Executive Coaching Effectiveness and the Adaptive Executive Leadership Framework: A Quantitative Correlational Study of Developmental Readiness, Emotional Intelligence, and Change Leadership Among Senior Executives

S Norris 2026

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between perceived executive coaching effectiveness and three leadership development outcomes, Developmental Readiness, Emotional Intelligence, and Change Leadership, among senior executives in a large professional consulting firm in the United States. Guided by the Adaptive Executive Leadership Framework (AELF), the study addressed the primary research question examining the relationship between perceived executive coaching effectiveness and the three leadership development outcomes. The study employed a quantitative correlational design using a de-identified secondary dataset of post-coaching evaluation responses from 188 senior executives who completed executive coaching. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, Pearson product-moment correlation, and Spearman rank-order correlation analyses. Results identified statistically significant, large positive relationships between perceived executive coaching effectiveness and Developmental Readiness (r = .550, p < .001), Emotional Intelligence (r = .680, p < .001), and Change Leadership (r = .641, p < .001). Spearman analyses produced comparable results, and all three null hypotheses were rejected. The findings provide initial empirical support for the Adaptive Executive Leadership Framework, address an identified gap in the executive coaching literature, and provide practitioners with an empirically grounded framework for evaluating coaching effectiveness across leadership domains.