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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 “C” organizations have been replaced by “I” organizations, implying that we have moved from organizations permeated by a command, control, and compartmentalization orientation, to organizations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.

As a tenured associate professor whose career has engaged various social justice issues, this chapter discusses the collaborative and shared decision-making process used to found and maintain basketball teams for seven years. The chapter also focuses on personal reflections of coaching club basketball as part of an auto-ethnography. The chapter explains the experiences that influenced a praxis focused on social justice as an attempt to infuse principles of equality and inclusiveness in opposition to harsh traditional coaching practices. Youth embraced an approach with little yelling, but some parents disapproved. Finally, this work discusses the limitations and successes of utilizing a social justice approach, including professional and health consequences.

This chapter aims to examine the ways coaching and mentoring are currently leveraged to deliver leadership development in higher education institutions. By exploring the variety of coaching and mentoring approaches and their deployment at different levels and across different institutions we are able to indicate opportunities for further enhancing leadership development in the sector through coaching and mentoring. The chapter examines peer-reviewed articles, sector reports and insights from key informants crafted into mini case studies. Mentoring emerges as a default approach to leadership development, in particular at early career stages and where inclusivity and diversity feature as part of leadership development programmes. Coaching is evident at the senior levels and offers a wider range of individual leader, senior team and organisational leadership development opportunities. Our cases highlight the range of responses and sophistication of coaching approaches and practices, from the highly embedded to other more piecemeal examples. The findings emphasise the importance of empirical research in this area to better understand and inform the sector of the wider benefits and opportunities of coaching and mentoring in supporting leadership development. Opportunities to support greater inclusivity and diversity in leadership should consider coaching approaches and practices too. This exploration of coaching and mentoring identifies why shifts towards coaching may be evident. It challenges those in the sector – researchers, people management and organisational developers, as well as senior leaders – to adopt more integrated and embedded coaching and mentoring initiatives to support the sector in addressing its current challenges.