This study aims to develop a theoretical and practical model of coaching for gravitas in a business leadership context. Gravitas is described as a psychological phenomenon and concept used frequently, but not well researched and understood. While leadership practitioners frequently refer to gravitas as a desirable quality, there have been no specific empirical studies into gravitas as either a leadership quality or more general phenomenon. A review of the literature specifically associates gravitas with the leadership concepts of authenticity and charisma, which are often discussed together with the concepts of power and authority. The role of followers is described as important in all leaders’ qualities, but the context of a leader’s organisation is a frequent omission in typical studies. A collaborative action research approach was adopted with six practising leaders and 12 of their followers from one organisation. An initial model of coaching for gravitas was developed and four cycles of action research were conducted over a 12-month period. The first action research cycle used a conceptual encounter method to create a conceptual model of gravitas that was specific for the six leaders coached during the next three cycles of research. The evolved conceptual model described gravitas through four dimensions of confidence, courage, communication, and control. Under each dimension, potentially coachable elements were identified and explored in action with the participants over subsequent research cycles. Specific coaching methods were used to develop these elements. A wide range of data was collected and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings suggested that situational forces on individual gravitas constantly moved and that the model of an individual’s gravitas was therefore always changing. The leaders learned how to recognise these forces and use them for focusing their attention. In spite of individual differences, the embodied reactions of leaders to the reported feelings of gravitas showed significant similarities. A weight and stillness of the body and mind was connected to the ability to see clearly in changing situations involving complex forces in action. Recognition of these feelings enabled an active use of them in practice. Participants described reflective processes within the action research as the most informative part of the coaching process. The journey of the participants and researcher was translated into a mapped process allowing development of a model of gravitas useful for recognition in themselves and others. The study concludes with a number of implications for leadership theory and practice, suggesting that coaching can contribute to the development of leadership gravitas.

Este libro es una invitación al lector para que explore su potencial de liderazgo —desde la perspectiva del coaching— y se convierta en un líder coach. Y es que el coaching se ha convertido en un estilo de liderazgo. Hoy es reconocido como una parte importante del liderazgo y requiere una serie de habilidades que los gerentes deben implementar. De hecho, las compañías están desarrollando «culturas del coaching», en las que los líderes son responsables de coachear a sus equipos, sus colegas e incluso a sus jefes, porque se han percatado de que esta es la forma como los líderes dirigen mediante el alto desempeño. Pero ¿qué es liderazgo coaching? ¿Cómo puede uno desarrollar sus propias habilidades de líder coach y aplicarlas con los demás? ¿De qué manera esto puede ayudar a hacer realidad el cambio con mayor eficacia? Las autoras responden todas estas preguntas en este innovador libro —que ya ha beneficiado a miles de líderes, gerentes y profesionales de todo el mundo durante los últimos desde su publicación en 2003— y que hoy se hace realidad en su versión en español.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the systems, structures, and behaviors district leaders employ and enact to assist elementary school principals' relationship with their school instructional coach. Through the synthesis of current research, the conceptual framework was developed with a focus on district leadership behaviors and instructional coaching programs. The conceptual framework consisted of professional capital theory, instructional coaching model, and principal leadership skills. This study assessed the perceptions of six instructional coaches, six elementary principals, and three district leaders from Comet ISD regarding the specific behaviors district leaders use to support the relationship between the school principal and instructional coach. The three-part data collection process included document analysis, face-to-face interviews, and focus group interviews to support the triangulation of data. Through the a priori coding process, four themes emerged that identified key district structures and leadership behaviors needed to support the relationship between the school principal and instructional coach: program clarity, principal leadership skills, professional learning opportunities, and culture of continuous learning. This study revealed a specific need to understand program implementation, accountability, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the instructional coaching program in a fast-growth district.

