Yi-Ling Lai and Stephen Palmer
The purpose of this paper is to identify essential psychological-informed executive coaching approaches that enhance the organisational learning and development process and…
Abstract
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 research evidence was included in this study.
Findings
First, certain psychological approaches, such as cognitive behavioural, solution-focused, GROW and strength-based approaches, were highlighted in current research evidence. Second, the essential factors and skills, for instance, building trust, transparency and rapport, and facilitating learning were identified. Third, the main organisational learning and development outcome evaluation methods were outlined in this review, such as the self-efficacy scale, organisational commitment, workplace psychological well-being, 360-degree feedback and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire.
Research limitations/implications
It is always challenging to integrate research evidence on coaching because of the diversity of theoretical disciplines upon which coaching interventions draw. Therefore, it is difficult to generate a meta-analytic review which can generate statistical results. This review also reveals room for improvement in the quality of existing coaching evidence in accordance with the criteria for evidence-based management or practice (Briner et al., 2009), such as research methodology and evaluation design. Moreover, there is a lack of evidence on this reflective process which helps professional coaches to ensure the quality of their practice and organisational support.
Practical implications
This review offers a new perspective on the role psychology plays in the organisational learning and development practices. The identified coaching approaches, influential interpersonal skills and outcome evaluation methods can serve as practical guidelines when applying external coaching to facilitate a better organisational learning and development process and outcome.
Originality/value
This is the first literature review to focus on contemporary psychological-informed coaching evidence (between 1995 and 2018) in the workplace setting. Despite the rapid growth in demand for professional coaching practitioners (International Coach Federation, 2016), there is a lack of research-informed evidence to overcome the challenges faced by organisations when employing external coaches, such as what selection criteria or evaluation benchmarks to use. This review takes a practical perspective to identify essential body of knowledge and behavioural indicators required for an executive coach to facilitate an effective learning and development outcome.
Details
Keywords
David M. Rosch, Clinton M. Stephens and Jasmine D. Collins
The LeaderShape Institute is a popular immersion-based leadership program that is hosted on dozens of university campuses and conducted nationally each year. As part of a…
Abstract
The LeaderShape Institute is a popular immersion-based leadership program that is hosted on dozens of university campuses and conducted nationally each year. As part of a comprehensive research effort, a sample of 1,279 students at 21 participating institutions completed a pre-test prior to participating, as well as a post-test immediately after and a follow- up test three to four months later. Tests included measures of leadership skills, leadership- oriented self-efficacy, motivation to lead, and motivation to advocate for social issues. Results suggest students make gains in skill, confidence, and motivation to advocate for social issues, but that not all gains emerged similarly across social identity groups. Several differences emerged when comparing gains measured from pre-test to post-test and gains that included follow-up tests. This study provides support for the effectiveness of the LeaderShape Institute, and possesses several implications for the methods used in assessing the development of leadership capacity.
David M. Wallace and Stephen J. Zaccaro
We present a framework for understanding the relationship between individual differences in leaders’ motivations and their engagement in leader development, and we empirically…
Abstract
We present a framework for understanding the relationship between individual differences in leaders’ motivations and their engagement in leader development, and we empirically test that framework across three different operationalizations of engagement, demonstrating that the motivation to develop as a leader (MTDL) is distinct from other motivational constructs (specifically, motivation to lead and motivation to learn) and that MTDL differentially predicts engagement in leader development. Finally, we provide evidence that motivation and engagement mutually reinforce each other in a virtuous spiral during leader development.
Jennifer A. Smist and David M. Rosch
Existing leadership research focuses more on single experiences than the sustained application of skills beyond the formal leadership program. Using data from 124 college students…
Abstract
Existing leadership research focuses more on single experiences than the sustained application of skills beyond the formal leadership program. Using data from 124 college students who participated in a six-day leadership development program, this study used a four-phase longitudinal approach to examine influences on students’ leadership capacity and campus involvement. Students’ family income was placed in a structural equation model, along with their gender, race, leader self-efficacy, leadership skill, and changes in campus involvement, to determine the degree to which leadership capacity might moderate how family income predicts student campus involvement. Within the comprehensive model, no individual variables significantly predicted changes in campus involvement, suggesting that the leadership program itself exerts more influence in sustained campus involvement than student background, including family income.
