scholarly journals Positive psychology leadership coaching experiences in a financial organisation

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans Cilliers
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Sense Of Coherence ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Learned Resourcefulness ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Leadership Coaching ◽  
Financial Organisation

Orientation: Organisations are practising leadership coaching more and more from a positive psychology perspective, yielding positive results. The current qualitative research focused on this coaching using work engagement, learned resourcefulness, sense of coherence, selfactualisationand locus of control as constructs. Although the researcher could find no previous research on this combination of constructs, the findings did link to previous studies with other constructs and combinations.Research purpose: The purpose of this research was to describe the positive psychology leadership coaching experiences of leaders in a large financial organisation. Motivation for the study: The researcher addressed the organisation’s need to develop leadership by structuring and presenting a coaching programme. He chose positive psychology as the paradigm and experiential learning as the method to meet the organisation’s goal of enabling its leaders to take up their roles with self-awareness, internal motivation and effective interpersonal connections.Research design, approach and method: The researcher used a qualitative and descriptive research design with a case study. Leaders attended ten experiential leadership-coaching sessions over three months. The sessions focused on work engagement, learned resourcefulness, sense of coherence, self-actualisation values and locus of control. The data gathering consisted of the coach’s field notes and the participants’ reflective essays, which they wrote after the last coaching session. The researcher analysed the data using discourse analysis.Main findings: The manifesting themes were the coaching context, engagement in roles, understanding role complexity, emotional self-awareness and demands, self-authorisation and inability to facilitate the growth of others.Contribution/value-add: Although intrapersonal awareness increased significantly, leaders struggled with the interpersonal complexity of the leadership role. Positive psychology leadership coaching should refine the operationalisation of interpersonal effectiveness.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should integrate the methodology of leadership coaching with leadership development interventions to expose leaders to better intrapersonal awareness and functioning.

scholarly journals The experienced impact of systems psychodynamic leadership coaching amongst professionals in a financial services organisation

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans Cilliers
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Leadership Coaching ◽  
Leadership Identity ◽  
Leadership Behaviour ◽  
Psychology Perspective ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Level Of Understanding

Background: Systems psychodynamic leadership coaching is a depth psychology perspective that provides opportunities for coachees to explore their leadership identity as it manifests in their conscious and unconscious role behaviour.Aim: The research aim was to explore the experienced impact of systems psychodynamic leadership coaching amongst professionals in a financial services organisation, and to report on how this impact can be understood in the context of the literature guidelines on coaching and leadership effectiveness.Setting: The research was undertaken in a large South African financial services organisation where individual leadership coaching forms part of the leadership development programme (LDP).Methods: The research was qualitative, explorative and descriptive in nature. A multi-case approach was used. Sampling was convenient and opportunistic and comprised of 15 charted accountants who attended six 90-min coaching sessions over 12 weeks. Data gathering comprised field notes and coachee essays during and after coaching. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used as the interpretive stance.Results: Anxiety, task, role, boundaries, authorisation and identity manifested as themes. Coachees explored how their leadership identity was informed by their anxiety and defence mechanisms, how they took up their leadership role, authorised themselves and their colleagues, and managed their boundaries effectively. Compared to the general guidelines for leadership coaching effectiveness and the general indicators for effective leadership, systems psychodynamic leadership coaching seems to add value to leadership effectiveness.Conclusion: Professionals in this financial services organisation experienced systems psychodynamic leadership coaching as demanding, challenging and yet fulfilling towards the exploration of their leadership identity. It seems that systems psychodynamics, as coaching stance, created a safe and good-enough container for these financial professionals to explore their own unconscious leadership behaviour and to gain a significant level of understanding and awareness of their own anxiety and defensive behaviours in their interaction with followers.

Authentic leadership development: scrutiny of an apparent paradox

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
António Calheiros
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
True Self ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Positive Behaviors ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
Authentic Leadership Development

Leadership has long been a topic of interest for both academics (Hiller, DeChurch, Murase, & Doty, 2011; Sanders & Davey, 2011) and practitioners (Bennis, 2007; George, 2003). Academics have tried to understand the concept and identify its consequences and determinants. Practitioners have focused their efforts in its training and development hoping to reap its promised benefits. Over the last decade, authentic leadership has emerged as the fashionable leadership theory. More than just promising impacts on performance and subordinates’ work satisfaction, authentic leadership addresses management’s long term demand for and ethic and moral commitment (Ghoshal, 2005; Rosenthal et al., 2007). Authentic leadership is “a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development” (Luthans and Avolio, 2003). The components of authentic leadership’s self-regulated authentic positive behaviours are balanced (non-prejudice) processing, relational orientation and internalized moral perspetive. One key point of authentic leadership is the authenticity of leaders, which can be defined as “knowing, accepting, and remaining true to one’s self” (Avolio et al., 2004). Recent research (Ford & Harding, 2011) have argued that this demand for one’s true self privileges a collective (organizational) self over an individual self and thereby hampers subjectivity to both leaders and followers, and could lead to destructive dynamics within organizations. This paper discusses the seeming paradox of developing authenticity in leaders, (namely addressing the issues raised by Ford & Harding) and clarifies the aim of authentic leadership development. It also assesses the suitability of traditional leadership development methodologies in meeting the challenges posed by a process-based approach to leadership with a focus on individual and social identification.