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Thesis (M.M. (Business Executive Coaching))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013. / Peer coaching within the South African context is not widely promoted or implemented. In the field of coaching, peer coaching is slowly entering the marketplace with a focus on career learning and self-driven leadership development. It is one of the options available to organisations in which to assist leaders with addressing development needs. This research set out to establish the factors behind the rationale to implement a peer coaching program at executive level. The research followed a qualitative design methodology making use of semi-structured interviews to gather data. The richness of the data lay in the semi-structured approach which allowed for the participants to air their views, yet for the researcher to remain true to the purpose of the study. The findings suggest that within the current South African context, there are more constraining factors present which may inhibit the decision to implement a peer coaching program than enabling factors. These include the perceived limited choice of peer coaches available; the challenges of setting up a coach-coachee relationship, which includes trust and confidentiality; the presence of dominant leaders; power dimensions within organisations; environments of mistrust, gossip and competitiveness and the presence of diversity discrimination. It further posits that the leaders of the organisations play a pivotal role in determining the rationale behind the decision to implement a peer coaching program.

Despite widespread acknowledgement of the complex, holistic and context-specific nature of the coaching process, research has rarely focused upon coaching practice as a comprehensive, integrated and situated endeavour. This thesis examined the coaching process of the head coach of a national women's rugby union team using data collected throughout a competitive international season. A methodological bricolage consisting of ethnographic participant observation, systematic practice observations, audio-visual recordings, semi-structured interviews and stimulated recall interviews was adopted to investigate both the broad parameters and detailed properties of the coach's work. Analysis of the data led to the development of a grounded theory of the coaching process, which was found to be constituted by the interactions of the coach, a variety of associates, and the coaching context. Numerous and interrelated personal, social and contextual factors were identified that functioned to create opportunities and challenges that the coach responded to through their practice. The findings contribute to a fuller understanding of the complexity and holism of the coaching process in top-level women's rugby union, as well as a valuable conceptual framework and methodology to guide and conduct future research in different contexts.

This study set out to explore and describe the experiences of executives and coaches when going through a process of executive coaching. The rationale was that an understating of their experience and their perceived benefits that they gain from a coaching process, might afford insight into a relatively new field. Subsequently this could perhaps contribute to the knowledge of executive coaching in South Africa and develop the discipline further by focusing on the experiences of the different parties. A qualitative approach was followed since it provides rich, descriptive data that increases the contextual depth. To ensure the quality of the research, sensitivity was given to criteria of transferability, credibility and dependability. Exploratory research was employed because executive coaching in South Africa has not been documented that extensively. This method was also chosen because the researcher aimed to describe and interpret the context-bound research subject. Grounded theory was used to analyse the qualitative data. Ten participants were interviewed individually to collect information regarding their experiences. Five coaches and five coachees were interviewed, the interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed from a grounded theory perspective. The findings indicated the experiences of coachees and coaches when going through a coaching process. There are five transcending findings that the researcher found very interesting although these were not all linked to the research questions. They are as follows:<br> 1) Approach / focus of coach seems closely linked to experience of coachee<br> 2) Coaches use very different paradigms / models <br> 3) Use the term executive coaching interchangeable with other terms<br> 4) Coach not unaffected by executive coaching relationship<br> 5) Important for the coachee to feel that the coach understands his/her culture The first indicates that the approach of the coach seems closely linked to the experience of the coachee”. The second indicates that coaches use different paradigms and some followed a more involved process. The third indicates that coaches also use different terms to refer to executive coaching which may lead to misunderstandings in the field. The fourth transcending finding indicates that the coach is not unaffected by the coaching relationship and that they also value growth and development from coaching. The last transcending finding indicates that the coachee feels it is important that the coach understands his/her culture and background. This study contributes to the field of coaching, more specifically, executive coaching in South Africa. The findings also stress the importance of understanding and respecting the diversity in South Africa, specifically in terms of our cultures, backgrounds and different frameworks. Copyright 2008, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Hattingh, M 2008, An explorative comparison of the value and experiences of the coach and coachee during executive coaching, MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02162012-120517 / > C12/4/133/gm / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