Stephen P. Hebard, Lindsey R. Oakes, Ann Kearns Davoren, Jeffrey J. Milroy, Jody Redman, Joe Ehrmann and David L. Wyrick
The coach−athlete relationship mediates the relationship between sports participation and student-athlete character, health and well-being outcomes. High school athletic…
Abstract
Purpose
The coach−athlete relationship mediates the relationship between sports participation and student-athlete character, health and well-being outcomes. High school athletic administrators (AAs) can provide critical leadership, mentorship and direction for coaches to optimize student-athlete performance and human development. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an evidence-based approach to developing adult and student competencies for holistic development across the lifespan that has been primarily performed and researched in the classroom. The purpose of this research is to capture the lived experiences of AAs applying a novel SEL-based curriculum (InSideOut Initiative, ISOI) with coaches and student-athletes in high school sports.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews of 10 AAs captured their lived experiences of applying SEL-based leadership and coaching and their perception of its impact on coaches and student-athletes in high school athletics.
Findings
AAs described leadership and coaching that are characterized by (1) safety, support and mentorship; (2) skill and support-based behavior modeling; (3) trusting, loving and supportive relationships; (4) self-reflection of values/beliefs and behaviors that impact self, student-athlete and culture; (5) the influence of emotions on the aforementioned; (6) the ability to have a long-term, sustainable impact on student-athletes and (7) alignment with their immediate environmental context.
Research limitations/implications
The data captured in this study suggest that ISOI-trained AAs practice SEL-competent leadership and coaching. Evaluation of the novel application of SEL-based interventions in athletics will be useful to understanding their effects on participant social and emotional competencies and outcomes traditionally associated with classroom-based SEL applications.
Practical implications
Athletic administrator interviews describe an approach to high school sports that requires a reconceptualization of the purpose of athletics. When the high school sport operates as a curriculum, integrated opportunity for its student-athletes and athletic administrator and coach leadership aligns with this overarching philosophy, there may be increased potential for positive youth development.
Originality/value
The results of this research are valuable in demonstrating preliminary evidence of how SEL-based leadership and coaching is applied and impacts adult and student-athletes in a unique sport context.
Details
Keywords
Kathrine Anne Minzlaff, Stephen Palmer and Annette Fillery-Travis
This paper aims to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the millennial literature, highlighting the significance and challenges of millennial…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the millennial literature, highlighting the significance and challenges of millennial professionals, their reported high turnover and the various recommendations designed to engage and retain them.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrated review approach was applied to synthesise contemporary peer-reviewed articles, supplemented by legacy and grey literature and relevant book chapters, to comprehensively explore and construct a cohesive overview of the current research on the millennial workforce.
Findings
Within the wealth of available information, examining the various studies on millennial turnover reveals diverse theories, evidence and opportunities for advancement, underscoring the necessity for more robust empirical studies. The investigation identified three overarching retention strategy themes: (1) intergenerational conflict management, (2) workplace adaptations and (3) solutions rooted in a protean career orientation. In alignment with protean career concepts, coaching shows promise as an underexplored option.
Practical implications
This article holds practical significance by offering researchers a comprehensive and cohesive overview of the millennial literature. Additionally, it gives organisations a novel perspective on the crucial role coaching can play in engaging and retaining millennial employees.
Originality/value
The increased focus on retaining millennial workers in recent decades has spurred a proliferation of articles and books on this subject. However, this body of research remains fragmented, lacking an overview that provides a clear picture of its current state. This review aims to bridge this gap.
