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Organizations create knowledge by making sense of new stimuli with which they are constantly being bombarded with. Furthermore, the knowledge created is transmitted through the application of knowledge. Language facilitates the sharing of knowledge created. The meaning which is collectively created in an organization has evolved within relationships over a period of time. Meaning is a product of interaction and does not take place in isolation. An increase in relationships means exposure to different knowledge which results in an increase not only in knowing, but also in what is known. Knowledge is not isolated from that which the individual considers reality to be. There are many interpretations as to what constitutes reality. Knowledge of the world does not reflect an objective world, but an understanding of the world as it is experienced.

This paper introduces managers to the benefits of Executive Coaching as experienced by both the individual as well as the organization. It also recognises the difficulties purchasers of coaching may experience in selecting the appropriate coach for the individual or the organization.

It introduces a brief guide, detailing what to look out for when selecting a coach. Findings

As coaching is a relatively new profession, there are very few common standards and guidelines available in monitoring the quality of the training of the coaches and the maintenance of quality in delivery.

The paper introduces the benefits of coaching which will in turn support the selection process.

This paper aims to propose, discuss and evaluate a four‐stage model of storyselling and its accompanying power dynamics, which are at the heart of coaching in organisations.

This paper is informed by a social constructionist view of coaching.

The conceptualisation of the coaching process as a series of storyselling activities highlights the power of storytelling to facilitate management development through coaching on the one hand and the potential for manipulation and abuse on the other.

The application of storytelling in organisational coaching as well as the darker and manipulative side of storyselling in the coaching process and relationships should inform future research into these important phenomena.

An analysis of the complex nature of the dynamics of coaching and the multi‐layered nature of the relationship between coach, organisation and coachee will be of benefit to practising coaches, purchasers and recipients of coaching as well as researchers interested in coaching.

The value of this paper lies in the exploration of the relatively new concept of storyselling and accompanying power dynamics in an organisational coaching context.

The paper sets out to consider the value of coaching to the sensemaking process. It aims to demonstrate how coaching enhances sensemaking and seeks to describe coaching as a sensemaking activity.

The objectives are achieved by exploring the literature of both coaching and sensemaking with the purpose of demonstrating the mutually supportive nature of coaching and sensemaking.

By analysing sensemaking and coaching activities, the paper aims to demonstrate that coaching greatly supports and enhances the quality of the sensemaking activities of the individual.

Coaching as an academic discipline is still in its infancy and lacking in sound empirical research. It would be value for future research activities to focus on the sensemaking the individual engages with during the coaching process.

As mentioned above, sound academic research is necessary in order to understand the nature of coaching. This paper goes some way in exploring both coaching as a sensemaking process and also how coaching fundamentally supports the sensemaking process the individual engages in.

Coaching has not been explored in relation to sensemaking nor the value that coaching brings to sensemaking. Exploring coaching from a sensemaking perspective helps create a deeper understanding of what takes place within the coaching relationship.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The paper finds that fast‐paced changing business environment is no doubt a management cliché that has been uttered in boardrooms across the globe. But, as the saying goes, it is only a cliché because it is so true. Managers today face more and more change and in order to deal with these changes effectively they undertake a process called sensemaking.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of the supportive role of coaching in team learning and professional development on a bespoke vocational university course for frontline family support workers.

This paper is informed by a social constructionist view of coaching and adult learning. Data were collected through six qualitative in‐depth interviews with course participants and one group interview and were interpreted using thematic analysis.

Course participants identified the learning environment, the course content, varied teaching and learning methods, and inclusion of coaching in the course as the main elements that supported their learning. The course has enabled them to develop on both personal and team level in their daily work and to achieve superior performance.

More research into the role of coaching to facilitate team learning of frontline employees from different organizational settings is required.

Adult educators designing bespoke university courses need to provide opportunities for social interaction among course participants as well as opportunities for advanced personal and professional development.

The research reported in the paper focuses on the role of coaching to enhance team learning in a multi‐disciplinary team of family support workers.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the manner in which storytelling has become an increasingly common part of management development, and to highlight some of the use and abuse of storytelling as a management development tool.

The paper adopts an initial warning about the way storytelling is being used, particularly by management and leadership coaches, questioning whether the term “storytelling” is an appropriate term to use for what is occurring. The notion of “storyselling” is introduced in such a context and, in so doing, stimulates critical reflection about storytelling. A summary of key ideas of other papers is also presented to assist the reader in better understanding the broader trajectories contained in the papers as a whole.

Many are now starting to question practical guidance that is emerging from organization and management literature. Multiple paradigms have yielded not complementary perspectives on management problems, but less than unambiguous voices and guidance. Storytelling has become increasingly popular because it fills a void left by the current state of the organization and management literature. The practical guidance that “preaches” how an approach worked for others in similar situations makes storytelling a big business. Often wrapped up in the rhetoric of management and leadership coaching, storytelling becomes a core educative tool – a tool that this paper, and volume, suggests needs to be carefully examined.

The paper, and the volume as a whole, represents an opportunity for readers to join with the authors in a reflexive consideration of storytelling. The paper and volume also represent a cautionary note to those who rely upon what is dubbed “storytelling” as a core educative tool.