A critical review of executive coaching research: a decade of progress and what's to come (original) (raw)
Psychology in executive coaching: an integrated literature review
Journal of Work-Applied Management, 2019
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify essential psychological-informed executive coaching approaches that enhance the organisational learning and development process and outcomes through integrating existing research evidence. Since coaching has been widely used in leadership development related areas and previous studies confirmed that this generates positive effects on individual-level learning in the organisational setting. The identified frameworks and influential factors outlined in this paper can serve as explicit guidelines for the organisation and management team when setting selection and evaluation benchmarks for employing executive coaches. Design/methodology/approach An integrated review approach was applied to narratively synthesise 234 (k=234) identified peer-review articles between 1995 and 2018. This review followed a rigorous protocol that the authors consulted ten (n=10) experts in the field. Both qualitative and quantitative psychological-focused resear...
Book Review - The Psychology of Executive Coaching
International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 2011
The Psychology of Executive Coaching Peltier, B. (2010), Routledge: New York This second edition of the 2001 book by the same name presents an enhanced and expanded text with updated references and four additional chapters. The book is aimed specifically at those who wish to work within the area of executive coaching and demonstrates a heavy focus on the perspective required by those working with senior leaders in highly commercial organisations, where the 'bottom-line' is a key consideration. So while it would still be useful for those working within the public or third sector it may prove less relevant in such a context, especially in the UK.
The Leadership Quarterly
In this article, we focus on a specific type of personal and professional development practice-executive coachingand present the most extensive systematic review of executive coaching outcome studies published in peerreviewed scholarly journals to date. We focus only on coaching provided by external coaches to organizational members. Our purpose is twofold: First, to present and evaluate how executive coaching outcome studies are designed and researched (particularly regarding methodological rigor and context-sensitivity). Secondly, to provide a comprehensive review of what we know about executive coaching outcomes, what are the contextual drivers that affect coaching interventions and what the current gaps in our understanding of coaching practice. On that basis, we discuss and provide a research agenda that might significantly shift the field. We argue that methodological rigor is as important as context-sensitivity in the design of executive coaching outcome studies. We conclude with a discussion of implications for practice.
UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF COACHING IN CHANGING TIMES
The prominent role of coaching in leadership, management and organizations has drawn the attention of practitioners leading them to consider executive coaching as a central intervention of their human resource development practices. Unfortunately, this strong interest in coaching development was not fully translated into the academic context, creating a gap between theory and practice. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the emergence of executive coaching in Romanian organizations as this was perceived by practitioners. Fifteen Romanian practitioners in the field of leadership development took part in a semi-structured interview. Data consisted of verbatim transcripts were analyzed qualitatively using the thematic analysis approach. A framework was depicted mapping out the role, the place of executive coaching in management and leadership development, the characteristics of the process and of the clients. Findings suggested that a " one-size-fits-all " approach to leadership development may be inappropriate and a number of factors need to be taken into account when coaching is chosen. Moreover, the study has led to a shift in the predominant view of executive coaching from that of a personal consulting service to that of a learning resource from which the corporate buyers of executive coaching services select those that better meet the diverse learning needs of leaders and managers. Hence, this study can contribute to an enhanced understanding of the model of professional development through executive coaching in Romanian organizations. Also, these results complement previous research on the differentiation of executive coaching by other developmental relationships.
Executive coaching: Guidelines that work
Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 2014
Purpose – This paper aims to offer a theoretical foundation for a testable framework of executive coaching effectiveness and to share key findings from the research study in executive coaching effectiveness based on the theoretical framework. Design/methodology/approach – This article draws on the results from a quasi-experimental field study of four firms whose primary professional services focused on executive coaching. Findings – Practical implications and learning lessons for the three constituents: the coachee, the coach and the organization. Originality/value – The research can assist individuals and organizations in making informed decisions about designing, implementing and measuring executive coaching programs, thus building the profession of coaching.
2004
The knowledge base of coach-specific research detailing theories, techniques and outcomes of coaching is growing annually. However, little is known about coaches themselves. This paper reports on a large scale survey of coaches. A total of 2,529 coaches responded to an online survey conducted in 2003 amongst International Coach Federation (ICF) members. Data on credentialing, prior professional background, and current coach practice were collected. The coaches in this study had overwhelmingly graduated from or have been enrolled in a coach training program and virtually all had come to professional coaching from a prior professional background. In addition, data on coach demographics, coaching process and demographics were collected. This paper reports in detail on these findings, and makes suggestions for future research directions.
For the past fifteen years, executive coaching has been increasingly used as a new practice in Human Resource Management to help managers better perform at work. We would like to explore the reasons for its specific recourse and put to the test the role that coaches may play in firms. We will study the idea that coaches constitute a new third party in the chain of power. To do so, we will compare what is expected from coaches with what remains unquestioned in their practices. We will thus focus on what THEY request from executive coaches and what WE might dare to ask them. An exploratory case study on the reasons for Vice Presidents of a consulting firm to choose coaching will serve to reflect the expectations of practitioners (called THEY) when a review of literature as well as our personal findings will help illustrate the questions asked by the researchers (called WE).
Commissioning executive coaching for directors and senior managers
2002
Executive coaches are a relatively new and high profile addition to the supplier ranks offering development services for directors and senior managers in the UK. There is a paucity of theory about executive coaching, despite its widespread purchase and use in practice. The research and thesis examines current practice from two different perspectives - suppliers and commissioners - in order to advance understanding of the issues that affect the commissioning of executive coaching for directors and senior managers. Being one of the first in an area has a number of implications for the research design. The research environment is the real world of commissioners from a number of organisations who are members of the IES Research Club (and its successor body an IES Research Network) and the real world of executive coaches themselves. The chosen iterative research approach of action research and co-operative inquiry involved collaborating with three different sets of practitioner co-resear...
Analysis of executive coaching effectiveness: a study from the coachee perspective
Cuadernos de Gestión
Executive coaching has become one of the principal leadership development strategies of our time. However, this is a field of HRD that has been discussed far more often in professional than academic literature and further research is required. This work analyses the relation existing between the main explanatory factors of executive coaching effectiveness and the different types of results that can be achieved. This study also provides an empirical test of the effectiveness of executive coaching using the first three levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model (1975). Responses from 176 executives are analyzed, assessing their perceptions of their latest experience of executive coaching. Structural modelling is used to match factors affecting the success of executive coaching to its results. The resulting model highlights the influence exercised by the coach, and to a lesser extent the coachee and the process, on coachee satisfaction. It also shows how the coach influences the coachee's learning. The results also suggest that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction, learning and behavioral change, as Kirkpatrick suggests. The development of a final focus group, in which human resources managers, coachees and coaches took part, contributed to improvements in the discussion and interpretation of the results. In the light of these results, the implications for the professional and academic area are considered.