Details
Keywords
Daniel A. Collier, David M. Rosch and Derek A. Houston
International student enrollment has experienced dramatic increases on U.S. campuses. Using a national dataset, the study explores and compares international and domestic…
Abstract
International student enrollment has experienced dramatic increases on U.S. campuses. Using a national dataset, the study explores and compares international and domestic students’ incoming and post-training levels of motivation to lead, leadership self- efficacy, and leadership skill using inverse-probability weighting of propensity scores to explore differences between the two samples. Unweighted findings suggest that international and domestic students enter programs similarly across in many ways, and leave the immersion program with similar gains. However, a matched-sample comparison suggests that international students’ growth was statistically different in ethical leadership skills, affective- identity motivation to lead, and leadership self-efficacy. Discussion focuses on the benefits of leadership development to international students why campuses could build partnerships between units that serve international students and leadership educators to facilitate a more inclusive campus.
As economies have reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, resumption of pre-pandemic normalcy in work has not been uniform. For each worker and leader, an essential question is…
Abstract
Purpose
As economies have reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, resumption of pre-pandemic normalcy in work has not been uniform. For each worker and leader, an essential question is whether the world of work has changed irreversibly, or if prior careers and business models can be resumed. A philosophical inquiry into theories of the world of work provides a framing that separates everyday changes from systems changes.
Design/methodology/approach
A metatheoretical approach to world theories from 1942 is revisited. Attention is drawn to systems of knowledge along the dimensions of analytic-deductive treatments, and dispersive-integrative treatments. Socio-Technical Systems relate to Organicism, and Socio-Ecological Systems relate to Contextualism. Reworking a processual philosophy, an alternative World Hypothesis is proposed.
Findings
(Con)texturalism-dyadicism reframes causal texture theory as (1) rhythmic pacing; (2) dyadic diachrony; and (3) transformative reifying. New insights into the effects with the onset and passing of the pandemic disruption are gained.
Research limitations/implications
Updating systems theories of socio-technical and socio-ecological perspectives invokes a post-colonial constructivist philosophy that appreciates roots in American pragmatism, ecological anthropology, and Chinese philosophy of science. The emphasis of systems rhythms prioritizes a processual orientation, compatible with a yinyang material-immaterial onto-epistemology.
Practical implications
As the world recovers from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the changed nature of work is only one of many aspects that been altered. Systems perspectives both of parts inside an organization (i.e. socio-technical individuals in groups) and wholes alongside other wholes (i.e. socio-ecological groups co-responding with their (con)textures) are not independent, but interrelated. Disruption of work systems may result in only incremental adaptation for some, with transformative shifts in world theory for others. Recognizing that organizations change from within, persistent pathologies may be diagnosed.
Originality/value
Systems theories of work from the 1960s were based on pragmatism from the 1940s. The metatheoretical contextualism of Stephen C. Pepper is complemented by a 21st century constructivist philosophy that is post-colonial and non-anthropocentric. Reifying organizational systems theories for audiences founded on a Western philosophy of science requires extended explanations bridging over to a non-Western (i.e. Classical Chinese) lineage.
Details
Keywords
Susanne Colenberg, Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, Natalia Romero Herrera and David Keyson
The purpose of this article is to aid conceptualization of social well-being at work by identifying its components in a contemporary office context, so adequate measures can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to aid conceptualization of social well-being at work by identifying its components in a contemporary office context, so adequate measures can be developed to monitor social well-being and to assess the impact of interventions in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used existing interview data from recent post-occupancy evaluations of two large activity-based flexible offices in the Dutch public sector. Data-driven concept mapping of 182 different employees' statements on social aspects of well-being was used to find communalities in their perceptions.
Findings
From the data 14 key concepts emerged referring to employees' social needs, reactions to (anti-)social behaviour of others and perceived social affordances of the work environment. Contrary to established theory, social well-being appeared to be a context-bound phenomenon, including components of both short-term hedonic and long-term eudaimonic well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The findings serve as an inductive source for the further development of adequate measures of social well-being at work. Limitations concern the specific (cultural) setting of the cases and the use of existing data.
Practical implications
Preliminary suggestions for fostering social well-being include change management, participatory design, being alert of the identified risks of activity-based offices and supporting privacy regulation, identity marking and a sense of community, as well as a diversity of informal face-to-face interactions balanced with quiet spaces.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the conceptualization of social well-being in contemporary offices by discussing established social well-being theory and analysing real-world data, using a method novel to management research.