leadership coaching.docx

The Leadership Quarterly 25 2014 631–646 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect The Leadership Quarterly journal hom epage ww w.el o c ate/ leaqua Leadership coaching, leader role-efficacy, and trust in subordinates. A mixed s study assessing leadership coaching as a leadership development tool Gro Ladegard a,⁎, Susann Gjerde b a Oslo School of Management, P.O. Box 1195 Sentrum, 0107 Oslo, Norway b UMB School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history Received 19 February 2013 Received in revised 11 December 2013 Accepted 4 February 2014 Available online 22 February 2014 Handling Editor Kevin Lowe Keywords Leadership coaching Relational leadership Role-efficacy Trust Leadership development Introduction In this study, we used a two-phase exploratory sequential design consisting of qualitative and quantitative research s to assess leadership coaching as a leadership development tool. A focus group study combined with a review of theory resulted in hypotheses linking coaching to increased leader role-efficacy LRE and leader s trust in subordinates LTS. Using data from leaders participating in a six month coaching program and a control group, the results showed that LRE and LTS increased in the coaching group, but not in the control group. We also hypothesized that increased trust in subordinates would be related to subordinates psychological empowerment and turnover intentions. A significant relationship between increased LTS and reduced turnover intentions was found. Finally, we found that the degree of facilitative behavior from the coach positively affected the changes in both leader role-efficacy and trust in subordinates. While the results should be interpreted with caution as the sample is small, our findings support claims that coaching represents a promising leadership development tool. Furthermore, the results regarding trust in subordinates represent contributions to the development of a relational perspective on leadership development. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The development of leaders is an expressed goal in most organizations Avolio Ely et al., 2010 and has become a widely used intervention for leadership development Bono, Purvanova, Towler, Feldman Feldman Stajkovic Grant, 2006 and consequently addresses the challenge of different individual starting points. However, in line with the previously mentioned gaps in the field of leadership development, there is also a lack of systematic uation of this particular leadership development tool Ely et al., 2010. To advance the field theoretically and empirically, rigorous and systematic uations of the effects of leadership coaching are needed Smither, London, Flautt, Vargas, Feldman Stajkovic Baron, Morin, Bono et al., 2009; Feldman Grant, Curtayne, Joo, 2005; MacKie, 2007; Moen Smither et al., 2003. Only a few studies such as Boyce, Jackson, and Neal 2010 and Ely et al. 2010 refer to coaching of leaders as “leadership coaching”. However, as cutive coaching may address a variety of issues including mental health, resilience, workplace well-being, stress and depression Grant et al., 2009, and because we are interested in outcome variables that more directly address leadership effectiveness, we prefer the term “leadership coaching”. Furthermore, we take a relational perspective on leadership and conceptualize it as “embedded in the everyday relationally-responsive dialogical practices of leaders” Cunliffe Grant Joo, 2005; Spence Sue-Chan, Wood, Ely et al., 2010; Smither et al., 2003. Although the coaching process is custom tailored to the individual, it involves certain core elements assessment feedback, challenge, and support Bono et al., 2009; Ely et al., 2010; Grant et al., 2009; Tobias, 1996. Coaching has been found to have a positive effect after only one coaching session Burke Smit