology in order to identify ways to leverage executive coaching
Strengths
• Defines emotional intelligence
Limitations
• Strategy-focused approach could be supplemented with recommendations for implementation
Categories: T5, I, C11, P13
Jones, R. A., Rafferty, A. E., & Griffin, M. A. (2006). The executive coaching trend: Towards more flexible executives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 27, 584–596.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Investigate the influence of leadership coaching on executives’ managerial flexibility
Design / Methodology
• Empirical study surveyed 46 executives who participated in a leadership development program that included 360-degree feedback, leadership workshops, and coaching
• All clients participating in the coaching received six one-hour coaching sessions every two weeks for three months
• A 10-item measure of flexibility was administered to clients prior to coaching, halfway through the coaching engagement (after session three), and post coaching (after session six)
• 11 executives provided survey data at all three points in time
Findings / Implications
• Clients’ flexibility increased over time (F = 2.56)
• Provides initial support for the positive effect of coaching on flexibility
Strengths
• Longitudinal design
Limitations
• Small sample size
• Relies on self-report data
Categories: T2, C33, P13
Joo, B. (2005). Executive coaching: A conceptual framework from an integrative review of practice and research. Human Resource Development Review, 4, 462–488.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Integrate empirical research and literature from other practices to identify gaps in executive coaching literature
• Develop conceptual framework as a context in which to address the gaps
Design / Methodology
• Reviews 78 articles from both academic and practice journals, business magazines, and book chapters
• Articles were categorized according to their source, methodology, definition, and focus
Majority of articles came from practice-focused journals (74 percent) and the organizational/business management literature (60 percent).
11 research articles were found, only 6 of which employed quantitative methods
Findings / Implications
• Outlines an I-P-O framework for executive coaching
Inputs include characteristics of the coach, coachee, and organization
Processes include the coaching approach, coachee receptivity, and the overall quality of the coach-coachee relationship
Outcomes can be proximal, such as self-awareness and learning, or distal, such as individual and organizational success
• Integrates executive coaching practices and literature to develop a conceptual framework
Strengths
• Provides a starting point for rigorous and relevant executive coaching research
Limitations
• Does not address possible moderators within the proposed framework
• Framework should be expanded to assess effects of time, contexts, and measurements
Categories: T1, M, C60, P26
Kampa-Kokesch, S., & Anderson, M. Z. (2001). Executive coaching: A comprehensive review of the literature. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 53, 205–228.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Identify which aspects of executive coaching are confirmed by research and which require further empirical backing
Design / Methodology
• Reviews literature on the history of executive coaching and current practices
• Outlines various definitions, techniques, and purposes of executive coaching, the characteristics of coaches and clients, and the distinction between coaching and counseling
• Describes the purpose, method, findings, and implications of seven empirical studies of executive coaching
Findings / Implications
• Identifies six themes in the practice literature that are confirmed by empirical findings
1. Executive coaching benefits both the client and the client’s organization
2. Executive coaching increases the client’s learning
3. Behavioral changes in the client can occur through executive coaching
4. Executive coaches have a variety of backgrounds
5. Executive coaching involves a variety of methods
6. Executive coaching can be used for both remedial and developmental purposes
Originality / Value
• Highlights areas where empirical research and actual practices overlap and where they are incomplete
Strengths
• Provides concise summary of what is known in the field of executive coaching
• Encourages future research in order to create a consensus on definition and best practices of executive coaching
Limitations
• Most references collected from applied (rather than empirical) journals
Categories: T3, I, M, C90, P23
Kaspirin, C. A., Single, P. B., Single, R. M., & Muller, C. B. (2003). Building a better bridge: Testing e-training to improve e-mentoring programmes in higher education. Mentoring & Tutoring, 11(1), 67–78.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Develop and test the effects of an e-training program on satisfaction, involvement, and perceived value
Design / Methodology
• 400 undergraduate students randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition
Experimental condition participants were required to complete online training; control condition participants were told that online training was optional
• Subjects were given surveys and matched with a mentor
• Mentors and subjects interacted electronically using the MentorNet program
• Measures were collected from participants at the end of the academic year
Findings / Implications
• Findings show the benefits of e-training before entering into an e-mentoring relationship
• Subjects in the experimental group demonstrated significantly more involvement
Involvement was operationalized by the frequency of e-mails
• No significant differences between groups regarding satisfaction or perceived value
• Identifies moderating effect of mandatory participation on e-mentoring outcomes
Originality / Value
• One of the earliest studies to assess e-mentoring efficacy and user perceptions
Strengths
• Highlights the importance of online training programs for electronic coaches and clients
• Focuses on client reactions to required training and how these reactions might influence future coaching participation
Limitations
• Increased involvement of experimental group could have been due to mandatory nature of assignment rather than increased satisfaction or efficacy
• Non-significant findings for satisfaction and perceived value could have been due to ceiling effect, as all participants rated e-mentoring programs as very high on both dimensions
Categories: T2, I, M, C21, P12
Kilburg, R. R. (2004). When shadows fall: Using psychodynamic approaches in executive coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56(4), 246–268.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Explore how events, feelings, thoughts, and patterns of behavior outside the individual’s conscious awareness can significantly influence what executives decide and how they behave
• Review situations in which psychodynamic issues and interventions are relevant for executive coaches to consider
• Outlines 15 situations in which psychodynamic issues and interventions are relevant for executive coaching, such as when the client seeks to understand his or her history, goals, motives, and behaviors with a greater degree of psychological sophistication or when knowledge, skill, and ability may be insufficient to master a challenge
Findings / Implications
• Executive coaches would be “foolhardy” to use an approach that does not take into account the existence of unconscious mental, emotional, and social processes and how they affect the executives they coach
• Conflict and object relation approaches to understanding psychodynamics have a high degree of relevance for executive coaching
• Many psychotherapy methods are transferable to executive coaching
• Many coaches do not possess the competencies to use this approach competently, and many coaching situations do not call for such approaches
• A situation can be made worse by using this approach, especially in time-limited coaching engagements, since strong feelings may be surfaced and can produce wounds difficult to manage in the context of fast-paced organizations
• Identifies self-awareness, emotional management, and behavioral flexibility as types of development best suited to a psychodynamic approach to executive coaching
Originality / Value
• Describes the purposes of psychodynamic approaches and interventions in executive coaching
• Provides a concise summary of how unconscious psychological conflict affects executive performance
Strengths
• Describes a variety of intervention approaches coaches can use to approach psychodynamic material with clients
• Reviews limitations using these concepts and methods in executive coaching
• Provides numerous tables that summarize key issues important to consider when applying a psychodynamic approach to executive coaching
Appropriate executive coaching situations
Coaching methods
Stages of a behavioral or psychodynamic interpretation in executive coaching
Principles underlying interpretation
Pitfalls and limitations
Limitations: None noted
Categories: T1, C43, P23
Knouse, S. B. (2001). Virtual mentors: Mentoring on the Internet. Journal of Employment Counseling, 38, 162–169.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Discuss the advantages of virtual mentoring
• Provide examples of successful virtual mentoring
Design / Methodology
• Reviews empirical and practice literature, as well as current Internet mentoring programs
Findings / Implications
• Online mentoring holds benefits over traditional face-to-face mentoring, such as accessibility, anonymity, and cost effectiveness
• There has been an increase in mentoring Web sites tailored to women, minorities, students, and the military.
