What are the experiences of external executive coaches working with coachees’ assigned goals?

K Cowan International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 2013

The notion of goals as central to the coaching process is reflected in practice literature, popular coaching models and research, with an emphasis placed on the effectiveness of coachee-led goalsetting. In executive coaching however, the organisation may assign goals to determine outcomes for both business and individual. How this dynamic impacts on the external executive coach's experience was explored in a study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a qualitative method involving in-depth interviews. This article explains the methodological and analytic approaches, and describes the key findings, including the significance of coaches’ beliefs about goals, and the complex nature of multi-stakeholder contracting.