Evaluating a leadership coaching system

Abstract

In recent years, we have witnessed a veritable explosion in leadership training and in management coaching. Despite these two trends, research on leadership ZP coaching methods and their usefulness remains scarce. As a practitioner of leadership communication coaching for the past ten years, my research interest stems from a desire to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of such coaching endeavours. Thus, the overall goal of this research is to perform a formal study to test, and to generate hypotheses about, a coaching system I had been using for several years before the research began. This coaching activity involves teaching leaders to communicate and inspire others. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive review of the literature was conducted, in order to demonstrate the theoretical basis that underlies the coaching methods. Next, I structured three lonaCiýtu dinal, in-depth case studies in which I was simultaneously researcher,c oach, and chanZg> ea gent. Three diverse leaders,p ersonalities,a nd companiesw ere chosen. As a primary data source, I kept extensive coaching notes, and I recorded frequently the impressions and observations of the three leaders. For triangulation, I used both solicited and unsolicited commentary of employees, clients, board members, and other key observers. The research was aided greatly by the extraordinary access and the frequent contact I enjoyed with many of these individuals at each of the companies. Results of the research were twofold. First, the three cases confirmed the legitimacy and effectiveness of the system of coaching in question. Second, in comparing the three cases, conclusions were drawn and hypotheses generated concerning the factors that contribute to the success of the coaching methodology. While each the three leaders benefited form the coaching, the research sheds light on why the system is more useful and productive in some cases than in others.