The power of coaching: Developing leaders and beyond.

In recent decades, the application of coaching for career development and supporting faculty in leadership roles has greatly expanded in higher education. Coaching can offer transformational and life-changing experiences, inspire critical reflection in early career decisions, and (re)ignite passion and commitment at all career stages. While coaching focuses on transforming individuals, it also has the potential to impact organizations and professional environments. The power of coaching deserves appropriate recognition within dental education and scholarship. In this article, the authors discuss the potential for career coaching as a tool for developing future leaders in dental education. After differentiating between coaching and mentoring, coaching for professional development is reviewed as an evidence-based approach that can enhance traditional leadership and professional development programs. Although this article was inspired by programming supporting the development of female leaders, coaching applies to all leaders and may be particularly helpful in supporting the development of diverse leaders including but not limited to individuals from different backgrounds, national origins, gender, racial, socioeconomic, and cultural distinctions. After a review of existing coaching initiatives in dental education, a variety of coaching strategies for faculty, staff, and trainees will be described that can be implemented by oral health educational institutions. Examples of coaching strategies range from developing internal coaching programs to contractual agreements with external coaching groups. Step-by-step guidelines are included.

Coaching leaders toward favorable trajectories of burnout and engagement.

Existing literature on executive coaching has shown beneficial outcomes for leaders. Indeed, executive coaching can positively affect an individual's psychological well-being and quality of work life. However, while burnout among leaders is on the rise, to our knowledge no prior study has investigated the influence of executive coaching on the dimensions of burnout and engagement concurrently. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to examine if an executive coaching intervention has positive effects on managerial burnout and engagement. We implemented a ten-week coaching intervention for leaders, where questionnaire data were collected at two time points. Participants (N = 92; Mage = 42; 64% male) were randomly assigned to an intervention or a wait-list control group. Self-reported levels of engagement and burnout were collected at the start of the study protocol (T1) and at the end (T2). Coaching sessions for the intervention group were one hour once per week. The control group did not receive coaching. Repeated measures ANOVAs examined the extent to which the intervention influences the leader's engagement and burnout. Analyses revealed that all three dimensions of burnout significantly decreased for the intervention group over time while vigor increased. Findings did not reveal an increase in dedication and absorption. Consistent with prior literature, this study supports that executive coaching can improve a leader's well-being. Specifically, this study shows that an executive coaching intervention can decrease burnout symptoms and increase vigor in leaders. Adding a follow-up survey to the design would allow for further exploration of the intervention on engagement.

Workplace coaching: a meta-analysis and recommendations for advancing the science of coaching.

Workplace coaching has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity over the past decade and is one of the fastest growing performance-enhancing interventions used by modern organizations. Yet, despite its popularity, workplace coaching has not been the subject of much empirical research and a true science of coaching has yet to be developed. The purpose of this research was to update prior meta-analyzes that investigated the impact of coaching on organizational outcomes and to provide recommendations for how the field needs to evolve. Results indicated that, consistent with prior meta-analyzes, workplace coaching is effective in achieving positive organizational outcomes. The effects of several moderators were also investigated. Finally, we discuss the results in terms of recommendations for future directions that we believe will establish and advance the science of coaching.

The effects of executive coaching on behaviors, attitudes, and personal characteristics: a meta-analysis of randomized control trial studies.

Background: A growing number of studies emphasize executive coaching as an effective developmental tool that managers can use to increase their performance in organizational settings. However, the coaching research suggests a large variety of processes and outcomes, lacking clarity on the primary psychological dimensions most impacted. Method: Reviewing 20 studies with a rigorous methodological design that used control trials and pre-post tests, we evaluated and compared the relative effects of coaching on different types and sub-types of outcomes by means of a classification of coaching outcomes based on previously used taxonomies. Results: The results indicate that the impact of coaching on behavioral outcomes was higher compared to attitudes and person characteristics outcomes, suggesting that behavioral coaching outcomes, especially cognitive behavioral activities, are the most impacted by executive coaching. Moreover, we found significant positive effects for some specific outcomes, such as self-efficacy, psychological capital, and resilience, indicating that executive coaching is effective in producing change even on dimensions considered relatively stable over time. The results show no moderation effects of the number of sessions. The length of the coaching program was a significant moderator only for the attitudes outcomes. Discussion: These findings provide evidence that executive coaching is a powerful instrument for organizations to support positive change and personal development.

Coaching to Develop Emotional Intelligence and Decrease Work-Family Conflict: An Application of the Work-Home Resources Model.