Also an increase in Web sites specifically for coaching purposes
• Online mentors are less able to monitor their clients and track their progress
• Future mentoring applications should include team virtual mentoring, group mentoring, and networking
Originality / Value
• Identifies research and examples of proven-effective virtual mentoring efforts
Strengths
• Provides evidence for the rise in virtual mentoring practices
• Draws on both academic and applied literature
Limitations
• Does not fully address differences between mentoring and coaching, or how virtual coaching might extend coaching practices
Categories: T3, C27, P7
Kochanowski, S., Seifert, C. F., & Yukl, G. (2010). Using coaching to enhance the effects of behavioral feedback to managers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17(4), 363–369.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Assess whether coaching enhances the effectiveness of a feedback workshop on managers’ use of four influence tactics
Design / Methodology
• Field study with managers of a midsize grocery store chain
30 store managers randomly assigned to one of two conditions
56 subordinates in coaching condition
37 subordinates in control condition
• Pre/post measure: Influence Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ)
Post-survey administered three months after coaching intervention
Feedback workshop training evaluation assessed workshop effectiveness
• Feedback workshop: six hours of IBQ feedback, inform and practice influence tactics
• Coaching: five 30-minute weekly telephone conversations and final one-hour face-to-face
Findings / Implications
• Follow-up coaching enhanced the effects of feedback on the use of collaboration with subordinates more than managers who did not receive coaching (F = 4.31, p < .05)
• No significant effects (p < .05) were found for rational persuasion, inspirational appeal, and consultation
Originality / Value
• Provides preliminary evidence of coaching impact over multisource feedback
Strengths
• Examined workshop ratings between experimental and control groups (no differences)
• Discussion highlights the role of organizational support and climate
Limitations
• Final sample size is not specified, although a high attrition rate is acknowledged
• Only feedback from subordinates examined
• Pre-measure differences between experimental and control groups not discussed
• Comparisons of managers included versus not included in final analysis not discussed
Categories: T2, M, C30, P7
Kombarakaran, F. A., Yang, J. A., Baker, M. N., & Fernandes, P. B. (2008). Executive coaching: It works! Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60, 78–90.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine the effectiveness of a coaching initiative in a global pharmaceutical company
Design / Methodology
• Surveyed 42 coaches who had coached 114 executives in a large multinational organization over a six-month period
• After coaching, clients responded to 65 items on their perceptions of their coaching engagement, including both quantitative (on a 5-point Likert scale) and qualitative (short-answer) questions developed by the authors
• Coaches also completed surveys on their perceptions of the coaching engagements
Findings / Implications
• Based on the qualitative comments, five areas of change resulting from coaching were identified:
1. People management
2. Relationships with managers
3. Goal setting and prioritization
4. Engagement and productivity
5. Effective communication
• 72 percent of the clients reported that coaching increased their confidence and 78 percent reported that coaching maximized their contribution to the company
• A review of the coaches’ qualitative comments suggested that coaching increased clients’ communication skills and effectiveness in their leadership roles
• Documents the positive short-term effects of coaching
Strengths
• Collected multisource data (from clients and coaches)
Limitations
• No control group
Categories: T2, C19, P13
Latham, G. P. (2007). Theory and research on coaching practices. Australian Psychologist, 42(4), 268–270.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coach and Client Characteristics, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Explicitly link coaching practices to existing psychological frameworks and empirical research to help develop an evidence-based approach to coaching
Design / Methodology
• Conceptual paper articulating the need to advance coaching practices and research
• Includes research examples to support suggested theories to apply
Findings / Implications
• Provides three theories that can be adapted to inform coaching research
1. Dweck’s Implicit Personal Theory (Heslin, VandeWalle, & Latham, 2006)
2. Locke and Latham’s Goal Theory (Locke & Latham, 2002; Heslin & Latham, 2004)
3. Sociocognitive Theories (Sue-Chan & Latham, 2004; Brown & Latham, 2006)
Originality / Value
• Proposes that the application of findings from empirical research guided by theories will be more useful to the practicing community
Strengths
• Provides examples to support evidence-based management on coaching
• Examples of theory-based research are not all leadership-coaching specific
Categories: T5, C20, P3
Levenson, A. (2009). Measuring and maximizing the business impact of executive coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 61, 103–121.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine coaching outcomes and outline conceptual and methodological issues related to assessing the impact of coaching
• Present a conceptual framework for identifying the factors related to organizational effectiveness
• Propose that coaching engagements directly impact leadership behaviors, which in turn influence business performance via outcomes that matter to the organization
Design / Methodology
• Examines 12 coaching engagements that had been rated as successful based on improvements in leadership behaviors
• Sample included 12 clients included in the study working at large firms in the consumer products, financial services, or health care industries
• Author interviewed the 10 coaches and 12 clients involved in the coaching engagements
Findings / Implications
• Participants found it challenging to identify direct impacts of their coaching engagements on business outcomes
• In order to assess the impact of coaching on business outcomes, it is important to account for the complexity of the leader’s operating environment as well as the operating environment of the leader’s team
Originality / Value
• Presents conceptual framework for evaluating the outcomes of coaching engagements
Strengths
• Multisource data (coaches and clients)
• Small sample size
Categories: T4, I, C59, P19
Liljenstrand, A. M., & Nebeker, D. M. (2008). Coaching services: A look at coaches, clients, and practices. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60(1), 57–77.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Explore how academic background of coach influences executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• Nine thousand coaches accessed through a variety of coaching organizations and associations were contacted and asked to participate in online survey
• Final N = 2,231 coaches
Findings / Implications
• Coaches’ Personal Attributes
Coaches with a background in education, clinical psychology, or industrial/organizational psychology tended to be older
Majority of coaches were female (67 percent)
More coaching experience and education reported by psychologists
Prior career experience was rated as the most important preparation
Academic background reported as most useful preparation by psychologists; coaching training programs reported as most useful by other fields
Certification/licensure perceived as more important by business, other, and education backgrounds than by psychologists
All backgrounds strongly endorsed the need to adhere to ethical guidelines
• Client Attributes
Academic background influenced to which industry services provided
Business, education, and other backgrounds were most likely to coach entrepreneurs
Industrial/organizational psychologists were most likely to coach midlevel and top managers
• Delivery Practices
Background of the coach influenced the goals they were hired to help clients achieve
– Business background: interpersonal relations
– Psychology background: communication and listening skills
– Education and other background: balancing work and professional life
Assessment tools differed according to coach background
Coaching formats differed by academic background
Originality / Value
• Examines influence of the coach’s background in executive coaching
Strengths
• Numerous aspects of the coaching process captured
Limitations
• Limited inferences that can be made
• Difficult to capture all aspects of the coaching process through a survey
• Social desirability may have played a role
Categories: T2, I, C32, P21
Linley, P. A., Woolston, L., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2009). Strengths coaching with leaders. International Coaching Psychology Review, 4(1), 37–48.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Demonstrate practice and effects of positive psychology approach to coaching
Design / Methodology
• Discusses CAPP’s (Centre for Applied Positive Psychology) Realise2 Model, which identifies strengths; differentiates between strengths, behaviors, and weaknesses; and provides methodologies for applications of strengths
• Explicit that leaders identify weaknesses and make them irrelevant
• Encourages leaders to find their optimal balance in using their strengths
Originality / Value
• Employs strengths-based approach to coaching using case studies to illustrate the practice