This research study focused on the coaching practices of five internal Regional Learning and Development Managers in a multimedia organisation from 2009 to 2011. Twelve written narratives were initially used to gather information from both coaches and clients about their perceptions and experiences during a coaching session. Survey questionnaires were sent to all 135 managers who had completed the Coaching Programme since its inception in 2009, to supplement the information established from the narrative stage. Three problems were identified: employed Learning and Development Managers were expected to deliver a coaching programme in the workplace for which they were ill-equipped, unqualified and inexperienced; there was a lack of tangible benchmarks to demonstrate the success of the clients’ development; and an inconsistent standard of coaching was delivered potentially compromising ethical coaching practices and behaviour. Coaching is a specialised field of people development, which can have a noticeable impact on both employee performance and on achieving business aims. ‘Internal coaching’ has evolved from a necessity to develop people within the workplace using internal resources and a limited budget. The study reflects on an example of internal coaching and discusses the successes and failures of such a practice. According to the narratives and survey it is the coach who is the key to the success of coaching and a successful coach must be trustworthy with confidential matters; objective and able to understand the culture and operations of the company; have business credibility; is independent of the person being coached and, therefore, is not their line manager. A customised blend of appropriate styles including mentoring, instruction and coaching is recommended to achieve the best results in coaching.

Mentoring for secondary school headteachers in their first year in post was first proposed as a systematic strategy in the 1980s following research into the first years of headship (Weindling and Earley, 1987). Coaching and mentoring were introduced as part of a response to the concern that new headteachers were not sufficiently prepared before taking up the post. Coaching and mentoring are now incorporated into all National College for School Leadership (NCSL: currently the National College for the Leadership of Schools and Children‟s Services) leadership programmes. However, there is a dearth of current research exploring how secondary school headteachers use coaching and mentoring in their first year in post. Systematic reviews show that previous research has generally focused on improving coaching and mentoring schemes and thus is mainly evaluative. In contrast, this study focuses on the headteacher perspective. The study works within a social constructivist paradigm, taking a grounded theory approach because of the dearth of available theory. Data were collected from six newly appointed secondary school headteachers. Each was interviewed three times during their first year in post. After transcription each interview was analysed and coded and the results informed subsequent interviews. NVivo was used to manage the data and to develop codes. Preliminary findings were discussed with practising coaches and their comments contribute to the discussion. The study finds that new headteachers exercise significant agency in their coaching and mentoring engagements, including the choice of coach mentor, and the coach mentoring agenda. It finds that new headteachers seek coaching and mentoring beyond the assumed formal dyadic arrangements. Contributions to knowledge include the Confidence Loop model; three new models of coaching and mentoring; and a deeper questioning of the place the theory and practice of performativity should have in the coach mentoring relationship.

Companies today need to draw on the whole organisational team for the energy, ideas and collaborative approaches that bring sustainable organisational success in an interconnected world. Leadership and organisational studies increasingly support this endeavour by considering relational and interconnected approaches. However the leadership coaching literature tends to adopt a hierarchical approach focused on individuals and teams at the helm of organisations. A ripple effect is the metaphorical focus of the study drawing attention to an interplay of influences in an organisation following a leadership coaching initiative. This initiative is the starting point for this in depth organisational case study which is interested in drawing out the human dimension of organisational life. Multiple methods - interviews, anecdote circles and a company questionnaire - are used to explore patterns of influence flowing from leadership coaching in a small-medium sized enterprise (SME). Thematic network analysis of the experiences of participants in this study produced three categories of findings: personal needs, perceptions of leadership and cultural concerns. Each category is made up of competing influences that signify spectrums of opportunity for learning and development. From this investigation an holistic model of a ripple effect is developed showing the flow from specific coaching outcomes that blend business and human aspects. The concept of reciprocal learning space captures the scope for learning and change by uncovering competing influences that represent the variety of responses to coaching outcomes. An holistic framework for organisation focused coaching offers a practical contribution to coaching by setting out a route to identifying reciprocal learning space and helping to address wider organisational needs. It is argued that remaining in a hierarchical, leader centred mode limits the potential reach of coaching in organisations. This study offers a new integrated approach to coaching that signifies the potential to reach much more widely into organisations.