Executive coaching for conscious leadership : insight into insight

This thesis is an investigation of the practice of executive coaching for conscious leadership. The researcher, an executive coach with many years of practice as educator, chaplain, counselling psychologist, Buddhist meditator and company director, draws on case studies to present a holistic understanding of the coaching relationship. She examines how the coaching relationship enables executive managers not only to achieve their management goals, but also to gain insight, assemble meaning, become conscious and present, and grow as leaders. The key questions for the thesis are: What does the coach do and how is it manifested through the coaching discourse? What are the key processes and variables in the coaching relationship that promote conscious leadership? In order to explore these questions, the researcher draws on literature from human relations praxis, ethics, psychology (including counselling, psychotherapy, positive psychology, educational and organisational psychology), education, theology, Buddhist practice and spirituality, leadership and leadership development, and executive coaching. The research methodology is qualitative and quantitative, drawing on data based on an intensive coaching program designed and delivered by the researcher to managers in two organisations – a retail company and a utility company. A series of group sessions reinforced the individual coaching process. Over 300 hours of one-on-one executive coaching sessions were recorded, with 24 executive managers (12 in each company), who each participated in twelve (or equivalent) fortnightly sessions over a 6-month period. In addition, a test of emotional intelligence was given to each of the managers at the beginning and end of the coaching program, giving a quantitative measure of the changes. The results of the coaching sessions are analysed in terms of the two companies and their participants, exploring the organisational context and outlining the benefits of coaching and the coaching relationship with each of the participants individually and in groups. Then two detailed individual case studies are presented, one client from each of the organisations in the study. The managers in the study learned new management skills and adopted new leadership behaviours, reflecting their growth in emotional intelligence and awareness. They reflected on gaining deep awareness and insight, signifying their move to conscious leadership, and reported practical benefits of coaching in their workplace practices, e.g. improved communication skills and the ability to give and receive genuine feedback. A quantitative analysis of the emotional intelligence pre- and post-test scores confirmed these positive outcomes. Many of the managers reported that the most significant aspect of the coaching was the quality of the relationship between them and the coach, which enabled conscious leadership to develop. Their relationship was deeply influenced by the personal qualities of the coach such as warmth, presence, qualifications, credibility, trustworthiness, openness, commitment, insight, and spiritual awareness. This made the difference between coaching for management goals alone and the development of conscious leadership. The concepts of executive coaching and of conscious leadership are holistic phenomena. The clients experience a profound sense of feeling known, respected, accepted, cared for and valued. In essence, they experience love. What has emerged from the research is that consciousness is the ‘being’ of leadership. The attributes of conscious leadership indicate an integration of the whole person that manifests in the workplace, in their homes with their families, and in their everyday interactions and responses to the world around them. While instrumental management goals may be achieved with qualified coaches, conscious leadership involves psychological integration via in-depth relationship and psychological interventions, these need to be experienced with a qualified practitioner with demonstrable advanced levels of personal integration and consciousness. The findings call for a more rofessional and holistic approach to executive coaching for leadership