Strengths
• Provides a historical overview of strengths-based approaches
• Defines strength and introduces alternative strength measures: Clifton Strengths Finder, VIA Inventory of Strengths, Inspirational Leadership Tool
Limitations
• No empirical data to support the effectiveness of strengths coaching
Categories: T1, C31, P12
Lowman, R. L. (2005). Executive coaching: The road to dodoville needs paving with more than good assumptions. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 57, 90–96.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Review articles from a special executive coaching issue of The Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
• Discuss common themes raised in the executive coaching issue and directions for future research
Design / Methodology
• 10 articles were reviewed from the two-part special issue on executive coaching, published by The Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research in winter 2005
Findings / Implications
• Many of the common practices and case studies in the literature lack a scientific foundation
• Trust, environmental context, and coaching model are all identified as vital factors in the executive coaching process
• Characteristics of effective executive coaching include:
Increased coachee understanding
A focus on strengths (as opposed to weaknesses)
The integration of psychological and organizational practices
Spanning individual, group, and organizational levels
• Future research should combine the information from applied practices with scientifically rigorous methods of psychology
Originality / Value
• Identifies the benefits that both empirical research and applied practices bring to knowledge of executive coaching
Strengths
• Encourages collaboration between practitioners and psychologists
Limitations
• Lacks specific definition of executive coaching
• Reviews relatively small body of executive coaching
Categories: T3, C16, P7
Mallen, M. J., Day, S. X., & Green, M. A. (2003). Online versus face-to-face conversations: An examination of relational and discourse variables. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 40, 155–163.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Examine differences in communication processes between online and face-to-face conversations
Design / Methodology
• 32 pairs (N = 64) of undergraduate students were randomly assigned to an online or face-to-face communication condition
• Pairs conversed for 20 to 30 minutes, then completed a survey to assess their satisfaction with the interaction, closeness, self-disclosure, emotional understanding, and depth of processing
• Participants were asked to recall facts from the conversation both immediately following the interaction and 10 to 14 days later
Findings / Implications
• Participants in the face-to-face condition reported significantly more satisfaction, closeness, self-disclosure, emotional understanding, and depth of processing than participants in the online condition
• Participants in the face-to-face condition reported significantly less conflict
• In the online condition, participants with more online experience reported higher levels of closeness compared with participants with little online experience
• Results indicate that participants are more cognitively and interpersonally involved in face-to-face conversations compared to online conversations
Originality / Value
• Research specifically pinpointed some of the ways in which online and face-to-face communication differ
Strengths
• Provides information about the emotional and cognitive processes that exist in any form of communication
• Addresses a number of conversational and relational outcomes
Limitations
• Conversations between participants bear little resemblance to coaching practices
Interactions limited to 30 seconds
Participants simply asked to “get to know each other”
Categories: T2, I, M, C26, P9
McDermott, M., Levenson, A., & Newton, S. (2007). What coaching can and cannot do for your organization. Human Resource Planning, 30, 30–37.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine how organizations use coaching and the perceived organizational outcomes of coaching engagements
Design / Methodology
• 55 companies were surveyed about their use of coaching and the perceived impact of coaching on the organization
• Respondents included human resource representatives responsible for coaching initiatives
• Companies were multinational, publicly traded companies, and the median number of employees was 34,000
• Organizations provide coaching on a regular basis to 24 percent of their CEOs and top management teams and 16 percent of their senior vice presidents and general managers
• Coaching has the greatest impact on improving individual-level outcomes such as individuals’ leadership behaviors and performance, as well as developing future leaders
• 57 percent of companies planned to increase the use of coaching, while 2 percent planned to decrease coaching and 41 percent reported no plans to change the amount of coaching provided
Originality / Value
• Provides initial insight into organizations’ coaching practices and the perceived outcomes from coaching engagements
• Highlights some of the skepticism that human resource professionals have about the use of coaching
Strengths
• Surveyed a broad range of companies
Limitations
• Relies on perceptions of coaching’s impact
Categories: T2, C0, P8
McKenna, D. D., & Davis, S. L. (2009). Hidden in plain sight: The active ingredients of executive coaching. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 2, 244–260.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Examine psychotherapy outcome research for ideas to improve executive coaching practices
Design / Methodology
• Conceptual paper
• Generalized “active ingredients” that have been identified as explaining the most variance in psychotherapy outcomes to executive coaching
Client/extratherapeutic factors
– Clients need to be ready and willing to change; coaches need to increase readiness to change of clients and tap into support networks of clients
– Coaches should seek to develop an alliance with clients through goals, tasks, and bonds
Expectancy, hope, and placebo effects
– Coaches need to build perceptions of credibility in order to increase client hope
Theory and techniques
– A coach can use theory and techniques to improve or weaken the influence of other active ingredients
– Coaches should draw on their unique expertise and be clear about how the coaching process will work
Findings / Implications
• Psychotherapy findings argued to inform executive coaching
• Active ingredients are interactive; they blend together and influence other factors
• Executive coaching and psychotherapy differ in important ways
Originality / Value
• Interesting connection between the executive coaching and psychotherapy literatures
Strengths
• Empirical research and additional rationale needed to support the relevance of all factors to executive coaching
Limitations: None noted
Categories: T1, I, C33, P17
Nowack, K. M. (2009). Leveraging multirater feedback to facilitate successful behavioral change. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 61(4), 280–297.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Present a three-stage model for behavior change to increase the impact of multirater feedback
Design / Methodology
• Conceptual article that proposes a three-stage model of behavior change:
1. Enlighten: 360-degree feedback, readiness to change, motivational interviewing
2. Encourage: goal definition, goal setting, skill building
3. Enable: reinforcement, monitoring, building in social support, relapse prevention training, evaluation
Findings / Implications
• 360-degree feedback is a common component of many coaching programs, yet there are many limitations
Scores between rater groups (e.g., peers, subordinates) are only modestly correlated
Scores within rater groups (e.g., between two peers) are only modestly correlated
• Feedback combined with coaching can increase clients’ performance
Originality / Value
• Examines weaknesses of multirater feedback and provides model to help overcome these weaknesses
Strengths
• Provides foundation for successfully incorporating multirater feedback into coaching programs
Limitations
• Model needs empirical support
Categories: T1, C78, P18
O’Broin, A., & Palmer, S. (2006). The coach-client relationship and contributions made by the coach in improving coaching outcome. The Coaching Psychologist, 2(2), 16–20.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Advocate research focusing on the coach-client relationship
Design / Methodology
• Reviews the coaching literature to support arguments for the need and direction of coach-client relationship research
Findings / Implications
• Discusses coaching relationship themes within current coaching literature
Coaching relationship is seen as a tool of change
Exploration of credentials for effective coaching
Coaching occurs in stages
• Promotes applying the principle of best current knowledge, borrowing from allied fields
• Psychotherapy Task Force (Lambert & Barley, 2001) identified three factors influencing outcomes:
1. Therapist variables (interpersonal style, therapist attributes)
2. Facilitative conditions (empathy, warmth, congruence)
3. Therapeutic alliance (tasks, bonds and goals)
Originality / Value
• Currently, the only literature review that focuses on the coach-client relationship
Strengths
• Presents a salient discussion of issues relevant to coach-client relationships
• Offers a series of coach-client questions to guide future research
What are the perceptions of both clients and coaches on the relationship?
