Values Sensitive Coaching: The DELTA Approach to Coaching Culturally Diverse Executives

Executive coaching is a popular intervention to improve the performance of middle and top level leaders. Globalization and the resulting cultural diversification of the workplace have also rapidly increased. Given these two trends, it is becoming increasingly important for executive coaches to understand how cultural values should affect their coaching. Recent research on coaching has suggested the need for a theoretical framework from which to empirically address this issue to provide scientifically rooted guidelines for effective implementation of executive coaching in these culturally diverse contexts. This article proposes a research-based, prescriptive motivational approach to coaching those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Called the DELTA approach, the model includes five components: (a) Determining cultural values, (b) Employing typical coaching techniques, (c) Looking and listening for motivational needs and deficiencies, (d) Tailoring coaching techniques to motivational needs and cultural values, and (e) Assessing the effectiveness of the approaches used. The DELTA model is intended to provide a flexible framework within which coaches can work with, motivate, and develop culturally diverse executives