This study was conducted to investigate and explore a coaching intervention in an
organisation that received and implemented systemic coaching for the systemic development
of leadership. Although dyadic coaching is widely used by individual leaders in
organisations, its impact in enhancing the wider development of systemic leadership is
limited. This limitation is largely compounded by the narrow appreciation of the loci of
leadership and how leadership is conceptualised, perceived and discharged in organisations.
The reductionist approach to leadership development has led to many organisational
resources being reserved, directed and used exclusively for the development of the select few.
The difference between leader and leadership development is discussed in literature. Leader
development refers to the development of an individual leader for his/her personal
developmental interests. This individualistic development often occurs outside the context of
that leader’s peers, team and organisation. Leadership development refers to a collective
development of leaders with the primary purpose of becoming a unified coherent force for the
success and sustainability of the organisation Thus, leader development is preoccupied with
the improvement of a leader, whereas, leadership development is preoccupied with building
collective capabilities. It is a result of the current inadequate and reductionist view of
leadership development in organisations that the study seeks to suggest a systemic approach
to coaching for the systemic development of leadership in organisations.
A qualitative approach was employed as a research methodology, to evaluate systemic
coaching implementation in depth. An interview discussion guide was used to engage
respondents. Eighteen respondents were invited to participate in the study. The researcher
ensured hierarchical representivity, from CEO to general workers, given the interest in the
systemic nature of the coaching experienced. This was also to ensure that the study sample
was representative of respondents who participated in both dyadic and systemic coaching
received at NAC. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and uploaded into Atlas ti.7 software
for analysis.
Regarding systemic coaching, the findings showed that systemic coaching is more adequate
in the systemic development of leadership rather than dyadic coaching. Systemic coaching
was found to promote a collective and inclusive development of leadership and focused with
optimising performance for the entire organisation rather than just individuals. Systemic
coaching benefits were identified as key in enhancing leadership capabilities, in fostering
innovation and in transforming organisational cultures. Eighteen areas were identified where
systemic coaching can potentially make a difference in organisations. Some of those areas
include, employee retention, organisational alignment and innovation. Seven critical factors
to be considered when implementing systemic coaching were identified, chief among those
being organisational culture and client readiness.
Finally, though systemic coaching serves as no panacea to organisational challenges, it was
found to be an appropriate tool for systemic leadership development. Hence it is proposed as
a method to complement the dyadic coaching approach.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/20980 |
| Date | 31 August 2016 |
| Creators | Kumkani, Eric Mxolisi |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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