Rebecca M. Chory , Evan H. Offstein , Ronald L. Dufresne , J. Stephen Childers Jr.
{"title":"How executive coaches actually coach: Leveraging a relational lens","authors":"Rebecca M. Chory , Evan H. Offstein , Ronald L. Dufresne , J. Stephen Childers Jr.","doi":"10.1016/j.hrmr.2024.101055","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite the widespread acceptance of executive coaching as a relational phenomenon, how these relationships play out in practice tends to be overlooked and under-researched. In this conceptual paper, we argue that the “caring, yet professionally distant” clinical approach to executive coaching is unrealistic. Challenging this approach, we propose a relational communication perspective on coach-client friendship development, which we situate within the larger relational triad of coaches, leader-clients, and organizational sponsors/decision-makers/superiors. Adopting micro and macro perspectives, we detail the forces that spark and sustain these friendships, including coaches' relational communication, the sincerity and instrumentality of coaches' relationship motives, and coaching's occupational characteristics. We consider the web of multiple relationships within which executive coaching occurs. Along the way, we discuss challenges to the practice of executive coaching as it relates to personal workplace relationships, and we discuss the ethical implications of these relationships. We conclude with provocative questions to guide future research and practice in both executive coaching and personal workplace relationship arenas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48145,"journal":{"name":"Human Resource Management Review","volume":"35 1","pages":"Article 101055"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human Resource Management Review","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053482224000457","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite the widespread acceptance of executive coaching as a relational phenomenon, how these relationships play out in practice tends to be overlooked and under-researched. In this conceptual paper, we argue that the “caring, yet professionally distant” clinical approach to executive coaching is unrealistic. Challenging this approach, we propose a relational communication perspective on coach-client friendship development, which we situate within the larger relational triad of coaches, leader-clients, and organizational sponsors/decision-makers/superiors. Adopting micro and macro perspectives, we detail the forces that spark and sustain these friendships, including coaches' relational communication, the sincerity and instrumentality of coaches' relationship motives, and coaching's occupational characteristics. We consider the web of multiple relationships within which executive coaching occurs. Along the way, we discuss challenges to the practice of executive coaching as it relates to personal workplace relationships, and we discuss the ethical implications of these relationships. We conclude with provocative questions to guide future research and practice in both executive coaching and personal workplace relationship arenas.
期刊介绍:
The Human Resource Management Review (HRMR) is a quarterly academic journal dedicated to publishing scholarly conceptual and theoretical articles in the field of human resource management and related disciplines such as industrial/organizational psychology, human capital, labor relations, and organizational behavior. HRMR encourages manuscripts that address micro-, macro-, or multi-level phenomena concerning the function and processes of human resource management. The journal publishes articles that offer fresh insights to inspire future theory development and empirical research. Critical evaluations of existing concepts, theories, models, and frameworks are also encouraged, as well as quantitative meta-analytical reviews that contribute to conceptual and theoretical understanding.
Subject areas appropriate for HRMR include (but are not limited to) Strategic Human Resource Management, International Human Resource Management, the nature and role of the human resource function in organizations, any specific Human Resource function or activity (e.g., Job Analysis, Job Design, Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Selection and Placement, Performance and Talent Management, Reward Systems, Training, Development, Careers, Safety and Health, Diversity, Fairness, Discrimination, Employment Law, Employee Relations, Labor Relations, Workforce Metrics, HR Analytics, HRM and Technology, Social issues and HRM, Separation and Retention), topics that influence or are influenced by human resource management activities (e.g., Climate, Culture, Change, Leadership and Power, Groups and Teams, Employee Attitudes and Behavior, Individual, team, and/or Organizational Performance), and HRM Research Methods.