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Traditional clinical psychological practices have often been adapted for the context of executive coaching. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in particular is the most scientifically supported psychological modality. CBT like other practices has been used in coaching as cognitive behavioral coaching but rarely discussed more explicitly for the executive population. Here, we offer a specific adaptation – cognitive behavioral executive coaching (CBEC) – and suggest that it presents a flexible structure that can meet the multiple agendas that are framed for executive coaching. Additionally, the core features of CBT and CBEC in particular satisfy the major needs of executives in coaching arrangements. We conclude by demonstrating a CBEC process model for coaching the high-performing executive.

Purpose: To demonstrate how an online coaching intervention can support well-being management (mental health and mood) of medical students, by increasing psychological awareness, emotional management, and healthy/positive action repertoires.

Design/methodology/approach: A two-group randomized control trial design using a waitlist as a control was used with a sample of 176 medical students. Half were randomly assigned the 5P© coaching intervention and the remaining half assigned to the waitlist group, scheduled to receive the intervention after the initial treatment group completed the intervention. Participant baseline data on stress, anxiety, depression, positive and negative affect, and psychological capital were obtained prior to commencing the study, after completion of the first treatment group, and again postintervention of the waitlisted group, and then at the end of the year.

Findings: Coaching the students to reflect on their emotions and make solution-focused choices to manage known stresses of medical education was shown to decrease medical student stress, anxiety, and depression, thereby increasing the mental health profiles of medical students.

Research limitations/implications: The findings suggest that an online coaching tool that increases psychological awareness and positive action can have a positive effect on mental health and mood of medical students.

Practical implications: The framework developed and tested in this study is a useful tool for medical schools to assist medical students in managing their well-being, thereby decreasing the incidence and prevalence of mental illness in medical students. The implications of this research are significant in that positively affecting the psychological well-being of medical students could have a significant effect not only on each medical student but also on every patient that they treat, and society as a whole. Better mental health in medical students has the potential to decrease dropout rates, increase empathy and professionalism, and allow for better patient care.

Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature on online coaching for improved psychological well-being and emotional regulation, mental health, and medical students. It is one of the first studies using a coaching protocol to make a positive change to the known stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by medical students worldwide.

Organization development is focused on implementing a planned process of positive humanistic change in organizations through the use of social science theory, action research, and data-based feedback methods. The role of personality in that change process, however, has historically been ignored or relegated to a limited set of interventions. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a conceptual overview of the linkages between personality and OD, discuss the current state of personality in the field including key trends in talent management, and offer a new multi-level framework for conceptualizing applications of personality for different types of OD efforts. The chapter concludes with implications for research and practice.

During the past decade, the winds and raucous waves of positive psychology have altered the landscape and brought new life to the profession and discipline of psychology. Since Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) proffered the positive psychology manifesto at the turn of the century, an amazing plethora of books, articles, research investigations, grants, awards, and applications for improving human welfare and society at large have emerged (see Donaldson, 2011a). Sheldon, Kashdan, and Steger (2011) fully described this impressive groundswell of positive psychology activity in their recent edited volume on Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward. This rapid growth of scholarly activity has also spawned new professional societies such as the International Association of Positive Psychology (http://www.ippanetwork.org/Home/), scholarly journals including the Journal of Positive Psychology (http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17439760.asp) and Journal of Happiness Studies (http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/well-being/journal/10902), and top tier graduate programs such as the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the MA and PhD programs in Positive Organizational Psychology and Positive Developmental Psychology at Claremont Graduate University. All of these efforts share the desire to better organize and foster the continued growth and impact of positive psychology.

In the global world we live in, organizations have become progressively complex. “C” organizations have been replaced by “I” organizations, implying that we have moved from organizations permeated by a command, control, and compartmentalization orientation, to organizations distinguished by cultural signifiers such as interaction, information, and innovation. Effective teamwork will be essential to make these complex, highly diverse, increasingly virtual structures work.

