Is it possible for managers to coach effectively in a hostile culture?

S Smith International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 2018

This paper proposes that it is possible for a manager to effectively coach their team, regardless of the culture that they are operating within. The piece of qualitative research uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to provide insight into how a group of managers make sense of their experience of managerial coaching (Smith, Flowers and Larkin, 2009), with data gathered from six purposely selected face-to-face interviews and the results delivered through thematic analysis (Langdridge, 2007). The findings demonstrate that when managers adopt coaching in a toxic culture, they overcome the surrounding negative forces by creating a sub-culture that is supportive to their coaching. A micro-bubble that protects their team from the wider environment. An unfriendly culture can have a secondary effect and become a motivator that reinforces a manager’s determination to follow a coaching approach.