Research on emotional intelligence has provided robust support for its importance for job performance and leadership success. More recently, research is turning to understand the impact emotional intelligence has on personal success and physical and mental well-being. Thus, the current study examines emotional intelligence from a Work-Home Resources perspective, exploring what components within the Emotional Quotient model of emotional intelligence can serve as a buffer for work-family conflict. Additionally, this study examines if the contextual resource of EI executive coaching can serve as a method of modifying the personal resource of emotional intelligence. As leaders and practitioners are increasingly focusing attention on employee development of emotional intelligence competencies, our study examines EI executive coaching as a method to increase emotional intelligence, not only for performance improvement, but also for personal well-being. Using a diverse sample of employees and leaders measured at two time points, the current study found that emotional intelligence is negatively related to work-family conflict. Further, an increase in specific dimensions of emotional intelligence through EI executive coaching is related to a decrease in work-family conflict. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Lessons from Executive Coaches: Why You Need One.

Executive coaches use a disciplined process to enable people to uncover why they are getting their current results and stimulate them to identify new ideas to achieve different results in the future. Unlike mentors, coaches do not give direction or advice. A coach might offer examples of what others have done in similar situations but only in service to idea generation, not recommendations. Data is key. Coaches typically gather information through assessments or interviews to give clients new insights. Clients learn about their deficiencies and strengths, their brand, how they work with teams, and glean unvarnished advice. Mindset matters. Anyone coerced into coaching might be frustrated about their situation and, therefore, be less open to honestly discovering the source of their discomfort and uncovering new possibilities through coaching. Courage is crucial. Being open to coaching can be daunting, yet with a willing mindset, the insights and results can be compelling.

Coaching during a crisis: Organizational coaches' praxis adaptation during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The chaotic initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic severely challenged organizations. Economies shut down and millions of people were confined to their homes. Human resource practitioners turned to organizational coaching, a trusted human resource development intervention for help, however, to remain relevant during the crisis coaches had to adapt their praxis. The working alliance describes the mutual bond, goal, and task alignment between coach and client and is an indication of coaching efficacy. This study investigates to what extent organizational coaches' praxis adaptation at the start of the pandemic maintained a working alliance that still served the human resource development (HRD) paradigms of learning, performance, and meaningful work. Interviews with 26 organizational coaches from USA, UK, Australia, and South Africa recorded during the first general lockdown (April 2020) were inductively analyzed using thematic analysis and deductively interpreted through the working alliance theory and desired HRD outcome paradigms. Findings reveal seven organizational coaching praxis adaptations judged to support all three working alliance components, with "task" and "goal" more prominent than "bond," suggesting a pragmatist preference reminiscent of crisis management. Praxis adaptation also seems to promote all three HRD paradigms of learning, performance, and meaningful work on individual and/or organizational levels. This study strengthens the already well-established link between HRD and coaching by positing that coaching is a dynamic, pragmatic, self-adaptive intervention that supports HRD during a crisis. Understanding coaches' praxis adaptation during the volatile initial stages of a crisis is important for HRD theory and practice given HRDs increasing reliance on coaching.

Leadership, academia, and the role of career coaching.

In academia, the competencies necessary to be an effective leader, including focused training in leadership skills are often overlooked. Incorporating a coaching component in leadership training programs has shown to have a beneficial impact. The purpose of this commentary is to present the rationale, description, and process of the executive coaching component of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Mid-Career Leadership Institute. Institute Fellows are provided with a list of executive career coaches that includes their biography and coaching philosophy. Fellows are asked to rank their preferences from 1 to 3. Usually, Fellows are paired with their first choice. Rigorous evaluations of the benefit of career coaching within a comprehensive leadership program, such as the SBM Leadership Institute has not been conducted However, our evaluations to date show that the coaching component is highly rated by the Fellows and over 90% report using their allotted three sessions. Career coaching, conducted as part of a comprehensive leadership program, has the potential to positively influence career trajectories. A more rigorous evaluation of the SBM coaching program is needed to assess the true benefits.

Where Life Coaching Ends and Therapy Begins: Toward a Less Confusing Treatment Landscape.

"Life coaching" is a rapidly expanding profession born out of an unmet need for help effecting change, frustration with traditional models, the stigma attached to seeking care, and the online "Uberization" of many new services. But the distinctions often drawn between life coaching and psychotherapy are increasingly blurry, raise important questions about where coaching ends and therapy begins, and risk confusion between the two helping professions among vulnerable patients. This is potentially serious, in part because life coaching operates in a regulatory vacuum, with no education, training, licensing, or supervision requirements for coaches and no specific legal protections for any harmed clients. Although increased access to new forms of help is a positive development, the risk that mentally ill patients may undergo life coaching rather than receive proven psychotherapy treatments raises concerns about patient safety. It can also trigger fears of professional replacement among mental health providers whose education, preparation, and practice parameters are rigorously defined and closely scrutinized. More research is needed to prove the efficacy and safety of life-coaching modalities, and meaningful action is required at the level of training, oversight, and legislation to help protect patients and clarify roles.