How is the coaching relationship related to coaching outcomes?
Can coach contributions improve the coach-client relationship?
Can the coach-client relationship be effectively tailored to the individual client?
Limitations
• Minimal evidence or guidance to support answering the questions proposed
Categories: T3, I, C43, P5
O’Broin, A., & Palmer, S. (2009). Co-creating an optimal coaching alliance: A cognitive behavioural coaching perspective. International Coaching Psychology Review, 4(2), 184–194.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process, Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Provide a cognitive behavioral perspective to support coaching relationships
Design / Methodology
• Examines coach-client relationships from a cognitive behavioral perspective with support by research from counseling and psychotherapy literature
• Coaching alliance characterized by explicitly agreed-upon goals, tasks, bonds, and views helps create trust and respect in the coaching relationship
• Work-supporting bonds linking goals and tasks may be more instructive than coach-client bonds (coach empathy, genuineness, and unconditional acceptance of client) to collaborative relationship
• Empathy enables cognitive behavior processes and therefore is proposed as a key coaching relationship factor
• Coaching bond is enhanced when a good match exists between coach and client interpersonal styles, particularly in the early stages of establishing coaching alliance
Originality / Value
• Emphasizes collaborative nature of a coach-client relationship and provides an approach to developing a coaching alliance
• Highlights psychological or coaching contracts that are based on schemas, promises, and mutuality as a tool in developing effective collaborative relationships
Strengths
• Defines cognitive behavioral coaching
• Provides a cognitive behavioral therapy context, indicating evidence-based research support
Limitations
• No empirical data to support the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral coaching
Categories: T1, C65, P11
Orenstein, R. (2002). Executive coaching: It’s not just about the executive. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 38, 355–374.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Challenge the conventional notion that executive coaching is an individual-level intervention
Design / Methodology
• Draws on academic literature, applied practices, and the author’s experiences
• Provides four premises for the executive coaching process and three illustrative examples of when and how these premises apply
Findings / Implications
• Current literature defines executive coaching as “a one-on-one intervention with a senior manager for the purpose of improving or enhancing management skills” (p. 356)
• The literature, while limited, demonstrates the success of coaching practices that emphasize the individual as part of a greater system
• To understand the higher-level relationship, four premises should guide coaching behaviors:
1. A focus on the unconscious
2. Consideration of the individual, the organization, and their interaction
3. The multilevel relationship between the individual and the group
4. Use of the self
Originality / Value
• Provides clear agenda for integrating the organization into coaching interventions
• Provides illustrations of when and how to apply the agenda
Strengths
• Emphasis on the role of the organizational system in executive coaching
Limitations
• Does not fully differentiate between coaching and therapy
Categories: T1, I, C37, P20
Orenstein, R. L. (2006). Measuring executive coaching efficacy? The answer was right here all the time. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 58, 106–116.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine a survey approach for assessing the effectiveness of coaching engagements
• The Empathic Organic Questionnaire (Alderfer & Brown, 1972) was applied to coaching by adapting the questions to focus on individual change within an organizational role
• Examined one executive that the author worked with as a coach over a period of six months
• 20 members of the organization rated the client’s behavior on a variety of dimensions before and after the coaching engagement
• Assessment dimensions included behaviors that were directly related to the coaching engagement, behaviors that were indirectly related to the coaching engagement, and control items that were unrelated to the coaching engagement
• Used t-tests to compare the ratings of the client’s behavior before and after coaching
Findings / Implications
• Ratings of client’s behaviors directly related to the coaching objectives showed the most number of significant changes before and after the coaching engagement (79 percent)
• 9 percent of behaviors indirectly related to the coaching objectives were significantly rated as changing and none of the control items were significantly rated as changing
Originality / Value
• Findings suggest that relevant others in the organization could diagnose the behavioral changes targeted by the coaching intervention
Strengths
• Provides a description of one technique that organizations can use to evaluate the outcomes of coaching engagements
Limitations
• Small sample size (only examined one client)
Categories: T4, C18, P11
Passmore, J. (2007). An integrative model for executive coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 59(1), 68–78.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Bring together a series of evidence-based coaching approaches to build an integrated model for executive coaching
Design / Methodology
• The Integrative Coaching Model is presented and its elements described
• The Integrative Coaching Model consists of six streams:
1. Developing the coaching partnership draws from the humanistic tradition
2. Maintaining the coaching partnership draws from both emotional intelligence and the psychoanalytic tradition
3. Behavioral focus draws from behaviorism and is at the core of all executive coaching
4. Conscious cognition draws upon cognitive-behavioral interventions
5. Unconscious cognition focuses on cognitive processes outside of conscious awareness and draws from the psychoanalytic tradition
6. Cultural context in which coach and coachee operate
• Developing and maintaining a coaching partnership is critical but insufficient
• To move toward enhanced performance, the executive coach must work in four streams of change:
1. What they can see—the behavioral
2. What they can’t see but rather hear from the cognitive processes at work
3. What they suspect, at the unconscious level
4. Within the system by which the coachee is bound
Originality / Value
• The model provides executive coaches with a starting point from which to practice, reflect on, and develop further
• Offers an eclectic way to coach, mixing tools and techniques from various approaches
• Model uses the concept of working at multiple levels—behavioral, cognitive, and unconscious
• Acknowledges that although the integrative model is not unique, the blend of elements is a distinctive approach
Strengths
• Model is heavily evidence-based
• Serves to provide a holistic model of executive coaching that can be used as a guide in the business world
Limitations: None noted
Categories: T1, C45, P12
Passmore, J., & Gibbes, C. (2007). The state of executive coaching research: What does the current literature tell us and what’s next for coaching research? International Coaching Psychology Review, 2, 116–128.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Review past research from executive coaching studies, coaching case studies, life coaching practices, and counseling psychology in order to integrate and assess the extant literature
Design / Methodology
• Reviews executive coaching literature, field studies, survey studies, life coaching studies, and counseling psychology literature
• Literature search was restricted to studies published after 2000
Findings / Implications
• Case and survey studies show promising results about the efficacy of executive coaching
• Small body of empirical research highlights important inputs and moderators such as:
Leader behaviors
Ratings
Credibility
Coachee perceptions
• Counseling psychology literature contains more expansive and definitive research that empirically validates practices and outcomes
Possible methods and pathways from counseling psychology research can be used to further validate executive coaching hypotheses
Originality / Value
• Consolidated review of recent executive coaching literature
Strengths
• Integrates findings from wide array of areas
Limitations
• No clear definition of executive coaching
• Little differentiation between coaching and counseling
Categories: T3, I, C65, P13
Passmore, J., Rawle-Cope, M., Gibbes, C., & Holloway, M. (2006). MBTI® types and executive coaching. The Coaching Psychologist, 2(3), 6–14.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching, Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Examine personality preferences of executive coaches as indicated by MBTI
Design / Methodology
• 228 experienced executive coaches completed an online survey (15 percent completion rate)
