Workplace coaching: a meta-analysis and recommendations for advancing the science of coaching

Workplace coaching has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity over the past decade and is one of the fastest growing performance-enhancing interventions used by modern organizations. Yet, despite its popularity, workplace coaching has not been the subject of much empirical research and a true science of coaching has yet to be developed. The purpose of this research was to update prior meta-analyzes that investigated the impact of coaching on organizational outcomes and to provide recommendations for how the field needs to evolve. Results indicated that, consistent with prior meta-analyzes, workplace coaching is effective in achieving positive organizational outcomes. The effects of several moderators were also investigated. Finally, we discuss the results in terms of recommendations for future directions that we believe will establish and advance the science of coaching.

Effects of coach extraversion and educational environment on transformational leadership and athlete outcomes: A moderated mediation model

The importance of coach leadership to athlete development and performance has been identified in the literature. We respond to the call to investigate antecedents of coach transformational leadership and their indirect effects on athlete outcomes. We propose that coach extraversion as an antecedent of coach transformational leadership can indirectly impact follower cohesion and satisfaction. Building on this mediation model, we assert that educational environment (i.e., high school and university) may serve as a first-stage moderator between coach extraversion and transformational leadership. We used 48 coaches and their 570 athletes from competitive high school and university basketball teams to test this moderated mediation model. Our results indicate that coach extraversion indirectly impacts athlete cohesion and satisfaction via transformational leadership. Moreover, the indirect effects of coach extraversion on athlete outcomes via coach transformational leadership is conditionally significant only when coaches and athletes are in universities but not in high schools. Our findings highlight the importance of educational environment in determining the association between coach personality and leadership perception. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Improving collegiate student-athletes' well-being: exploring the roles of openness to experience, knowledge sharing and perceived coaching effectiveness

Introduction

Collegiate student-athletes often encounter various stressors stemming from academic study and athletic training, which can potentially have negative effects on their well-being. This study investigates how collegiate student-athletes' openness to experience and their engagement in knowledge sharing influence their well-being, as well as the moderating role of perceived coaching effectiveness.

Methods

To examine these relationships, we propose and test a conceptual framework using an online survey conducted among collegiate student-athletes from a southeastern province of China. The participants consisted of 484 collegiate student-athletes who voluntarily participated in the study. We used regression analysis and mediation analysis to test the proposed relationships among the variables.

Results

Openness to experience has a positive impact on knowledge sharing (β = 0.552, p < 0.05); knowledge sharing with peers positively affects collegiate student-athlete well-being (β = 0.415, p < 0.05) and mediates the relationship between openness to experience and collegiate student-athlete well-being (β = 0.086, p < 0.05). Perceived coaching effectiveness positively moderates the relationship between openness to experience and knowledge sharing (β = 0.170, p < 0.05).

Discussion

Our study contributes to the collegiate student-athlete literature by shedding light on the factors that influence their well-being, with insights that bear important managerial implications for universities and coaches.

The effects of executive coaching on behaviors, attitudes, and personal characteristics: a meta-analysis of randomized control trial studies

Background

A growing number of studies emphasize executive coaching as an effective developmental tool that managers can use to increase their performance in organizational settings. However, the coaching research suggests a large variety of processes and outcomes, lacking clarity on the primary psychological dimensions most impacted.

Method

Reviewing 20 studies with a rigorous methodological design that used control trials and pre-post tests, we evaluated and compared the relative effects of coaching on different types and sub-types of outcomes by means of a classification of coaching outcomes based on previously used taxonomies.

Results

The results indicate that the impact of coaching on behavioral outcomes was higher compared to attitudes and person characteristics outcomes, suggesting that behavioral coaching outcomes, especially cognitive behavioral activities, are the most impacted by executive coaching. Moreover, we found significant positive effects for some specific outcomes, such as self-efficacy, psychological capital, and resilience, indicating that executive coaching is effective in producing change even on dimensions considered relatively stable over time. The results show no moderation effects of the number of sessions. The length of the coaching program was a significant moderator only for the attitudes outcomes.