Transformation to Academic Leadership: The Role of Mentorship and Executive Coaching.

The transition to academic leadership entails learning to utilize an enormous new collection of skills. Executive leadership coaching is a personalized training approach that is being increasingly used to accelerate the onboarding of effective leaders. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has invested in a robust coaching strategy that is offered broadly to institutional leaders. This case study details the early transformational learning of leadership skills by one new institutional leader in the first two years in an academic leadership role, telling the first-person account of the experience of being coached while independently leading a division of hematology and oncology at a highly ranked medical center. Over two years' time, assessed in 6-month intervals, the academician transitions into the role, and using scenarios from regular practice in this position, learns to incorporate core leadership principles into the daily activities of running a division. The transition to academic leadership involves a transformation; a conversion that can be accelerated, guided, and applied with a greater deal of sophistication through intentional coaching, and the application of principles of behavioral science and psychology. Much like the process of coaching a high performing athlete, an elite academician can be trained in skills that enhance their game and succeed in creating a winning team. The academic medical center (AMC) is an interesting social organization, made up of highly accomplished and well-educated people, brought together around a variety of missions and motivations: education, patient service, research, community building, financial margins, and citizenship to name a few. Moreover, the leadership of AMCs almost entirely comes from within this community, drawing people with talents in science, teaching, clinical research, and service into roles that industries reserve usually for MBAs, lawyers, and other professionals who undergo rigorous guided training. Fortunately, academics are well-equipped with skills in lifelong learning, focused curiosity, and tend to be ambitious to a fault. Thus, there is a steady pipeline of budding leaders in AMC's eager to tackle new challenges that will further their missions. Like major industries in the public and private sectors, the demands of leadership are significant. How to navigate the transitions from physician, teacher, or scientist to academic leader is not covered easily in any text. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has adopted a model of Leadership Coaching, akin to the Trusted Leadership Advisor model (Wasylyshyn, 2017). This case study details the experience of one new leader (first author), freshly plucked from the medical science proving ground. Accounts and description of the experiences and intentions of the leadership coach, Dick Kilburg, provide insight into the processes applied in facilitating this transition. Finally, observations of the transition from the vantage point of the primary supervisor (Department Chair, Nancy Brown) provide a further description of the coaching effect on the early development of an AMC leader. The experience of the client, Kimryn Rathmell (Kim), is told in first person narrative format-fitting for the intense and personal experience that accompanies the transition to a leadership role.

Executive/life coaching for first year medical students: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Student physicians are particularly prone to high rates of poor mental and physical quality of life, including depression, anxiety, and fatigue. We prospectively tested whether a structured, theory-based executive/life coaching program tailored to first year medical students in the United States was feasible, tolerable, and would be recommended by participants. Secondary goals included impact on coaching goals, resilience, and perceived stress. METHODS: This single-arm intervention study evaluated a program of two group and two private coaching sessions during the first year, second semester of the Georgetown University School of Medicine Class of 2019. Survey data (global and tailored questions, Connor-Davidson resilience scale, Friedricksson-Larsson stress question) were collected from participants at baseline and post-intervention. RESULTS: 37/40 students completed the intervention; 32 completed the pre-post surveys. Most (32/37) were willing to recommend the program (16/37 were very willing) and 29/37 recommended inclusion in the curriculum. Responses to tailored questions showed significant increases in self-efficacy regarding stress management (p < 0.001); increased awareness of thoughts about stress and management of those thoughts (p = 0.05). Reported improvements in time management (p = 0.10) and energy for relationships and school (p = 0.089) did not achieve significance. Global resilience rating was not different (p = 0.186), but significant changes were seen in control (p = 0.029) and spiritual influence (p = 0.005) factors. Although the Friedricksson-Larsson item was not significantly different (p = 0.242), 40.6% of participants reported decreased stress and 40.6% reported unchanged stress during this most challenging preclinical semester. Substantial ceiling effects were seen in study measures. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that a tailored executive/life coaching program for first year medical students in the United States is feasible, tolerable, and safe; adherence was excellent. Global utility ratings and willingness to recommend coaching provide substantial support for efficacy. Better measures and larger-scale clinical trial designs are needed for formal proof.

