Executive coaching: A comprehensive review of the literature.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 60(1) of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research (see record 2009-06606-001). The author would like to indicate that unfortunately, Peterson’s (1993) dissertation on executive coaching outcomes was excluded from the original literature review conducted by Kampa-Kokesch and Anderson (2001). Later, Kampa and White (2002) stated that Peterson’s (1993) dissertation was excluded due to the programmatic nature of the coaching conducted in the study. Specifically, it was written, “this research did not investigate executive coaching as practiced by consultants in the field,” (p. 145). However, all of the coaches in Peterson’s study were field-based PDI consultants and the individuals being coached did receive individual coaching from those consultants. In the future, Peterson’s research, which was a well-designed long-term outcome study of 370 coaching participants, should be reviewed when considering executive coaching outcomes.] Executive coaching as a consultation intervention has received increased attention in the literature within the past decade. Executive coaching has been proposed as an intervention aimed toward helping executives improve their performance and consequently the performance of the overall organization (R. R. Kilburg, 1996c). Whether or not it does what it proposes, however, remains largely unknown because of the lack of empirical studies. Some also question whether executive coaching is just another fad in the long list of fads that have occurred in consultation and business. To explore these issues and the place of executive coaching in consulting practice, this article critically examines the literature on executive coaching. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive coaching: It works!

Outcomes of this empirical study demonstrated that executive coaching is an effective method of leadership development. One hundred fourteen executives and 42 coaches were surveyed using instruments designed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Results indicated that executive change occurred in 5 areas: people management, relationships with managers, goal setting and prioritization, engagement and productivity, and dialogue and communication. This study also highlights the importance of coach selection, executive commitment to behavioral change, and the role of good program and environmental support. The success of this coaching program also suggests that investment in well-designed and implemented programs can contribute to leadership development and the retention of talent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive coaching from the executive's perspective.

Seven top management executives were invited to share their views and perspectives regarding executive coaching. Each CEO or president was interviewed separately by the author in a manner that was informal, conversational, and guided by 11 preconstructed questions. While a number of shared themes emerged, several distinct thoughts were raised that have implications for how consulting psychologists think about, conduct, and prepare for their professional roles as executive coaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive Coaching: A Working Definition.

Executive coaching (EC) has grown significantly in the past decade as an important organizational consulting intervention. This article proposes a working definition for EC that specifies its process and methods, differentiates it from other forms of coaching, and suggests a set of perspectives, principles, and approaches needed to guide its professional practice. It also puts forth a set of core competencies for professional executive coaches. Implications are also explored for how to select a coach, how to prepare for an EC practice, and how to understand why certain EC interventions are more effective than others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental coaching for high school teachers: Executive coaching goes to school.

Teachers are in a very real sense the embodiment of leadership, providing direction, guidance, and feedback to their students in addition to acting as role models. Teachers may well thus benefit from developmental coaching that draws on theories of leadership. This study was both an experimental (randomly assigned conditions) and a quasi-experimental (pre–post) study. A randomized controlled design was used to explore the impact of coaching on goal attainment, mental health, workplace well-being, and resilience, and a quasi-experimental (pre–post) design was used to explore the impact of coaching on leadership styles. Forty-four high school teachers were randomly assigned to either coaching or a waitlist control group. The coaching used a cognitive–behavioral, solution-focused approach and was informed by theories of self-leadership and transformational leadership. Participants in the coaching group received multirater feedback on their leadership style and undertook 10 coaching sessions conducted by professional coaches over a 20-week period. Compared with randomly allocated controls, participation in coaching was associated with increased goal attainment, reduced stress, and enhanced workplace well-being and resilience. Pre–post analyses for the coaching group indicated that coaching enhanced self-reported achievement and humanistic–encouraging components of constructive leadership styles and reduced self-reported aggressive/defensive and passive/defensive leadership styles. Findings suggest that coaching, as a professional development methodology, has great potential to contribute to the development and well-being of society beyond the corporate and organizational settings with which leadership coaching and executive coaching are normally associated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

I doubt therefore I coach: Critical moments in coaching practice.