Four MBTI type preferences
Psychological training
Preferred methodology from 12 approaches (e.g., humanistic, cognitive, behavioral, integrated, psychodynamic, solution focused)
• Data analyzed by the four preferences and 12 MBTI types (e.g., ISTJ)
Findings / Implications
• U.K. coaches versus U.K. populations
ISFJ: 0.9 percent of U.K. coaches (13 percent of U.K. population)
ENFP: 18.9 percent of U.K. coaches (6 percent of U.K. population)
Extraversion (E): 57.4 percent of U.K. coaches (53 percent of U.K. population)
Intuition (N): 84.2 percent of U.K. coaches (17 percent of U.K. population)
Perceiving (P): 53.5 percent of U.K. coaches (41 percent of U.K. population)
• Coaches more concerned with big picture rather than a detailed approach (S/N)
• Also examined differences between psychologist and nonpsychologist coaches
Intuition (N): 89.9 percent psychologists (81.2 percent of nonpsychologists)
Feeling (F): 47.7 percent of psychologists (52.2 percent of nonpsychologists)
Perhaps a result of training offered or types attracted to be psychologists
• Discusses need for coaches to understand how their personality type may affect interaction with clients
• Presents likely strengths and areas for development for coaches (e.g., MBTI: “F”; Strength: “Being empathetic”; Development: “Challenging the coachee” (p. 13; Table 8)
Strengths
• Defines “experienced coach” as more than “50 hours of executive coaching” (p. 6)
• Presents a general overview of MBTI
• Good integration of the counseling literature
Limitations
• Participants were self-selected (19.2 percent of 1,500 invited to participate)
• Article focused on a subset of variables from a larger study exploring coaching behaviors, which were not discussed
Categories: T2, C8, P9
Perkins, R. D. (2009). How executive coaching can change leader behavior and improve meeting effectiveness: An exploratory study. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 61(4), 298–318.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Describe a coaching process and information on how executive coaching can help executives improve meeting leadership
Design / Methodology
• An exploratory study designed to answer the following questions:
Can more effective meeting behaviors be identified?
Can the identified behaviors be changed through executive coaching?
Will behavioral changes lead to positive individual and organizational outcomes?
• Participants were 21 executives (20 men, 1 woman)
• The Meeting Leadership Measurement System (MLMS) was developed to assess leaders’ meeting behaviors pre- and post-coaching and included asking questions, summarizing, testing for consensus, disagreeing, attacking, and giving information
• Three cases are presented to demonstrate how coaching was done using the MLMS
Findings / Implications
• After coaching, participants demonstrated significant behavioral changes
• Coached behavioral changes led to increased understanding and improved skills in meeting leadership, and more positive meeting outcomes
• Productive meeting leadership behaviors can be identified and changed with executive coaching that utilizes positively framed, objective feedback
Originality / Value
• The MLMS may offer executives concrete performance data as valuable feedback on their development and a means to document specific improvements in leadership effectiveness as a result of executive coaching
• Advances the business meeting literature, a typically ignored yet ubiquitous and very important component of the executive role
Strengths
• Provides a valid coding system to tally behavioral categories, which makes collecting data about executive coaching possible and provides a way for practitioners to document their results and share insights
Limitations
• The study sample consists almost entirely of white, male, well-educated, and successful executives, limiting the generalizability of the study results
• Potential for rater bias in coding
Categories: T2 & T4, M, C46, P20
Pulley, M. L. (2006). Blended coaching. In S. Ting & P. Scisco (Eds.), The Center for Creative Leadership handbook of coaching (pp. 347–378). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Relevant Sections: Medium
Purpose
• Examine supplementing traditional face-to-face coaching with other modalities
Design / Methodology
• Interviewed professional coaches to gain insight regarding blended coaching
Findings / Implications
• Describes a variety of distance modalities in terms of synchronous and asynchronous communication
Synchronous: telephone, audiovideo conferencing, webcam, text chat/IM
Asynchronous: e-mail, online assessments, threaded discussion, peer-to-peer collaborative platforms, Web-enabled follow-up processes
Skill-building: webinar, archived audio/video, online resources
• Characteristics that distinguish distance modalities from face-to-face: technology, lack of nonverbal cues, importance of clarity, confidentiality
• Issues to consider when designing blended coaching experiences include
Assessing coach’s readiness
Assessing client readiness
Sustaining the relationship over time and distance
What to blend
• Three case examples of blended coaching are provided to illustrate these four issues
Originality / Value
• Describes pros and cons of distance modalities
• Discusses issues to consider when assessing both the coach and client readiness for blended coaching
• Offers a list of coaching skills specific to blended coaching (Exhibit 13.1)
Strengths
• Provides detailed cases of blended coaching within CCL’s coaching framework
• Limited discussion regarding the future possibilities of blended coaching
Categories: T4 & T5, C9, P32
Quick, J. C., & Macik-Frey, M. (2004). Behind the mask: Coaching through deep interpersonal communication. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56(2), 67–74.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Executive coaching through deep interpersonal communication is discussed as a vehicle for executive development and enhancing the individual’s and organization’s health
Design / Methodology
• Developed a health-enhancing developmental model based on the two authors’ professional experience with executives, military officers, and university presidents
Findings / Implications
• An interpersonal approach focused on safe, secure communication in which difficult, complicated issues are addressed and critical conversations occur
• A two-tiered model of executive communication is proposed:
1. In the outer tier the executive engages in functional, organizational communication via a variety of mediums
2. In the inner tier the executive engages in much more personal and intimate communication
• The deep interpersonal level is where the executive is truly authentic and must deal with inner conflict and tension
• Multiple positive outcomes are suggested as a result of using deep interpersonal communication:
Health benefits such as reducing stress and pressure
Health of the organization by influencing work climate and employee morale
• Role of the executive coach is to enable the authentic person that is in every executive to become an authentic leader
• Works from the premise that to develop fully and grow healthy, executives must work and live with character and a deep sense of personal integrity
• In sync with positive psychology emphasizing building on individual strengths rather than correcting shortcomings and limitations
• Emphasizes the importance of authenticity, integrity, and relationships for leadership effectiveness in executives
Strengths
• Thought-provoking article providing a unique perspective on the role of executives and executive coaches
Limitations
• Specific methods and techniques are not provided
Categories: T1, C31, P8
Renner, J. C. (2007). Coaching abroad: Insights about assets. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 59(4), 272–285.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Explore the rationale and method for coaching noncorporate managers
Design / Methodology
• Conceptual discussion supported with examples of issues to consider when coaching in less developed countries (LDCs) and in smaller companies in developed countries (DCs)
• Arguments intend to support using Asset Management Model in LDC coaching
Findings / Implications
• Leadership competency issues are examined in terms of transportability and cultural differences
Western leadership competencies may not be appropriate in LDCs; therefore coaches need to engage managers in a discussion about “what works”
For example, “Ambition, competitiveness, fear of poverty, limited opportunities for advancement mean that coaching managers in LDCs requires an understanding of survival tactics” (p. 274)
Autocratic managers perceived as more effective in many poorer countries
• Lists seven working conditions that differ in LCDs based on personal experience
• Asset Management Model in Coaching
Focus: (1) Level of ambition, (2) Asset acquisition successes, and (3) Creative ideas for using assets
Employs five-step process before identifying targets for change
Few situations in LDCs use multirater surveys
Originality / Value