Developing excellent leaders - the role of Executive Coaching for GP specialty trainees.

Given an increasingly complex healthcare environment, doctors need to rise to the challenges of leadership. Executive coaching offers innovative and workable means of realising excellence in leadership. Coaching creates an empowering, 'high challenge, high support' environment for significant growth. This study sought to determine general practice (GP) specialty trainee (ST3) knowledge of coaching, views on leadership training, and reflections on the experience of receiving coaching. All GP ST3s in one UK region completed a questionnaire about coaching and developing leadership abilities. Six received professional coaching sessions, followed by a semi-structured interview. Baseline knowledge of coaching was sparse. Trainees felt under-equipped for leadership, but were keen to develop themselves. The short intervention appeared to result in a shift in leadership mind-set in four key areas: courage, passion, impact, and vision. A new enthusiasm was apparent, as well as a willingness and desire to increase leadership responsibilities. This is the first UK study examining professional executive face-to-face coaching as an educational method for doctors. Coaching helps provide leadership 'language' and 'identity'. It appears to 'name' clients as 'leaders' and challenges 'imposter phenomenon'. Coaching provided bespoke, deep, experiential learning, with transferable benefits not otherwise available in the Specialty Training programme.

From candidate to president: Donald Trump's effect on an executive coaching client.

Political events leading up to, and following the results of, the November, 2016 election have affected patients in psychotherapy as well as clients working with executive coaches. This article follows developments in coaching work with one male, middle-aged, highly successful but "interpersonally challenged" client that are traceable to the client's reactions to the election and to the president himself.

Vision-based coaching: optimizing resources for leader development.

Leaders develop in the direction of their dreams, not in the direction of their deficits. Yet many coaching interactions intended to promote a leader's development fail to leverage the benefits of the individual's personal vision. Drawing on intentional change theory, this article postulates that coaching interactions that emphasize a leader's personal vision (future aspirations and core identity) evoke a psychophysiological state characterized by positive emotions, cognitive openness, and optimal neurobiological functioning for complex goal pursuit. Vision-based coaching, via this psychophysiological state, generates a host of relational and motivational resources critical to the developmental process. These resources include: formation of a positive coaching relationship, expansion of the leader's identity, increased vitality, activation of learning goals, and a promotion-orientation. Organizational outcomes as well as limitations to vision-based coaching are discussed.

Professional development and leadership training opportunities for healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: Formal leadership training is a relatively recent addition to the educational armamentarium of the health care executive. Leadership training opportunities for physicians, surgeons, and scientists have gradually appeared over the past 15 to 20 years, but information about them has been scant, with few comprehensive reviews made available to the community at large. This article describes the major opportunities available to obtain formal and informal leadership training for careers in medical school administration. Programs that are specifically targeted to women are described in detail. DATA SOURCES: Information was obtained from the author's direct knowledge, direct communication with the leadership of each program, and the Web site of each sponsoring organization, when available. CONCLUSIONS: Many opportunities for leadership training are now available to surgeons, with several specifically designed for women. The author strongly encourages surgeons to avail themselves of these opportunities, as both anecdotal information and published data suggest that these programs are highly effective in enhancing leadership careers.

Modelo Transteórico de Mudança: Contribuições para o coaching de executivos / The Transtheoretical Model of Change: Contributions to executive coaching / Modelo Transteórico de Cambio: Contribuciones al coaching de ejecutivos

O coaching de executivos tem sido cada vez mais empregado pelas organizações. Embora haja um número expressivo de praticantes nesse mercado, há uma grande carência de modelos teóricos e de pesquisas. Em decorrência disso, tem sido apontada a necessidade de se lastrear o coaching em evidências empiricamente mais consistentes, ainda que incorporando contribuições de conhecimentos já existentes nas ciências comportamentais e sociais. Além disso, a mudança comportamental tem sido tema recorrente, nas diferentes abordagens empregadas, mesmo que de orientações distintas. Neste contexto, alguns autores têm sugerido que o Modelo Transteórico de Mudança seja adaptado para o processo de coaching; tanto por ser um modelo direcionado à mudança comportamental, como pelo fato de ter forte sustentação empírica. Esse modelo caracteriza os seis estágios que ocorrem em todo processo de mudança comportamental: pré-contemplação, contemplação, preparação, ação, manutenção e término. Este artigo teórico examina possíveis contribuições e limitações do modelo, se aplicado ao processo de coaching de executivos.(AU)