How can coaches learn from moments and incidents in their own practice, particularly from moments that somehow feel critical? How can they improve working with the tension and anxiety that such moments will generate, and how might they even make use of such tensions? This is the first report of a research project into critical moments in coaching practice, which looks at critical moments of relatively inexperienced coaches. The second report, which looks at critical moments of much more experienced coaches, can be found as a companion article in this same issue. The sample size of the inexperienced coaches was 65 and 49 coaches communicating a total of 56 critical moments. Analysis of the moments revealed that they were all somehow related to a doubt that the coach had, so doubt seemed to be the overriding form of tension for the inexperienced coach. The type and nature of doubts are analyzed and the possible impact of (in-)experience is studied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive consulting under pressure: A case study.

This consulting psychology case study describes how an initially nonvoluntary consulting engagement with an executive client in a highly complex nuclear industry organization evolved from suspicion to trust, enabling the client to achieve work-related goals. Methods used by the consultant, and reactions to those efforts by the client, are presented and discussed. The intervention evolved from executive coaching to team development opportunities, intergroup conflict management assignments, behavioral skills training, special fact-finding assignments, and, ultimately, to a long-term, system-wide organization development and change. The paper presents the case from the perspectives of both the consultant (the senior author) and the initial client (the junior author). Factors that seemed to contribute to the success of the coaching process are also described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive coaching in a cross-cultural context.

Many executive coaches today find themselves working with leaders from a variety of cultural backgrounds, as well as coaching leaders who work with culturally diverse teams. It is therefore increasingly important that coaches understand the role of culture in their work. This article begins with an overview of several ways that culture plays a role in coaching, including an exploration of how assumptions about culture can positively or negatively impact a coach's approach and their ultimate success with a given individual. A second section provides three general principles for coaching across cultures, emphasizing the importance of using cross-cultural knowledge as a way to customize coaching to each person. The third section focuses on five essential conditions for learning--insight, motivating, capabilities, real-world practice, and accountability--and how cultural differences can influence various steps in the coaching process. A variety of examples for each condition highlight specific tools and techniques that coaches can use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Case Study of Executive Coaching as a Support Mechanism During Organizational Growth and Evolution.

This case study follows the evolution of an executive coaching consultation provided to the leaders of an organizational system over a 5-year period. The clients were part of a community outreach center in an academic medical center, and the coach-consultant was part of an internal service group. During this extended engagement, the clients' organizational system experienced a dramatic period of growth and change. The diversification of leadership roles, the dynamics of moving beyond the leadership of an organizational founder, and the challenges of rapid growth are all highlighted in the coaching content. Lessons learned from this coaching experience include an understanding of (a) the advantages of using coaching as an adjunct to other forms of organizational consultation, (b) how to manage changes in contracting and intervention goals over time, (c) how to meet the challenges of coaching to a leadership pair, and (d) mechanisms for using coaching to support leadership succession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive coaching: An outcome study.

While executive coaching continues to mushroom as a practice area, there has been little outcome research. This article presents the results of a study that explored factors influencing the choice of a coach, executives' reactions to working with a coach, the pros and cons of both internal and external coaches, the focus of executive coaching engagements, indications of successful coaching engagements, coaching tools executives favored, and the sustainability of coached executives' learning and behavior change. The author also raises a question about which executives are most likely to benefit from this development resource and presents a typology for gauging this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Foreword: Further consideration of executive coaching as an emerging competency.

This foreword to the second special issue devoted to executive coaching calls attention to the critical subset of knowledge, skills, and abilities required of those who coach executives. Executive coaching is viewed as a unique competency and a practice literature that still needs to be explored, discussed, and researched. A brief overview of the articles is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editor’s column.

In this editorial, the author announces his final year as editor of the Consulting Psychology Journal. He also expresses his gratitude to those who contributed to the success of the most recent special issue devoted to executive coaching. He then introduces two additional special topic issues for the following year: change management and the impact of character in consultation practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive coaching and consulting: "Different strokes for different folks".

