“Using random assignment and a switching-replications design in a corporate setting, this study compared the effectiveness of two approaches to executive coaching: goal-focused and process-oriented. Goal-focused coaching is based on goal-setting theory, which concentrates on identifying a task to be accomplished, whereas process-oriented coaching emphasizes interpersonal processes more than specific content or goals. Sixty-four senior executives and their supervisors (dyads) from a multibillion-dollar company were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) goal-focused coaching, (b) process-oriented coaching, (c) goal-focused control group, and (d) process-oriented control group. Participants and their supervisors each chose 1 of 8 leadership competencies from the organization’s performance-management system as the coaching objective. The coaching consisted of 4 face-to-face, 1-hr coaching sessions over a 4- to 6-week period. The 16 executive coaches in the study received precoaching training to ensure consistent delivery of the two approaches. The results showed an increase in leadership competencies and behaviors for the coaching groups but not for the control groups, as rated by the coachees only. Contrary to prediction, however, there was no significant difference between the approaches of goal-focused and process-oriented coaching on leadership competencies or behaviors. Furthermore, there were no differences between the two approaches in the postcoaching follow-up. Implications of the results for executive-coaching theory, research, and practice are discussed.”

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000115Williams, J. S., & Lowman, R. L. (2018). The efficacy of executive coaching: An empirical investigation of two approaches using random assignment and a switching-replications design. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 70(3), 227-249.

Research in the coaching effectiveness area has been conducted under the general assumption that coaches exert a large influence not only on the performance and behavior of their athletes but also on the athletes’ psychological and emotional well-being. In this research context, leadership has been rather generally conceived of as “the behavioral process of influencing individuals and groups toward set goals” (Barrow, 1977, p. 232). Obviously, this broad definition encompasses many dimensions of coaches’ leadership behavior, including the goals and objectives that they set for themselves and their athletes, the processes that they use to make decisions, the types of learning activities that they employ in practice situations, the type and frequency of feedback that they give in response to athletes’ performances, the techniques that they use to motivate or discipline individual athletes, and the type of relationship that they establish with athletes. Most of the research that has been conducted in the coaching effectiveness area within the last three decades has been motivated by a desire to identify the particular coaching characteristics, competencies, cognitions, practice strategies and techniques, leadership styles, or behavioral patterns that are most effective. Under this research approach, coaching effectiveness is typically operationalized in terms of outcome scores or measures. That is, effective coaching is defined as that which results in either successful performance outcomes (measured either in terms of win-loss percentages, individual player development, or success at the national or international level) or positive psychological responses on the part of the athletes (e.g., high perceived ability, high self-esteem, intrinsic motivational orientation, or high levels of sport enjoyment and satisfaction). Because the text as a whole focuses on psychological issues as they relate to sport, the review and analysis of the literature in this chapter is primarily limited to those studies that have examined the effect of coaches’ behavior on the psychosocial growth and development of athletes. Thus, the chapter does not include a review of the research that has examined the relationship between coaches’ behavior and athletes’ sport performance and skill learning. Interested readers should consult the literature in sport pedagogy and motor learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Theory and research in executive coaching have typically focused on the characteristics and methods of coaches and on the dyadic relationship of the coach and client. Little attention has been given to individuals such as the boss and human-resources (HR) executive who are directly or indirectly involved in the coaching process. These key individuals are both sources of timely observations about the executive and reinforcers of the client’s development. This article focuses on how the involvement of these participants—outside the dyad—affects the work of senior coaches working in longer term coaching engagements with top business leaders. The article also addresses (a) the question of who the client is in these complex engagements, (b) the ethical issue of confidentiality when coaching within the complex dynamics of an organization, (c) the ethical issue of maintaining multiple relationships specifically with the executive’s boss and the HR partner, and (d) the influence of the larger organizational structure and culture on the coaching process. The relationship of the coach with the HR leader and executive’s boss is seen as an essential partnership that is fueled by mutual trust, collaborative respect, role clarity, and safe boundaries of confidentiality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED472662