Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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    The perceptions of South African executive coaches on the role of cultural intelligence in cross-cultural executive coaching
    (2021) Matambo, Chipo
    The South African environment is markedly diverse and multicultural in character. Cultural Intelligence is a capability that allows an individual to function effectively across cultures in multicultural societies. More and more South African organisations are turning to executive coaching as a strategy to boost their leadership capabilities. This study explored South African executive coaches’ understanding of Cultural Intelligence and their experiences of the concept in cross-cultural executive coaching in the South African context. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected black and white executive coaches to gain in-depth insights on executive coaches’ understanding of Cultural Intelligence in cross-cultural coaching and how executive coaches in South Africa are using Cultural Intelligence to navigate cultural differences between themselves and coachees. Data generated from the interviews was transcribed, thematically analysed and seven themes emerged. Research findings demonstrated that South African executive coaches understand the anatomy of Cultural Intelligence in coaching to be made up of four constructs: coach’s cultural awareness, coach’s intercultural knowledge, coach’s curiosity, interest and openness to learning other cultures and coach’s appropriate behaviour. South African executive coaches are using these four constructs when engaging with coachees from other cultures to themselves. Research findings also revealed that the coach’s Cultural Intelligence enhances coaching efficacy in cross-cultural coaching as a result of three attributes: Coach’s willingness to challenge own assumptions and worldview, coach’s awareness of coachee’s norms and values and the coach heeding culture as an enabler to connect effectively with the coachee. Racial diversity in South African organisations presents a unique opportunity for executive coaches with high Cultural Intelligence to coach more effectively in cross-cultural coaching engagements and positively contribute to the on-going transformation process in the South African workplace
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    Coaching as an enabler for South African executives to unlock added value from demographically diverse teams
    (2020) Roberts, Patricia
    This research explores the potential for coaching to enable leaders in South African companies to extract added value from demographic diversity in their teams. The research contributes to an understanding of how coaching can enable South African business leaders to overcome any personal inhibitions they may have related to people from other demographic groups and to shift their thinking beyond the tolerance of diversity to a point at which there is active engagement in pursuit of the added value that demographic diversity can bring. The action research process included seventeen interviews with participants who volunteered to be part of the research coaching. They consisted of two teams in two companies – eight people in one company and nine in another. The participants were demographically diverse leaders of demographically and culturally diverse teams. They all operated in demographically diverse situations, both related to upward and downward reporting lines. The research coaching consisted of six, monthly, three-hour group coaching sessions for each of the two teams and monthly individual coaching sessions for each participant for six months. The action coaching thus took six months (138 hours of action research, excluding pre- and post-coaching interviews) to complete. Participants were interviewed at the start and end of the coaching process about how coaching had impacted their ability to extract value from demographic diversity in teams. Their responses were analysed against the key questions the research aimed to answer. The participants shifted from tending to operate in business as though all people are the same, to acknowledging and honouring difference as a potential value addition to every thinking process. The research outcomes show the potential for South African businesses to operate in a way that encourages the active extraction of value from demographic diversity. It offers recommendations to address this in a way that enables companies to take advantage of the richness of diversity present in South Africa.