• Addresses the challenge of coaching managers abroad with no or little experience working for global corporations and little management training
Strengths
• Integrates personal examples to illustrate international coaching experiences
• Includes additional references to illustrate and support personal examples
Limitations
• Examples presented were not necessarily focused on coaching
Categories: T5, C27, P14
Riddle, D., Zan, L., & Kuzmycz, D. (2009). Five myths about executive coaching. Leadership in Action, 29(5), 19–21.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching, Coaching Process
Purpose
• Provide a brief overview of executive coaching myths with the goal of highlighting ways the coaching community can establish industry standards and regulations to improve coaching effectiveness
Design / Methodology
• Article presents five coaching myths:
1. Coaching credentials mean coaching effectiveness
2. There’s a magical philosophy or approach to coaching
3. It’s all about the coach
4. The best coaches sat in that hot seat
5. You’re going to love my coach
• Coaching credentials should be viewed in conjunction with other factors (e.g., references) when selecting a coach
• The key to effective coaching is not a trademarked process but rather a variety of factors including the coach’s background, the coach-client match, and the management of the coaching relationship
• There may not be an ideal set of coach characteristics; the relationship between the coach and client is more important than a particular set of coach characteristics
• The coach’s ability to help the client meet his or her needs is more important than the coach’s experience or background
• No coach is right for every client
Originality / Value
• Provides ideas for directions the field can go in to move past these misconceptions about coaching
Strengths
• Provides concise overview of some of the misconceptions of coaching and provides direction for moving the field past these misconceptions
Limitations
• Limited information presented for each of the myths
Categories: T1, C0, P3
Scoular, A., & Linley, P. A. (2006). Coaching, goal-setting and personality type: What matters? The Coaching Psychologist, 2(1), 9–11.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Examine how best to match coaches and clients
Design / Methodology
• Experimental design
120 30-minute coaching sessions (first meeting)
14 experienced coaches and clients from eight U.K. organizations matched randomly
60 sessions used goal setting; 60 sessions did not use goal setting
• Coach and client completed
MBTI & NEO personality questionnaires
An “evaluation questionnaire” at the end of session, 2 and 8 weeks)
Qualitative feedback where clients listed specific outcomes achieved from session
Findings / Implications
• No significant difference between goal-setting and non-goal-setting conditions
• Differences in coach and client MBTI temperaments resulted in higher outcome scores
Originality / Value
• Findings suggest that in matches differing on temperament, “the coach may instinctively come for a different perspective and perhaps challenge” clients’ assumptions more and that the more complex interaction leads to higher performance outcomes (p. 11)
Strengths
• Provides evidence to support matching client and coaches on differences on personality temperaments (MBTI)
Limitations
• No details regarding the research study’s design participant characteristics (e.g., gender, age), measures, analyses, or statistical results
• No manipulation check; coach feedback suggested alternative means of goal setting may have occurred during non-goal-setting session; coaches compensated or altered coaching to ensure session beneficial
• Didn’t discuss examination of stated hypothesis, “Did similarity of personality lead to better communication or did difference lead to useful change?”
Categories: T2 & T5, C13, P3
Sherin, J., & Caiger, L. (2004). Rational-emotive behavior therapy: A behavioral change model for executive coaching? Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56(4), 225–233.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Review the rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) process
• Discuss its applicability in the context of a coaching relationship in which the focus is executive performance
• A theoretical perspective of executive coaching based on REBT as a behavioral change model
Findings / Implications
• Client’s explicit and implicit belief system is seen as the locus of change
• Coach works with clients to identify and dispute unreasonable expectations that negatively impact performance
• Rational-emotive behavior coaching (REBC) can be applied to various issues that impede an executive’s performance such as perfectionism, anger management, and low frustration tolerance
• Most obvious advantage of REBC is its targeted nature
Short-term intervention most appropriate when dealing with discrete issues
Works to increase client’s capacity for rational, critical, and psychologically sophisticated reasoning
Subsequent benefit is the reduction of mental rigidity and increased flexible thinking
• The ABCDE model of individual change is applied to coaching: Activating event, Belief, Consequences, Disputing problematic beliefs, Effective outlook
Originality / Value
• Provides coaches seeking different interventions with options for integrating certain techniques into their existing models of change
Strengths
• Provides specific, concrete steps that walk the reader through REBC
• Explicitly identifies which coaching situations are appropriate for REBC
Limitations
• Does not address the disadvantages of REBC and when it may be a less appropriate coaching intervention
Categories: T1, C42, P9
Smither, J., London, M., Flautt, R., Vargas, Y., & Kucine, I. (2003). Can working with an executive coach improve multisource feedback ratings over time? A quasi-experimental field study. Personnel Psychology, 56, 23–44.
Relevant Sections: Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine the effects of coaching on multisource feedback over time
Design / Methodology
• Quasi-empirical study
• Utilized a pre/post design with a control group
• Participants included 404 senior managers who received coaching and 957 managers who did not
• All participants received multisource feedback over a one-year period.
Findings / Implications
• Compared with managers who did not engage in coaching, participants who worked with a coach improved more in terms of direct report and supervisor ratings (d = .17).
• Compared with the control group, participants who worked with a coach were more likely to set specific goals (d = .16) and to solicit ideas for improvement from their supervisors (d = .36)
Originality / Value
• Article provides an empirical evaluation of the effects of coaching on multisource ratings
Strengths
• Pre/post design
• Includes multisource data
• Large sample size
Limitations
• Multisource ratings were also shared with clients’ supervisor, which may have decreased the incremental gain from working with a coach
Categories: T2, M, C41, P21
Sparrow, S. (2008). Finding a coach: The perfect match. Training and Coaching Today. Retrieved November 16, 2008, from http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/01/22/43943/finding-a-coach-the-perfect-match.html
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Examine what facilitates the “perfect coaching relationship”
Design / Methodology
• 200 managers selected three potential coaches by
Examining coach biographies (photo, qualifications, philosophy, experience)
Contacting the potential coaches (e-mail, phone, face-to-face meeting)
Findings / Implications
• Clients based decisions on subjective criteria: instinct and empathy
Empathy defined as “similarity of outlook”
Qualitative data indicated female coaches preferred by both sexes
– Females felt female coaches were good role models
– Males felt female coaches were better for discussing personal issues
Quantitative analysis provided no evidence of gender preference
• Recommendations from research
Suggests offering choice with transparency
Employ psychometric testing with follow-up to ensure rapport
• Opinions of expert practitioners
Focus on coach’s skills, not personality or character match
Personal chemistry can’t be measured; focus on philosophy match
– Focus on mutual values, similar ideas about development and learning
– Consider the specific coaching objectives and the match to organization
Include a “chemistry” meeting
Match on personality characteristics
Provide client choices in coaches
• Recommends a “key objective” for those charged with arranging coaching to ensure coach and clients are “well-matched”
• Demonstrates conflicting views on client-coach matching criteria
Strengths
• Includes several perspectives from seven diverse organizations
Limitations
• No details regarding the research study’s design, analyses, or statistical results
• No support for claims (e.g., “a mismatch costs more and potentially can do a lot of damage to people and organizations”)
Categories: T1 & T5, C0, P6
Stern, L. (2004). Executive coaching: A working definition. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56, 154–162.