scholarly journals Medical Student Leadership Development through a Business School Partnership Model: A Case Study and Implementation Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 238212052110104
Author(s):  
Timothy P Daaleman ◽  
Mindy Storrie ◽  
Gary Beck Dallaghan ◽  
Sarah Smithson ◽  
Kurt O Gilliland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Business School ◽  
Medical Curriculum ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Program Outcomes

Background: There is an ongoing call for leadership development in academic health care and medical students desire more training in this area. Although many schools offer combined MD/MBA programs or leadership training in targeted areas, these programs do not often align with medical school leadership competencies and are limited in reaching a large number of students. Methods: The Leadership Initiative (LI) was a program created by a partnership between a School of Medicine (SOM) and Business School with a learning model that emphasized the progression from principles to practice, and the competencies of self-awareness, communication, and collaboration/teamwork. Through offerings across a medical school curriculum, the LI introduced leadership principles and provided an opportunity to apply them in an interactive activity or simulation. We utilized the existing SOM evaluation platform to collect data on program outcomes that included satisfaction, fidelity to the learning model, and impact. Results: From 2017 to 2020, over 70% of first-year medical students participated in LI course offerings while a smaller percentage of fourth-year students engaged in the curriculum. Most students had no prior awareness of LI course material and were equivocal about their ability to apply lessons learned to their medical school experience. Students reported that the LI offerings provided opportunities to practice the skills and competencies of self-awareness, communication, and collaboration/teamwork. Discussion: Adding new activities to an already crowded medical curriculum was the greatest logistical challenge. The LI was successful in introducing leadership principles but faced obstacles in having participants apply and practice these principles. Most students reported that the LI offerings were aligned with the foundational competencies.

Toward a Pedagogy of Self

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (12) ◽  
pp. 2732-2759
Author(s):  
Craig E. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Teachers College ◽  
Innovative Leadership ◽  
Core Skill ◽  
Journal Entries

Background/Context The literature on emotional and social intelligence, based on the theoretical constructs of several authors, identifies self-awareness as a core skill for leadership development. However, there is very little research or theory on how one might develop a pedagogy of self-awareness for leaders. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study describes an innovative leadership development program in self-awareness in the Summer Principals Academy at Teachers College. It describes both the theoretical and practical pedagogy of self-awareness training. What follows is a description of that pedagogy and some preliminary research results based on the journals and feedback of 45 students who completed the program in 2006. Intervention/Program/Practice The intervention consisted of daily 45-minute sessions of training in sensory awareness. The primary modes of training focused on breath, body sensations, listening, and visualizations. The training occurred as part of a five-day-per-week, six-week intensive leadership development master's degree program over two summers. Research Design Participants recorded their thoughts and feelings in semistructured journal entries immediately following the training sessions. At the end of each week, they reviewed their journal notes and wrote a weekly reflection on their experiences with the practice. In addition to the weekly reflections, they wrote three-week, six-week, and summative reflections on their experiences with the practice. These qualitative data were entered into NVivo software, coded, and analyzed for themes. Findings/Results The themes that emerged from the data led to the development of cognitive maps for practitioners that provide heuristics and developmental guides for practice, as well as refinements of the training protocols.

Exploring protective factors through positive psychology and salutogenesis in Danish families with type 2 diabetes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Meldgaard ◽  
Louise Norman Jespersen ◽  
Tue Helms Andersen ◽  
Dan Grabowski
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Sense Of Coherence ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Diabetes Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Analytical Framework

Summary People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) live with several challenges, which may enhance the risk of poor mental and physical health. However, despite living with a chronic illness, some individuals manage to achieve a life with positivity and well-being. The objective of this study is to explore the potential of Positive Psychology and Salutogenesis when analyzing how families with one or more members with T2D experience having resources leading to thriving. Data consist of 18 semi-structured family interviews with 38 participants. Data were analyzed using systematic text condensation with the concepts of sense of coherence and upward/downward spirals as the analytical framework. The analysis revealed three overall findings: (i) T2D is perceived as manageable due to general optimism despite living with a chronic illness; (ii) establishing supportive social relations means having the opportunity to share the burden of diabetes; and (iii) achieving an open dialogue and communicating the difficulties of diabetes without straining surroundings with negative illness communication. The three overall findings may reinforce each other in an upward spiral and enhance the sense of coherence. These findings have implications for diabetes management research and our understanding of psychological health in chronic illness. The overall goal is to help people with diabetes create meaning with their illness and make use of their social environment through dialogue and communication in order to increase positivity, optimism and mental health.

