Elaine Cox ✉ (Oxford Brookes University)

In this issue of IJEBCM we have two ‘reflections from the field’ articles, both focusing on organisational coaching, and six peer reviewed papers. Five of the peer reviewed papers relate to coaching issues or contexts, and one looks specifically at mentoring practices. We also have one book review in this issue: Sally Bonneywell’s review of Dancing with Fear and Confidence by Laura Walker.

Peer Reviewed Papers

Our first peer reviewed article is a critical review of the adequacy of competency frameworks for coaching academic deans. In this article, Iftikhar Nadeem, Bob Garvey and Martin Down, conducted an interpretive case study in the U.K., looking at how the existing frameworks perform when coaching deans. The research concluded that evidence-based practice that integrates scientific knowledge with practitioner expertise may be a more effective approach to coaching at the executive level. Competence is not deemed enough to generate the complexity of insights required for this level of coaching. Rather a deeper understanding of purpose, theories and context are needed for effective coaching in this context.

The second paper in this issue is from colleagues at Rice University in Houston, Texas: Ryan Brown, Lebena Varghese, Sarah Sullivan and Sandy Parsons examine the value of professional coaching for emerging leaders. The paper presents two studies, the first is a controlled experiment that revealed how students working with a professional coach showed more awareness in areas such as identity, self-concept, sense of purpose and satisfaction. The second study involved observations by peers that corroborated these changes.

Next, Michael Abravanel and James Gavin from Concordia University in Montreal provide an integral quadrants perspective of coaching presence. This qualitative investigation collected data via semi-structured interviews with ICF certified coaches. Analysis suggested the themes of: mindful awareness; authentic connection; conscious attunement; embodied way; holding outcomes; and structural alignment, which appeared to reflect Ken Wilber's observations about subjective, objective, intersubjective and inter-objective ways of being and perceiving.

Our fourth research paper focuses on leaders’ identity development in uncertain contexts. Kathy Bennett from University of Stellenbosch Business School in Johannesburg explains the need for coaches to add value for leaders in such contexts, perhaps by encouraging adaptive responses. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, leaders’ lived experiences of personal uncertainty are explored through interviews in order to identify leverage points for executive coaching. The theoretical lenses of sensemaking and leader identity work were used to interpret findings and the subsequent implications for executive coaching are discussed, particularly in relation to sensemaking and adaptive identity development.

Our fifth paper is from Elizabeth Ahmann and colleagues from Maryland University of Integrative Health and the Springer Institute in the USA. Here the focus is on ADHD coaching and interprofessional communication during multimodal care. Coaching in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is seen as a vital component, but the topic of interprofessional communication and collaboration between other professionals involved in treatment is underexplored. This qualitative research identifies attitudes and experiences of ADHD coaches regarding communication and collaboration with other professionals in support of their clients. Themes emerged that suggest collaboration is important but that there are barriers to overcome.

The last in our set of six research papers explores mentoring practices that contribute to new teacher retention. Bonita Maready and colleagues from University of Mississippi in the USA, present their research examining the predictor variables for new teacher retention from the perspective of effective teacher mentoring practices. Analysis suggests both predictive and non-predictive mentoring practices for new teacher retention, thus providing insights for school leaders and policy-makers regarding the design of effective induction programmes aimed at increasing new teacher retention.

Reflections from the field

The first of our two reflections from the field presents a model of coaching to enhance learning and reinforce commitment. Here, Paul Lyons and Randall Bandura from Frostburg State University, Maryland, USA, focus on the search for theory and practical constructs to guide the creation of a model for manager-as-coach. The proposed model is aimed at stimulating a commitment relationship between manager and employee and provides a structured learning tool that increases the manager’s repertoire in order to serve the learning and growth needs of both employee and manager.

The second reflection from the field examines how the field of coaching has grown in organizations and allows organizations to create a culture based on a coach approach. Sheila Boysen and colleagues, Terry Arya and Lesley Page, from Lewis University, Illinois, USA,
share specific findings from an engagement survey of organizational and executive coaching to shed light on coaching cultures in non-profit organisations. Thus current elements of coaching culture and opportunities for culture enhancement are examined.

Dr. Elaine Cox
Oxford Brookes University
1st August 2021