Relevant Sections: Overview
Purpose
• Propose working definition of “executive coaching,” and how it differs from other coaching practices
• Outline examples of executive coaching applications, competencies required of executive coaches, and steps for coach development
Design / Methodology
• Draws from academic journals, practice journals, and the author’s own experience
Findings / Implications
• Defines executive coaching as a unique, personalized partnership between coach and leader, in which the primary focus is to develop skills and competencies within the leader
Geared toward fostering the goals of the organization
• Multilevel approach is what most differentiates executive coaching from other practices such as career, personal, or team coaching
• Executive coaching can satisfy a multitude of organizational needs, including executive development and assessment, performance management, strategy building, team building, conflict resolution, and change management
• Characteristics and developmental steps for executive coaches:
Expertise in both business and psychology
Depending on client needs, must be knowledgeable in other areas (e.g., stress management, labor relations, or work-life balance)
Provide concrete ideas, solutions, and feedback that are specifically tailored to the organization, industry, and executive
Actively continue their own development in order to meet practice needs
• When seeking executive coaches, organizations should consider the coach’s knowledge of business, specific skills and expertise, familiarity with the industry, and personal chemistry with the executive
Originality / Value
• Offers a comprehensive definition of executive coaching as a starting point to consolidating and advancing research and practices
Strengths
• Outlines concrete steps for furthering executive coaching practice and research
Limitations
• Draws on limited body of empirical research
Categories: T1, I, C11, P9
Stevens, J. H., Jr. (2005). Executive coaching from the executive’s perspective. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 57(4), 274–285.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Examine views and beliefs related to executive coaching held by top executives
Design / Methodology
• Informal interviews conducted by author with seven top management executives who had participated in executive coaching
• 11 preconstructed questions used as the basis for the conversation
Findings / Implications
• Executives sought coaching to have their thinking challenged and to receive help increasing clarity and objectivity in their thinking
• Coaches valued for their ability to provide a detached perspective
• Characteristics of coaches perceived to be important
Intelligence
Experience with pressures and responsibilities executives face
Listening skills
Sincere interest in the coaching relationship
Demeanor
Formal training not considered as important as skills and knowledge related to people dynamics and organizational dynamics
• Coaching provided opportunity for reflection
• Confidentiality viewed as critical in the coaching process
• Coaching a unique process for each individual
• Confidentiality perceived as more easily achieved with external coaches
Originality / Value
• Examines executive coaching from the perspective of the coachee
Strengths
• Coachee perspective of the coaching process
Limitations
• Limited sample; limited generalizability
• Preconstructed questions may have influenced the themes that were observed
Categories: T4, C16, P11
Stewart, L. J., Palmer, S., Wilkin, H., & Kerrin, M. (2008). The influence of character: Does personality impact coaching success? International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 6(1), 32–42.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics, Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Examine the relationship between clients’ personalities and transfer of learning from executive coaching to the workplace
Design / Methodology
• Convenience sample recruited via e-mail (n = 100; 60 male/40 female)
• Self-report data: personality and coaching transfer
International Personality Item Pool (IPIP, 3 subscales/30 items; Goldberg, 1999)
General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (10 items; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993)
Coaching Transfer Questionnaire (CTQ, 24 items; Stewart, 2006, master’s thesis)
Findings / Implications
• Personality measures may be minimally useful for identifying successful clients
Conscientiousness, openness to experience, emotional stability, general self-efficacy correlate with CTQ Application subscale (r = .28, .24, -.21, .22, p < .05, respectively)
Conscientiousness correlated with CTQ Generalization and Maintenance subscale (r = .22, p < .05)
Originality / Value
• Responds to organizational concerns regarding selecting coaching candidates
• Suggests certain personalities may benefit from organization providing transfer support
Strengths
• Provides support to coaching literature that is generally consistent with personality and training studies
• Includes categories for client participation in coaching (i.e., accelerate career development, gain career direction clarity, advice of senior, prepare for upcoming challenge, volunteer/nonvolunteer)
Limitations
• Reflects coaching success and coaching transfer as separate outcomes
• Does not focus on traditional coaching outcomes, instead adapting Schmitt et al.’s (2003) model of employee performance
• Magnitude of correlations effect size relatively low
Categories: T2, C35, P10
Sue-Chan, S., & Latham, G. P. (2004). The relative effectiveness of external, peer, and self-coaches. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 53(2), 260–278.
Relevant Sections: Coach and Client Characteristics
Purpose
• Evaluate effectiveness of coaching as influenced by whether coaching is provided by self, a peer, or an external individual
• Study One
Sample: First-semester North American MBA students
N = 30
Assigned to one of three coaching conditions
– Source of coaching: self, peer, or external
• Study Two
Sample: Experienced Australian managers enrolled in EMBA program
N = 23
Assigned to one of three coaching conditions
– Source of coaching: self, peer, or external
Findings / Implications
• Study One
External and peer coaches appeared satisfied with training on how to conduct a coaching session
Coaching from an external individual resulted in higher performance than coaching from a peer
External coaches were perceived as more credible than peer or self coaches
• Study Two
Managers coached by an external coach or self-coached received a higher course grade than those coached by a peer
External coaches were perceived as more credible than peer coaches
Individuals coached by an external coach were more satisfied with coaching sessions than those in the self- or peer-coaching conditions
Originality / Value
• Examines impact of the source of coaching
Strengths
• Provides comparison of different sources of coaching
Limitations
• Coaching from different sources in organizational work settings needed in future research
• Coaching skills in each condition may not have been equivalent
• Research needs to investigate why coaching sources may have differed in effectiveness
• Limited generalizability
Categories: T2, I, M, C60, P19
Thach, E. (2002). The impact of executive coaching and 360 feedback on leadership effectiveness. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 23, 205–214.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Examine the effects of coaching and 360-degree feedback on perceptions of leadership competency
Design / Methodology
• 281 executives and high-potential managers at a midsize telecommunications company
• Study included three phases conducted over almost three years
Phase one—the 360-degree survey was designed and piloted on 57 executives
Phase two—the 360-degree survey was used for 168 executives; each executive also received a one-hour debrief coaching session on the results of the 360-degree survey as well as three additional coaching sessions over the next six months
After the completion of the coaching sessions, 360-degree surveys were again distributed to the participants’ peers, direct reports, and managers
Phase three—identical to the second phase with another 113 executives
Findings / Implications
• Overall effect of 360-degree feedback and coaching showed an average increase in perceived leadership effectiveness of 55 percent for executives in phase two and 60 percent for executives in phase three
Originality / Value
• Findings support the positive effects of coaching and 360-degree feedback on perceived leadership effectiveness
Strengths
• Pre/post design
• Includes multisource data
• Large sample size
Limitations
• Coaching and 360-degree feedback were provided as package intervention; difficult to determine if effects were from coaching, 360-degree feedback, or both
Categories: T2, M, C31, P10
Ting, S., & Hart, E. W. (2003). Formal coaching. In C. D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (Eds.), The Center for Creative Leadership handbook of leadership development (2nd ed., pp. 116–150). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coach and Client Characteristics, Coach-Client Matching, Coaching Process, Organizational Support
Purpose
• Review the Center for Creative Leadership’s practice of formal executive coaching for the purpose of leader development
Design / Methodology
• Review article providing a framework for understanding factors of the formal coaching process
Findings / Implications
• Coaching was defined as “a practice in which the coachee and the coach collaborate to assess and understand the coachee and his or her developmental task, to challenge current constraints while exploring new possibilities to ensure accountability and support for reaching goals and sustaining development” (p. 116)
• Three aspects of coaching process
Relationship
– Importance of rapport, collaboration, and commitment
– Argued relationship serves as vehicle supporting ACS
Assessment, challenge, and support (ACS)
– Assessment facilitates self-awareness of the coachee
– Challenge creates a state of disequilibrium
– Support should help the coachees “right” themselves following challenge
Results
– Results should focus on behavioral change, personal development, and learning agility
– Multiple sources provide more complete view of the coachee’s accomplishments.