(Dis)Ableing Notions of Authentic Leadership Through the Lens of Critical Disability Theory

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Procknow ◽  
Tonette S. Rocco ◽  
Sunny L. Munn
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
The Disabled

The Problem Persons with disabilities (PWD) are regarded as “the Other” and are sequestered from “normative” society because of their “Otherness.” “Othering” results in discrimination and the systemic preclusion of PWD. Ableism is the belief that being without a disability, impairment, or chronic illness is the norm. The notion that people without disabilities are the norm and are inherently superior is accepted without critique by those that advocate for authentic leadership. This privileges ableism and furthers the “Othering” of PWD within a leadership style intended to promote self-awareness, beliefs and ethics, and interpersonal relationships. The Solution The disabled experience and differently abled voice must be restored through relationally “being” with others and authentic dialogue. What is needed is a shift from the deficit model of authentic leadership to a social paradigm of authentic leadership, welcoming of bodily and psychic difference. This will better enable both leaders and employees to craft an authentic profile in the workplace. The Stakeholders Leaders and those who seek to become leaders following an authentic leadership approach can benefit from a better understanding of how their ingrained belief systems impact those that they lead who are both “able-bodied” and “disabled.” Human resource development (HRD) practitioners and leadership development practitioners can use this information to deconstruct and reconstruct leadership development opportunities to be inclusive as an authentic leader.

Relationship between sense of coherence, health and work engagement among nurses

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1620-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carmen Malagon‐Aguilera ◽  
Rosa Suñer‐Soler ◽  
Anna Bonmatí‐Tomas ◽  
Cristina Bosch‐Farré ◽  
Sandra Gelabert‐Vilella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Work Engagement ◽  
Sense Of Coherence

A small initiative in the journey of making leaders with the help of authentic leadership model

Kybernetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 1956-1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Archana Shrivastava
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Mind Maps

Purpose This research study uses authentic leadership (AL) model for leadership development. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the developmental perspective where the attention is on the processes. As the authenticity involves both owing one’s personal experiences and acting in accordance with one’s true self, the emphasis is on self-awareness and self-regulation. The influence of the person’s personal history and trigger events are considered as significant antecedents for generating AL. As the research was facilitated by the participation and collaboration of the number of individuals with the researcher for common purpose, i.e. developing AL, action research methodology is adopted. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used was based on the self-assessment exercises in the controlled environment. The programme used intensive counselling sessions, Neuro Linguistics programming (NLP), career autobiographies, mind maps, workshops and storytelling sessions as tools. Certified counsellors and trainers were out-sourced for conducting such sessions. With the information generated through various sources, detailed career autobiographies of students’ self-image were generated. These reports were then critically analysed on “Nvivo”, a software that supports qualitative and mixed research methods. Comprehensive data analysis was done to pull the information together and make sense of it. The development process model of AL began with how individuals interpret their accumulated life experiences with the “Who I am?” approach. NLP was used as a research instrument which involved question-based discussions, value elicitation exercise and “Anchoring and Mentor table”. The results that came after the exercises were reported by the students in a one-page autobiography. Findings The students learnt to live by their inner compass. They were finally able to relate themselves and their identity with their beliefs, thereby, understanding the term, “Who Am I”; the intentions closely related with the components of AL. Students realized that each one of them was unique. What lied beneath were exposed and the students were more at ease once they realized that they were able to balance these emotions and use them towards behaving congruently. The research concluded that doing such kind of exercises along with the main stream subjects is definitely going to help students emerge as a better person, employee and an authentic leader in the future. Practical implications The approach helped students become self-aware and self-confident and therefore enhanced their capacity to adapt positively to social set ups personally and professionally. The results suggest that such leadership development programmes along with the main stream subjects can foster AL giving students new abilities and embodied skills to deal with the practical challenges of life in a more effective manner. Originality/value This research study supports new emerging strategy of educating managers to become effective leaders and demonstrate that the development of AL can be fostered by such interventions during their journey of becoming leaders. Further, researches on whether AL can be developed through planned interventions can be certified through longitudinal studies in this area.

scholarly journals Reflection on success and failures: scale development and validation

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 615-626
Author(s):  
Makoto Matsuo
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strengths Use ◽  
Wide Range

Purpose Although positive psychology emphasizes the importance of reflecting on success in promoting strengths use and self-efficacy, no research has developed a measure of reflection on success. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the scales for reflection on success and failures. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 was conducted to extract the dimensions of reflection on success and failures using survey data from nurses (n = 298), whereas Study 2 involved validation of the scales using a two-wave survey of physical therapists (n = 291). Findings In Study 1, the factors of “reflection on success” and “reflection on failures” were extracted by exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2, the discriminant validity of the two scales was established via confirmatory factor analyses. The structural equation modeling results indicated that reflection on success promoted work authenticity, work engagement and strengths use, while reflection on failures only promoted work engagement, indicating the convergent validity of the scales. Research limitations/implications As the research subjects were medical professionals in Japan, the scales need to be validated with samples from a wide range of occupations and cultural backgrounds, in future research. Originality/value The present research expands the literature on reflection and strengths-based approach by introducing the “success–failures” dimension based on positive psychology, broaden-and-build theory and job demands–resources theory.

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