Discussion

These findings provide evidence that executive coaching is a powerful instrument for organizations to support positive change and personal development.

Sports Coaches' Knowledge and Beliefs About the Provision, Reception, and Evaluation of Verbal Feedback

Coach observation studies conducted since the 1970s have sought to determine the quantity and quality of verbal feedback provided by coaches to their athletes. Relatively few studies, however, have sought to determine the knowledge and beliefs of coaches that underpin this provision of feedback. The purpose of the current study was to identify the beliefs and knowledge that elite team sport coaches hold about providing, receiving and evaluating feedback in their training and competition environments. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 8 coaches were inductively analyzed, revealing three broad themes: thinking and learning about feedback, providing feedback, and evaluating feedback. Findings revealed a detailed array of knowledge about feedback across a wide range of sub-topics. Coaches saw feedback as a tool to improve performance, build athlete confidence, help athletes to monitor progress, and as a tool to improve their own performance. Novel insights about evaluating an athlete's reception of feedback, and tailoring feedback for individual athletes, were provided by coaches. The findings also highlight areas in which future coach education offerings can better support coaches to provide effective feedback.

Influence of Perceived Physical Literacy on Coaching Efficacy and Leadership Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study

The concept of physical literacy has evolved to work as a guiding ideology in physical education, physical activity and heath, while little is known for coaching context. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of perceived physical literacy (PPL) in predicting coaching efficacy and leadership behavior from the perceptions of student-athletes in Hong Kong secondary schools. A total of 352 (200 boys, 152 girls) student-athletes (14.78 ± 1.73 years old) participated in this study. Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument (PPLI) for adolescents, Coaching Efficacy Scale (CES) and Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) for student-athletes were adopted to assess the student-athletes' self-reported PL, perceptions of coaching efficacy and leadership behavior, respectively. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that student-athletes' knowledge and understanding of physical literacy significantly predicted all the dimensions of coaching efficacy (18%-23%, p<0.01) and leadership behavior (15%-27%, p < 0.05) except for autocratic behavior after controlling for the effects of demographic variables (such as age, gender, and training experience). The PPL attribute of Sense of Self and Self-confidence also demonstrated significant predictions with coaching efficacy (17%-19%, p < 0.01), while the PPL attribute of Self-expression and Communication with others only significantly predicted social support behavior (14%, p < 0.05). Path analysis showed PPL of student-athletes has significant predictions to their perceptions of coaches' leadership and this relationship was partially mediated by their perceptions of coaching efficacy (β = 0.57). Discussion highlights that this study is the first empirical study to explore PPL in the coaching context and its strength in predicting coaching effectiveness. The study provides a new perspective for coaching education programs or coach-oriented interventions by emphasizing the concept of physical literacy.

Coaching Competency and (Exploratory) Structural Equation Modeling: A Substantive-Methodological Synergy

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this manuscript was to provide a substantive-methodological synergy of potential importance to future research in the psychology of sport and exercise.

DESIGN

The substantive focus was the emerging role for, and particularly the measurement of, athletes' evaluations of their coach's competency within conceptual models of effective coaching. The methodological focus was exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), a methodology that integrates the advantages of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) within the general structural equation model.

METHOD

The synergy was a demonstration of when a new and flexible methodological framework, ESEM, may be preferred as compared to a more familiar and restrictive methodological framework, CFA, by reanalyzing existing data.

RESULTS

ESEM analysis on extant datasets suggested that for responses to the Athletes' Perceptions of Coaching Competency Scale II - High School Teams (APCCS II-HST), a CFA model based on the relevant literature plus one post hoc modification, offered a viable alternative to a more complex ESEM model. For responses to the Coaching Competency Scale (CCS), a CFA model based on the relevant literature did not offer a viable alternative to a more complex ESEM model.

CONCLUSIONS

The ESEM framework should be strongly considered in subsequent studies validity studies - for new and/or existing instruments in the psychology of sport and exercise. A key consideration for deciding between ESEM and the accompanying rotation criterion and CFA in future validity studies should be level of a priori measurement theory.