• Principles forming the foundation for coaching
Safe but challenging environment
Work with the coachee’s agenda
Facilitate
Advocate self-awareness
Promote sustainable learning from experience
Model what is coached
• Three phases of the coaching process
Preprogram activities (needs and readiness assessment; matching of coach and client)
– Important client characteristics
• Individual readiness
• Psychological readiness
• Environmental readiness
– Factors important in matching coach and coachee
• Compatibility in behavioral preferences, personality, interpersonal needs, and work style
• Similar interests and background (personal, educational, and work)
• Similar work experience
Program implementation activities
– Building the coach-coachee relationship
– Coming to a shared understanding of the coaching process
– Assessing current state of the coachee
– Reviewing feedback
– Forming and implementing a learning agenda
Postprogram activities
– Evaluating the program and coach effectiveness
Originality / Value
• Framework for understanding important factors of the coaching process
Strengths
• Numerous factors of the coaching process considered
• Clear definitions of aspects of the coaching process
Limitations
• Exclusive focus on the Center for Creative Leadership coaching perspective
Categories: T3, I, C0, P34
Turner, R. A., & Goodrich, J. (2010). The case for eclecticism in executive coaching: Application to challenging assignments. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 62(1), 39–55.
Relevant Sections: Coaching Process
Purpose
• Describe a coaching process for high-achieving executives around performance problems related to emotion management in interpersonal work interactions
Design / Methodology
• A discussion of two case studies in which the following are addressed:
Circumstances of leaders who lose control of their usually polished demeanor
Typical characteristics of leaders with emotional experience and expression problems
How problems come to the attention of the organization and coaches and what different models and approaches are helpful in practice
• The case studies are an amalgamation of cases the authors have worked on and describe overt expressions of anger that have become extremely problematic for the executives
Findings / Implications
• The future of executive coaching will need to be based on multiple theoretical approaches and techniques that can be utilized within the same coaching engagement to guide decision making and interventions at different levels (individual versus interpersonal or group) and at different stages over time
• This is especially the case for long-term, difficult cases and those that have a combination of individual and organizational characteristics that contribute to poor performance; case in point is that of very high performers, highly valuable to the organization, but who manage with a volatile emotional style
Originality / Value
• Integrates different theoretical approaches to executive coaching derived from the larger field of psychology (i.e., psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, systems, attribution theories, social learning, and theory of individual differences) in the expressive display of emotion
• Stimulates thinking about how practitioners in psychology use their various psychological skills and knowledge beyond a one- or two-theory solution to enhance change in individuals and groups
• Provides strategies for coaching engagements that are particularly difficult
Limitations
• Discussion based only on authors’ subjective field experience
Categories: T4, I, C63, P16
Wasylyshyn, K. M. (2003). Executive coaching: An outcome study. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 55, 94–106.
Relevant Sections: Overview, Coaching Outcomes
Purpose
• Explore the factors influencing the selection of a coach, preference for coaching tools, and indications of successful coaching engagements
Design / Methodology
• A survey was distributed to 106 executives that the author coached between 1985 and 2001
• The majority of the clients worked at Fortune 500 organizations
• 87 clients completed and returned the survey, an 82 percent response rate
Findings / Implications
• The top credential criteria that clients noted influenced their choice in coaches included graduate training in psychology and business experience—reflecting a need for coaches to be grounded in both business and psychology
• The top personal characteristics that clients identified with an effective coach were the ability to form a strong connection with the client and professionalism
• The top-rated coaching tools were coaching sessions, 360-degree feedback, and relationship with the coach
• The top indicators of successful coaching included sustained behavioral change, increased self-awareness, and more-effective leadership.
Originality / Value
• Provides insight into clients’ perspectives as to what factors make an effective coach, what coaching tools are successful, and the indicators of successful coaching
• Large sample size
Limitations
• Relies on self-report data from clients
Categories: T2, C9, P13
Wycherley, I. A., & Cox, E. (2008). Factors in the selection and matching of executive coaches in organizations. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 1(1), 39–53.
Relevant Sections: Coach-Client Matching
Purpose
• Explore factors that impact selection and matching of coaches with executives
• Focus on three factors
1. Surface diversity factors: culture/race and gender
2. Deep diversity factors: values and personality
3. Experience
Design / Methodology
• Conceptual paper
• Presents selection and matching process model, which incorporates different phases
Set up: Client organization identifies executives and the coaching objectives
Choose providers: Client organization chooses coaching providers
Proposes coaches: Providers propose coaches to client
Select coaches: Client organization selects a pool of coaches
Create short list: Client organization matches two or three coaches to executive
Make final selection: Executive chooses the coach from short list
• Employs coaching and mentoring literature to support discussion of selecting and matching issues
Findings / Implications
• Argues focus should be on selecting high-quality coaches, not matching
• Suggests a need to support executives
Prepare executives for coaching experience
Provide support to executives in their matching decisions
• Inconclusive regarding matching criteria, perhaps favoring dissimilarity between coach and client
Originality / Value
• Systematic discussion of matching offers issues to consider
• Provides an organization’s perspective
Strengths
• Defines terms: executive coaching, coach, executive coachee, client organization, selecting, matching
• Draws on mentoring literature to inform discussion
• Addresses the arguments for matching on similarities or differences
• Provides implications for coaching practice
Limitations
• Based on perspective; no empirical evidence to support arguments
• Many cited references appear also to be conceptual in nature
• Lacks interpretation of differences between mentoring and coaching
Categories: T1, I, C62, N15