Increasing frustration with the politics and economics of traditional mental health care has led many psychologists to consider shifting to or adding executive coaching as a core competency in their practices. Experience with work-related issues in clinical practice makes this appear to be a logical extension of traditional clinical and counseling work. There are many types of executive coaching and consulting, however, and only some of these relate to traditional mental health services. The authors propose a 4-category model of executive coaching defined by the intersection of focus (business vs. personal) and technique (brief-directive vs. extended-Socratic). Developmental coaching, which addresses long-standing behavior problems in both personal and work settings, is most likely to fit with traditional psychological training. Training or experience in the upper levels of the business world is essential to developing the capability to help corporate leaders with a broad range of needs and situations in which they find themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychology principles applied to consulting psychology at the individual and group level.

This article describes the application, at the team and individual level, of findings from the positive psychology research. An overview of this research is presented focusing on several areas generally included in the positive psychology domain: flow, appreciative inquiry, the broaden and build theory, and other strategies for increasing the experience of positive emotions and the identification and deployment of strengths. The authors propose that these applications show promise in consulting psychology engagements and may have merit when utilized by practitioners themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive consulting under pressure: A brief commentary on some timeless issues.

Framed in the ongoing tensions and controversy between the modernist/reductionist emphasis on empirically validated interventions and the postmodern perspective that encourages creating deconstructive dialogues between all of the people involved in any situation, a Brief Commentary was offered on Freedman and Perry's consulting psychology case study (Freedman & Perry, 2010, this issue). Six principal points are emphasized in the article: the role of contracting, trust, the reflective mind, learning and relationship building, management of emotions and resistance, and the need to understand the “how” of the “what.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive dilemmas: Coaching and the professional perspectives of Harry Levinson.

This paper is a revision and extension of a paper presented at the 2006 American Psychological Association Convention as a result of the senior author's receipt of the Harry and Miriam Levinson Award in 2005. Coauthored with Harry Levinson, it presents a complex case vignette, describes 9 core concepts either introduced or emphasized by him during his career, and then applies these concepts to the case study. The article provides a brief overview of the significant contributions to the field of consulting psychology made by Harry Levinson during his career and how they can be applied in executive coaching engagements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The case for eclecticism in executive coaching: Application to challenging assignments.

This article argues that effectively addressing challenging problems in executive coaching requires the use of not one, but several, theoretical models (e.g., psychodynamic, cognitive–behavioral, and systems) and research findings (e.g., social learning theory, attribution theory) developed in the larger discipline of psychology. Through two case studies, this article presents approaches to coaching executives with a history of high achievement who present problems in leadership because of their emotional and behavioral responses toward others and the negative impact they have on retention, effectiveness, productivity, or all three, in the organization. The authors present step-by-step considerations for coaches as they develop a helping relationship and carry out a multifaceted intervention over time. The approach taken here involves interventions addressing the individual’s emotion communication process as well as group-level and organization-level processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quick reaction to "Executive dilemmas."

This brief article is a reaction to Kilburg and Levinson's (2008; see record 2008-03845-003) important article on the coaching and professional perspectives of Harry Levinson. Levinson's 50 years of seminal psychoanalytic thinking in business and organizations has shone a bright light in some very dark corners of work environments and executive suites. However, capturing, summarizing, and reprising the breadth and depth of his intellectual journey is a difficult task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Foreword: Perspectives and reactions to the principles for education and training in organizational consulting psychology.

This foreword provides a framework for this special issue on the Society of Consulting Psychology's official Principles for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Level in Consulting Psychology/Organizational. Specifically, an overview of the topic along with an outline of the structure of the special issue delineates how the reader can understand a context for these principles as well as their impact and feedback on 4 related professional psychology areas: military, counseling, school, and industrial-organizational psychology. A brief overview of the articles is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Being fit: The ethics of practice diversification in performance psychology.

The ethics of practice diversification in the field generically described as performance psychology--including sport psychology, organizational consulting, and performing arts psychology--is examined. Since the field is in the process of development and psychologists come to this type of practice from a variety of paths, ethical issues in this type of practice bear particularly careful attention. This article reviews the primary ethical issues involved, including preparation for diversified practice; competence; interpersonal and relational issues; and presentation to the public. Currently emerging concerns are also discussed. The article concludes with specific suggestions for the practitioner interested in this field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)