Coaching for the systemic development of leadership in organisations

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate and explore a coaching intervention in an organisation that received and implemented systemic coaching for the systemic development of leadership. Although dyadic coaching is widely used by individual leaders in organisations, its impact in enhancing the wider development of systemic leadership is limited. This limitation is largely compounded by the narrow appreciation of the loci of leadership and how leadership is conceptualised, perceived and discharged in organisations. The reductionist approach to leadership development has led to many organisational resources being reserved, directed and used exclusively for the development of the select few. The difference between leader and leadership development is discussed in literature. Leader development refers to the development of an individual leader for his/her personal developmental interests. This individualistic development often occurs outside the context of that leader’s peers, team and organisation. Leadership development refers to a collective development of leaders with the primary purpose of becoming a unified coherent force for the success and sustainability of the organisation Thus, leader development is preoccupied with the improvement of a leader, whereas, leadership development is preoccupied with building collective capabilities. It is a result of the current inadequate and reductionist view of leadership development in organisations that the study seeks to suggest a systemic approach to coaching for the systemic development of leadership in organisations. A qualitative approach was employed as a research methodology, to evaluate systemic coaching implementation in depth. An interview discussion guide was used to engage respondents. Eighteen respondents were invited to participate in the study. The researcher ensured hierarchical representivity, from CEO to general workers, given the interest in the systemic nature of the coaching experienced. This was also to ensure that the study sample was representative of respondents who participated in both dyadic and systemic coaching received at NAC. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and uploaded into Atlas ti.7 software for analysis. Regarding systemic coaching, the findings showed that systemic coaching is more adequate in the systemic development of leadership rather than dyadic coaching. Systemic coaching was found to promote a collective and inclusive development of leadership and focused with optimising performance for the entire organisation rather than just individuals. Systemic coaching benefits were identified as key in enhancing leadership capabilities, in fostering innovation and in transforming organisational cultures. Eighteen areas were identified where systemic coaching can potentially make a difference in organisations. Some of those areas include, employee retention, organisational alignment and innovation. Seven critical factors to be considered when implementing systemic coaching were identified, chief among those being organisational culture and client readiness. Finally, though systemic coaching serves as no panacea to organisational challenges, it was found to be an appropriate tool for systemic leadership development. Hence it is proposed as a method to complement the dyadic coaching approach.