Executive coaching has been widely employed in organizations. Although there is a growing number of practitioners in this market, there is still a substantial lack of theoretical models and research in it. Because of this, some authors have argued for a need of supporting the coaching process on more consistent and empirically tested evidences, even through the embodiment of already existing knowledge, from the behavioral and social sciences. Besides that, behavioral change has been a recurrent theme in many coaching processes, even when based on distinct approaches. In this context, some authors have suggested that the Transtheoretical Model of Change be adapted for the coaching process, both for its focusing on behavioral changes and for being supported by substantial empirical research. This model includes the six stages that take place in every process of behavioral change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. This theoretical article analyzes possible contributions and limitations of the model, when applied to executive coaching.(AU)

El coaching de ejecutivos ha sido cada vez más empleado por las organizaciones. Aunque hay un número significativo de practicantes, en este mercado, hay una gran carencia de modelos teóricos y de investigación. Como consecuencia, se ha señalado la necesidad de basar el coaching en evidencias empíricamente más consistentes, aun incorporando contribuciones de conocimientos existentes en las ciencias comportamentales y sociales. Además, el cambio comportamental ha sido tema recurrente en los diferentes abordajes empleados, aunque de orientaciones distintas. En este contexto algunos autores han sugerido que el Modelo Transteórico de Cambio se adapte al proceso de coaching; tanto por ser un modelo dirigido al cambio comportamental como por el hecho de tener fuerte sustentación empírica. Este modelo caracteriza las seis etapas que ocurren en todo proceso de cambio comportamental: precontemplación, contemplación, preparación, acción, mantenimiento y término. Este artículo teórico examina posibles contribuciones y limitaciones del modelo, si se aplica al proceso de coaching de ejecutivos.(AU)

Modelo Transteórico de Mudança: Contribuições para o coaching de executivos / The Transtheoretical Model of Change: Contributions to executive coaching / Modelo Transteórico de Cambio: Contribuciones al coaching de ejecutivos

O coaching de executivos tem sido cada vez mais empregado pelas organizações. Embora haja um número expressivo de praticantes nesse mercado, há uma grande carência de modelos teóricos e de pesquisas. Em decorrência disso, tem sido apontada a necessidade de se lastrear o coaching em evidências empiricamente mais consistentes, ainda que incorporando contribuições de conhecimentos já existentes nas ciências comportamentais e sociais. Além disso, a mudança comportamental tem sido tema recorrente, nas diferentes abordagens empregadas, mesmo que de orientações distintas. Neste contexto, alguns autores têm sugerido que o Modelo Transteórico de Mudança seja adaptado para o processo de coaching; tanto por ser um modelo direcionado à mudança comportamental, como pelo fato de ter forte sustentação empírica. Esse modelo caracteriza os seis estágios que ocorrem em todo processo de mudança comportamental: pré-contemplação, contemplação, preparação, ação, manutenção e término. Este artigo teórico examina possíveis contribuições e limitações do modelo, se aplicado ao processo de coaching de executivos.

Executive coaching has been widely employed in organizations. Although there is a growing number of practitioners in this market, there is still a substantial lack of theoretical models and research in it. Because of this, some authors have argued for a need of supporting the coaching process on more consistent and empirically tested evidences, even through the embodiment of already existing knowledge, from the behavioral and social sciences. Besides that, behavioral change has been a recurrent theme in many coaching processes, even when based on distinct approaches. In this context, some authors have suggested that the Transtheoretical Model of Change be adapted for the coaching process, both for its focusing on behavioral changes and for being supported by substantial empirical research. This model includes the six stages that take place in every process of behavioral change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. This theoretical article analyzes possible contributions and limitations of the model, when applied to executive coaching.

El coaching de ejecutivos ha sido cada vez más empleado por las organizaciones. Aunque hay un número significativo de practicantes, en este mercado, hay una gran carencia de modelos teóricos y de investigación. Como consecuencia, se ha señalado la necesidad de basar el coaching en evidencias empíricamente más consistentes, aun incorporando contribuciones de conocimientos existentes en las ciencias comportamentales y sociales. Además, el cambio comportamental ha sido tema recurrente en los diferentes abordajes empleados, aunque de orientaciones distintas. En este contexto algunos autores han sugerido que el Modelo Transteórico de Cambio se adapte al proceso de coaching; tanto por ser un modelo dirigido al cambio comportamental como por el hecho de tener fuerte sustentación empírica. Este modelo caracteriza las seis etapas que ocurren en todo proceso de cambio comportamental: precontemplación, contemplación, preparación, acción, mantenimiento y término. Este artículo teórico examina posibles contribuciones y limitaciones del modelo, si se aplica al proceso de coaching de ejecutivos.