2006 Awards for Excellence

Citation

(2006), "2006 Awards for Excellence", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 38 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2006.03738faa.001

2006 Awards for Excellence

The following article was selected for the Outstanding Paper Award for Industrial and Commercial Training

"The foundations of a psychological approach to executive coaching"

Peter BluckertStandards and Ethics Committee of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC)

Purpose -- Aims to examine the two main groupings of definitions of executive coaching: those which focus on learning and development leading to performance improvement and those which are located around change. From there it follows the proposition that psychological-mindedness is the foundation of psychologically focused coaching.

Design/methodology/approach -- Definitions of coaching are presented to set the context. Then the term psychological-mindedness is described and the key aspects explored. These are: the capacity to reflect on one's own and others' thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and derive meaning and learning from that reflection. It requires a level of self- and social awareness. The paper then looks at how psychological-mindedness can be developed through a range of personal development processes and argues that these should be conducted both in one-to-one situations and in groups in order to derive the benefit of feedback. Finally, the training and development of executive coaches are explored.

Findings -- The arguments presented here point to a need to shift the emphasis of coach training to incorporate an equal focus on the personal development of the coach.

Originality/value -- There is little in the literature about executive coaching which addresses the importance of psychological-mindedness; nor very much about how to develop it. This article also challenges the notion that advanced coach training should only focus on theory and practice development and advocates a more balanced approach.

Keywords Behaviour modification, Coaching, Individual psychology, Learning, Self development, Training www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00197850510602060

This article originally appeared in Volume 37 Number 5, 2005, of Industrial and Commercial Training