Multiple understandings of executive coaching: an exploratory study of Irish experiences

This research study explores executives’ perceptions of factors that impede and facilitate the effectiveness of a coaching intervention designed to enhance leadership skills. It also explores research participants’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the intervention. Because research studies have rarely given prominence to the voice of the executive (Kilburg, 2004, Lowman, 2005, Turner, 2006; Styhre, 2008), this aspect of coaching is still largely unexplored, thus the purpose of the research is to bring the voice of the executives to the fore via an instrumental case study whose focus is the experiences of the executives. A large indigenous Irish company facilitated the research, which took place in Dublin. The research design is a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a cohort of four executives who had engaged in a pilot coaching programme, with the HR Director who initiated the coaching intervention, with the Coach, and with the Divisional CEO whose budget paid for the coaching. The executives’ stories are told via a ‘montage’ of rich descriptions of their views on the organisation, their leader, and their coaching experiences. The views of the other players, (HR Director, Coach and CEO) are presented independently. A review of current literature on executive coaching discusses recent research studies and notes the dominance of North American research and the dearth of studies that address executives’ perspectives. The literature reviews salient inputs to the coaching process: the role of the organisation, the skill sets of the coach, and the readiness of executives to be coached.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

dba

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Nottingham Trent University

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Wilcox, M

Language dc:language

en