Leadership Coaching as a Development Tool: A Mixed Method Study

Managing Research 1
Managing Research
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Managing Research 2
Question One
Evaluation of Literature review
The study aims at assessing leadership coaching as a leadership development tool with
reference to leader role-efficacy and trust in subordinates. To effectively achieve this, the
authors undertake an in-depth analysis of extant literature in six main areas namely leadership
coaching, describing research constructs through focus group dialogue, leader role efficacy,
trust in subordinates, subordinate results and coach behavior. Based on the foregoing
analysis, five hypotheses are developed in the literature review. Hypothesis one is leader role-
efficacy will be positively influenced by leadership coaching; hypothesis two is leaders’ trust
in subordinates will be influenced by leadership coaching; hypothesis three is an increase in
the trust of a leader in his/her subordinates is linked with a (b)decrease in their turnover
objectives and (a) an increase in the psychological empowerment of the subordinates;
hypothesis four is leader role-efficacy will be positively affected by facilitative coach
behaviour; and hypothesis five is the trust in subordinates will be positively affected by
facilitative coach behaviour.
Leadership coaching is defined as an official face to face association that encompasses
counseling and work associated matters with the objective of enhancing the effectiveness of
leadership (Ladegard and Gjerde, 2014). The scope of leadership coaching includes senior
management but it is executive coaching that is commonly used and it deals with a number of
issues such as mental health, depression, and stress (Grant et al., 2009). Leadership coaching
is exceptional because it addresses the specific needs of the leaders and their organizations
(Ely et al., 2010). The study used an explorative method in defining variables through focus
group to ascertain the findings criteria that could be enhanced further with the help of
relevant theory. Seven coaches were invited into the study but five of them got engaged in the

Managing Research 3
discussion. Focus group was preferred because it is important for an inclusive clarification of
notions, thoughts, and insights that are complex to understand (Smith and Osborn, 2008). All
the coaches consented that goals change in the process of coaching. Leader role-efficacy was
coined by Albert Bandura (Schwarzer, 2014) and it relates to one’s confidence regarding
his/her abilities to influence others. Leader Self-efficacy (LSE) and leader role-efficacy
(LRE) have both been linked to the domain of leadership. Hypothesis one has been developed
from trust in subordinates, hypothesis two has been developed from subordinate outcomes,
whereas all the remaining hypotheses are built on coach behavior.
Question Two
Characteristics of Mixed Design Approach
A mixed research method is the integration of both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of
one research (Castro et al., 2010: Creswell and Clark, 2017).
Methods – a mixed method design considers the similarity or variation of qualitative and
quantitative methods are to each other with regard to the form, conventions, strengths, and
restrictions.
Phenomena – a mixed method design is based on whether or not the quantitative and
qualitative approaches will explore or assess similar or varying phenomena.
Study (categorical) - a mixed method design will depend on whether it is single or multiple
studies.
The timing of implementation – a mixed method design will depend on the degree to which
the qualitative and quantitative approaches are carried out either consecutively or
concurrently.