Abstract
Business coaching and its impact on senior leaders is a prominent topic in organisations today. The coach-client relationship is frequently highlighted as a pivotal element for success in coaching. This relationship fosters a strong bond between the coach and coachee and allows for effective communication and builds trust. To build trust, a key factor in the coaching process is the chemistry meeting, which is the first interaction between the coach and the client. The chemistry meeting aims to establish mutual understanding, assess compatibility, and ensure that both parties are aligned in terms of goals and expectations.
The researcher explores the criteria used in selecting business coaches following a chemistry meeting, emphasising the importance of interpersonal dynamics, coaching style, and the alignment of expectations. Research highlights that selecting the appropriate business coach is a complex task and impacts the effectiveness of the coaching engagement. However, there are gaps in the literature that do not focus on the chemistry meeting, or the explanation from a coachees perspective of the selection criteria used to select a coach.
A thematic inquiry approach was employed in this qualitative, exploratory, phenomenological study to explore, interpret, and understand participants’ experiences related to the phenomenon under investigation. A sample size of nine senior leaders was obtained. Primary data was collected via semi-structured interviews.
The themes that emerged from the study include professional accreditation, experience, coaching approach, and coaching competencies. Based on the findings, a proposed senior leader coaching selection framework is presented that aims to combine the findings from previous literature and the information from this study. The framework is developed to guide individual clients, organisational clients, and coaches in improving the coach selection process and emphasises the responsibilities of each stakeholder to ensure effective and successful coaching outcomes.
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This research deepens the understanding of the selection criteria employed by senior leaders in choosing a business coach including the precursors before the chemistry meeting and the criterion considered during the chemistry meetings. The integrated approach of the organization, coach and coachee contributes to the current limited literature with an emphasis on understanding coach selection from a coachee’s perspective.