A COMPARISON OF PRACTICES AND …

1 A COMPARISON OF PRACTICES AND approaches TO coaching BASED ON ACADEMIC BACKGROUND A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES AND THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, ALLIANT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree DUAL DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Anne M. Liljenstrand 2003 iiTABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I .. 1 Introduction and Review of the 1 Statement of the 1 Definition and History of coaching .. 2 Rapid Increase in Both the Supply and Demand of coaching 4 Changing Work 4 Major Transformation Within 5 Broadening Target Market.

2 6 Perceived 6 Low Barrier of 7 Who Provides coaching Services?.. 8 How is coaching Conducted? .. 11 The Fundamental Nature of coaching Styles .. 16 Types of coaching .. 16 Coach Training 21 Academic Background .. 23 The Value of Psychology Programs .. 24 The Value of Business Administration Programs .. 29 Holland Theory of Vocational Interests .. 31 Classification .. 33 The Investigative Type Characteristics related to the I/O group.

3 35 The Social Type Characteristics related to the Clinical group .. 35 The Enterprising Type Characteristics related to the Business group .. 36 Performance Expectations .. 36 Hypotheses .. 37 Demographic Analyses .. 57 CHAPTER 58 Method .. 58 58 60 Description of the 60 Pilot Study .. 61 Independent Variable .. 62 Procedure .. 63 Data 64 CHAPTER 66 Results .. 66 Assumptions .. 66 Psychometric Properties.

4 67 Reliability of the coaching PRACTICES Survey .. 68 Validity of the coaching PRACTICES 69 Demographic 70 Hypotheses Testing .. 82 Additional Analyses ..125 Assessments Tools ..125 Impact of Source of CHAPTER IV ..150 Discussion ..150 Comments and Reflections on the Theoretical Implications ..157 Practical Implications ..159 Consumer Assistance ..159 Added Credibility through Quantitative Indicators ..161 Empirically derived Parameters for Practicing Curriculum for Coach Training Suggestions for Future iv References.

5 168 Appendix A: Survey of coaching vTABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Holland s Hexagonal Model .. 32 viTABLE OF TABLES Table 1: Brief version of demographics .. 72 Table 2: Membership to professional associations in 79 1 CHAPTER I Introduction and Review of the Literature Statement of the Problem coaching is a rapidly growing practice that is becoming increasingly popular among the general public. The International Coach Federation (1999) estimates that there are about 16,000 part-time and full-time coaches worldwide, and based on a survey conducted by the Manchester consulting firm, 45 percent of CEOs report their senior-level professionals needing coaching services (Morris, 2000).

6 Although coaching and consultation type services have been offered in the past, coaching is today rapidly becoming more and more commercialized and is currently the fastest growing field within consulting (Eggers & Clark, 2000; Hall, Otazo & Hollenbeck, 1999). For every day that passes an increasing number of individuals are offering their services as coaches. Based on a review of the extant literature, coaches come from a variety of educational backgrounds and range from high school graduates to PhD s. However, individuals with an academic background in Business or Psychology appear to dominate the market.

7 Until this day, the differences in PRACTICES and approaches between different coaches are unclear, and the lack of empirical research leaves the field open for speculation. Furthermore, as Kilburg (1996) states as yet, there has been no focused effort to describe or define this emerging area of consultation practice, even though it has developed an initial identity known as executive coaching . (p. 59). There are a number of reasons as to why it is essential to establish a scientific foundation for the differences in services provided by the wide variety of individuals 2having entered the coaching profession.

8 First of all, there is an absence of information available for organizations to make informed choices when hiring a coach. Secondly, there is a vast amount of money invested in coaching services. Additionally, there are currently a lack of standards in training and quality assurance that can lead to an unpredictable variation in the quality of coaching services, which possibly could tarnish the credibility of the field. Lastly, ..as applied to the art and practice of management, limited empirical data are available to support the techniques and approaches coaches have used with business leaders.

9 (p. 41, Brotman, Liberi & Wasylyshyn, 1998). It is the need for such standards that forms the motivating force for this study. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to examine the differences in PRACTICES and approaches between coaches with an academic background in the field of Business, coaches with an academic background in Clinical psychology or related field, and coaches with an academic background in Industrial-Organizational psychology or related field. Definition and History of coaching At present there are a few different definitions available to the word coaching .

10 According to the (2002), the word coaching means to train or tutor. Kilburg (2000) defines executive coaching as a helping relationship between a client who has managerial responsibilities in an organization, and a consultant who uses different behavioral techniques and methods in order to achieve mutually identified goals. The set goals will improve the client s effectiveness and personal satisfaction, and thus also improve the effectiveness of the client s organization. Additionally, as mentioned by Mobley (1999), a coaching relationship helps people work out issues and find their own 3answers through the skillful use of probing questions, ( ).