ABSTRACT

Due to concerns on the efficacy of formal leader development programmes such as low learning transfer back to the organisation, there has been an increasing shift towards individually owned leader development programmes within organisations. Whilst leadership coaching is one of these and is gaining in popularity, further studies are needed to validate its efficacy and explain its effect mechanisms. Drawing on adult learning theory and utilising a mixed-methods study design, we provide further evidence of coaching’s positive effect on organisational leaders and provide insights into how these occur. Thematic analyses of data obtained from nineteen semi-structured interviews indicate that through the coach supporting, listening and challenging the coachee, leadership coaching assists coachees to increase their self-awareness, confidence, clarity and focus, and adopt a wider perspective, and assists to explain coaching’s positive effect observed in our pretest-posttest study of 70 coached leaders. Combined, these results indicate leadership coaching closely resembles the ‘practices and discoveries’ facilitating intentional change and transformative learning which have been associated with desired and sustained change and provides strong support for coaching’s efficacy as a leader owned development intervention.

摘要

由于对正式领导者发展计划的有效性的担忧，例如低学习转移回组织，组织内越来越多地转向个人拥有的领导者发展计划。虽然领导力教练就是其中之一并且越来越受欢迎，但需要进一步的研究来验证其功效并解释其作用机制。借鉴成人学习理论并利用混合方法研究设计，我们提供了教练对组织领导者积极影响的进一步证据，并提供了这些如何发生的见解。从 19 次半结构化访谈中获得的数据的主题分析表明，通过教练支持、倾听和挑战被教练者，领导力教练帮助被教练者提高自我意识、自信心、清晰和专注，并采用更广泛的视角，并有助于解释在我们对 70 位受过教练的领导者进行的前测后测研究中观察到的教练的积极影响。综合起来，这些结果表明，领导力教练与促进有意变革和变革性学习的“实践和发现”非常相似，这些变革与期望和持续的变革相关联，并为教练作为领导者拥有的发展干预措施的有效性提供了强有力的支持。