Abstract
In today’s competitive and ever-changing business environment, the rapid changes in the complex external environment have been accelerated by globalisation and significant technological advances. Therefore, leaders are required to have the agility and resilience to adapt to a constantly changing environment and to guide their organisations to navigate these changes. Although many organisations have made use of leadership coaching to varying extents, there are still organisations that have yet to implement leadership coaching interventions to assist them in responding to change.
In this study, these organisations are referred to as new-to-coaching organisations. Through conducting a qualitative, exploratory, phenomenological study, the perceptions of eight leaders from a new-to-coaching organisation were explored as they pertain to the implementation of leadership coaching in their organisation. These leaders were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide, and the data from the interviews was collated and analysed utilising thematic analysis. Five thematic clusters emerged from the data, which subsequently gave rise to 13 main themes and 10 sub-themes. The findings indicate that leaders in a new-to-coaching organisation require clarity on the expectations for their role as leaders. Moreover, there is a need clarity regarding their role in creating a culture that is conducive to leadership coaching. Furthermore, it was evident from the findings that clarity on what leadership coaching is, and the objectives of the intervention, is crucial.
The implications of the design and implementation of leadership coaching in new-to-coaching organisations were subsequently considered, and a conceptual framework, termed the phased approach to the implementation of leadership coaching in new-to-coaching organisations, was developed based on the findings and literature on leadership coaching in organisations. The major implications are that organisations should engage in a process of assessing the need for leadership coaching and create clarity through continuous communication and stakeholder involvement. Lastly, it is necessary to continuously evaluate what was learnt from the intervention to inform future development initiatives and integration.
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The recommendations for future research are to engage in quantitative and mixed-method studies to address generalisability. Furthermore, it is recommended that experimental research should be conducted, as well as longitudinal research in which evidence can be collected that supports the use of the phased approach in the implementation of a leadership coaching conceptual framework.