Curated by: Margaret Moore, aka Coach Meg
Director's Corner
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Coaching with Science in Mind
In our member survey in summer 2018 (thank you again!) we appreciated your vigorous interest in more resources that translate research into coaching practice. You inspired us to launch a new format called a research dose late 2018 - twice a month delivered to your inbox.
- How to coach on the plus side
- Diversity matters
- The road paved with good intentions
- Guess how a leader’s humility promotes positive outcomes?
- What path are you on?
It’s a great era for 20-year literature reviews, featured in recent research doses: executive coaching research, health and wellness coaching research, positive psychology interventions, and servant leadership.
It’s never been a better time to coach with science in mind.
Margaret Moore, aka Coach Meg
Co-Founder, Co-Director, Institute of Coaching
Featured Research
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Share /Today we explore an article titled Broadening and Building Solution-Focused Coaching: Feeling Good is Not Enough (2018). The authors, Anthony Grant (IOC Scientific Advisor) and Sean O’Connor in Australia, acknowledge a long and well-respected history of focusing on problem-focused questions in counseling and consulting. They also point to the considerable body of coaching literature that supports the use of solution-focused coaching questions (adapted from solution-focused brief therapy), which are more effective in improving positive affect, self-efficacy and goal attainment than problem-focused questions which explore and analyze the root causes of problems.
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Share /Diversity is a hot topic today for organizations and leaders; diversity initiatives typically focus on developing a diverse workforce and leadership team. Diversity is much more though – it is a big construct, and its concepts
are grounded in science - supported by a variety of leadership theories and research studies.This month’s Coaching Report focuses on Diversity in Coaching and features a scholarly article on diversity in leadership. Let’s take a closer look at the article, titled: Diversity as an aspect of effective leadership: integrating and moving forward.
The authors, George Gotsis and Katerina Grimani in Greece, organized the article in two parts – diversity leadership and inclusion leadership. Diversity leadership focuses mainly on optimizing outcomes while inclusion leadership focuses on optimizing individual and collective well-being.
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Share /This month the Institute of Coaching featured a literature meta-analysis and a scientific webinar by Siegfried Greif on the theory and application of "implementation intentions.” Before we discuss the theory and the meta-analysis, let’s consider the nature of “intention.”
The wisdom of the inadequacy of intentions goes back a long way — the proverb: the road to hell is paved with good intentions — dates back to France in 1150. Philosophers have turned the study of intention into a broad conversation of a complex construct. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entry on Intention, updated in 2018, explains that intention comes in three guises:
- Intention for future — I intend to write this article to add to my writing contributions on coaching and change
- Intention with which I act (the why) — My intention for this article is to help myself and others be more discerning and impactful when discussing intention
- Intentional action — I am intentionally writing this article (in a conscious manner) to get readers thinking
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Share /Our featured research article in the Journal of Positive Psychology (IOC members have journal access) comes to us from a team of authors in Pakistan. Bottom line? Their study validated a novel hypothesis: Humble leaders provide positive signals that lead to perceptions of a spiritual workplace which leads to ethical behaviors and positive emotions (empathy and gratitude) at work.
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Share /Today’s Feature is a Book: The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About The Good Life by Michael Puett, Christine Gross-Loh (2016)
Enjoy the article below and this slideshare overview.
Harvard professor of Chinese History, Michael Puett, has taught thousands of students about the Chinese philosophies that emerged 2,500 years ago and spawned immense progress in Chinese infrastructure that enabled trade and prosperity (institutions, roads, laws, etc.). In good time, Europe learned from the Chinese and followed suit. With Christine Gross-Loh, an author who earned a Harvard PhD in East Asian history, we get a succinct translation and thoughtful ways to apply unconventional ideas.
These philosophies grew out of an era that had similarities to life today — huge and growing crises, reduced social mobility, people feeling unfulfilled and stuck, and reduced optimism. Then as now there was a sense that human society has lost its way and needs new approaches. Let’s explore five themes brought to us by Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Xunzi.
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Share /Today we feature: Servant Leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. (2019) Eva, Robin, Sendjaya, van Dierendock, Liden. Leadership Quarterly.
In February 2019, Leadership Quarterly published a systematic review of the literature on servant leadership from 1998 to 2018. The authors reviewed conceptual definitions, measurement tools, outcomes, and conditions that support or deter servant leadership. More than 200 studies were reviewed, 100 arriving in the past four years. This wonderful, well-written review, which we quote liberally here, helps coaches address important questions:
- What is servant leadership?
- How does servant leadership compare to transformational leadership?
- What is the best measure of servant leadership?
- What personality types are most suited to servant leadership?
- What are the benefits of servant leaders?
- What are the costs to servant leaders?
- What does it take to develop servant leaders?
- What are takeaways for coaches?
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Share /This is an important question for 160+ million people in the US, and multiples of that number globally, who have a health risk or chronic condition that can be improved by health-giving habits of mind and body.
It’s also an important question for doctors and healthcare providers, leaders, employers, healthcare systems, health plans, governments, and of course coaches, who are dedicated to improving individual and population health.
It’s an even more important question today because health is declining in the US and globally, mostly caused by unhealthy habits. More than 95% of adults don’t engage in all of the top cardiovascular health habits, 60% of adults have at least one chronic disease, one third of adults and 20% of children are obese, and 114 million adults (46%) have diabetes or pre-diabetes, which can be described as a food-borne disease.
From the Aspen Health Strategy Group earlier this year: The cost of unhealthy lifestyles in the US will add up to $42 trillion between 2016 and 2030 in healthcare costs and lost productivity to employers.
Today’s featured article summarizes a brand new (May, 2019) review of the literature on health and wellness coaching (HWC).
Sforzo, Kaye, Harenberg, Costello, Cobus-Kuo, Rauff, Edman, Frates, Moore. (2019). Compendium of Health and Wellness Coaching: 2019 Addendum. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1559827619850489
Videos
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Share /The best organizations can rarely survive a poor manager's reluctant efforts to lead them, and even the most average organizations can be made great by a good manager. In this new HBS case on “Coaching Makena Lane,” we look at the role of coaching in developing effective managers.
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Share /There is a lot of evidence that poorly designed work environments can be stressful and socially toxic, leading to negative outcomes for both the organization and the people who work there. Fixing this problem requires as much attention to improving the job conditions, as it does to strengthening individuals. Several strategies can be used to achieve a better fit between the person and the job, leading to an enhancement of engagement and well-being, and the reduction of the risk of burnout.