Given the complexity of teamwork, this chapter discusses some of its benefits and drawbacks. Particular attention is given to possible team killers. Given the darker side of teams, a group coaching intervention technique is presented to resolve this daunting challenge. Taking this approach will help the members of a team to take control of their key team functions: setting direction, creating alignment throughout the organization, and building the commitment of everyone needed to accomplish organizational objectives.

To explore this intervention technique, the notion of the clinical paradigm is introduced, meaning using a psychodynamic-systemic lens that focuses not only on what is directly observable, but also on out-of-awareness behavior. The five premises that characterize the paradigm are described. It is suggested that applying the clinical paradigm within group coaching setting helps to tease out the central interpersonal role in which executives consciously and unconsciously cast themselves. It also helps explore the complementary roles they take on in an executive role constellation, creating tipping points for change. In addition, a number of other intervention techniques are introduced that help foster change.

Advancements in digital technology, collectively known as Industry 4.0, are profoundly changing dynamics in multiple industries. The coaching industry is impacted by this shift, as companies offering digital coaching technologies begin to take market share. To effectively serve clients in this rapidly changing market, coaches must adopt a digital mindset, upskill their capabilities, and transform their business models to leverage current and nascent technology.

Organizations are increasingly including executive coaching as part of their leadership development interventions to improve their executive leaders' abilities. Previous studies have linked outstanding leader performance to an intentionally developed relational climate. Therefore, the relational climate crafted between the coach and executive leader is critically important to create shared purpose, experience compassion, energize interactions, impact performance, and realize a quality, effective executive coaching engagement.

This is the first study to explore relational climate as a driver of coaching relationship quality. My empirical findings reflect that relational climate has a significant, positive impact on coaching relationship quality, which in turn contributes to an executive leader's effectiveness. The three goals of this study are: (1) to understand the factors that contribute to crafting a quality and effective coaching relationship; (2) to address scholarly gaps in past research regarding the relationship between a coach and client; and (3) to provide clarity for coaches how to better address, leverage, and realize an executive coaching relational climate within the context of Industry 4.0. Those crafting effective and quality coaching relationships should ensure that there is shared vision between the coach and client, that both parties demonstrate compassion, and that the coach and client each infuse the relationship with positive energy and vitality to create relational energy.

This chapter explores the international field of leadership coaching from a sociological perspective. The fundamental features of the leadership coaching industry are outlined using primary data collected from in-depth interviews with leadership coaches, ethnographic observation of coach-training workshops, and secondary data analysis of global coaching surveys. Leadership coaching is defined and contextualized within the field of leadership studies as well as within the broader international coaching industry. The issue of certification is examined along with an overview of the global demographics of who is involved in leadership coaching as practitioners and clients. The goal is to explicate how and why leadership coaching has emerged as a professional field and to offer insight into how leaders around the world are being trained and developed for various leadership roles in their communities.

Despite the rapid growth of executive coaching in the business world and nascent interest in education, there is no solid research base around how coaching impacts leadership. Following the development of analytical case studies of coach and school leader dyads, we use causal process analysis to trace the complex pathways in which coaches impact leader development. In this process, we attempt to move beyond lists of traits and activities of effective coaching practice to develop a theoretical framework layered with thick description of leadership coaching situated within the context of a high poverty mid-sized urban school district. Findings include insights into the structures and practices that promote strong trusting relationships between the coach and coachee, how this relationship is central to deepening the impact of the coach’s work, and how co-leading provides the means of both modeling and guiding leaders toward personal and school improvement.

In this chapter, we offer a definition of a particular type of coaching, one focused on achieving sustained, desired change in the individual being coached. We also discuss a theory of intentional change, which we suggest explains why coaching in this manner indeed leads to sustained, desired change in individuals. We explore the coaching relationship in terms of the quality of the relationship and the competencies required by those who create that relationship. We also suggest that coaching has two faces: coaching with compassion and coaching for compliance. The latter often takes the form of trying to help someone in need. In these situations, the desire to help overcomes the knowledge that arousing motivation to change is more important than a short-term fix. We further offer that potential benefits exist in terms of the compassion one experiences from coaching others and we address the risk of not doing so. We provide a guide for the coaching process. And finally, we conclude with a discussion of the implications for future research on coaching and leadership development.