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Developing Managerial Skills Through Coaching: Efficacy of a Cognitive-Behavioral Coaching Program

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Abstract

Managerial coaching is currently seen as an effective leadership practice facilitating learning process of the employees for performing better and being more effective in organizations. This article builds on recent research on the importance of the managerial coaching by empirically investigating the effects of a cognitive-behavioral coaching programme over mid-level managers. Due to the similarities between managerial coaching behaviors and transformational leadership behaviors, we have adopted the transformational leadership model as theoretical framework for evaluating management behaviors. The study used a pre-posttest approach to test the effects of the coaching program especially designed for 23 mid-level managers having as responsibility the supervision of production teams in a multinational organization. The major aims of the program consisted of: developing managerial coaching skills, assertive communication skills, motivation of subordinates. Overall, the analysis of results elicited an increase of scores in the leadership behavior dimensions measured by multifactor leadership questionnaire that are part of the managerial coaching skills. Besides, the effectiveness perceived as an indicator of performance was significantly higher upon completion of the coaching program. Findings suggest that coaching, as a professional development method, has great potential to contribute to the managerial behaviors that facilitate development at subordinate level, as they are captured by some transformational and transactional scales. Such knowledge can be informative for practitioners as well in developing effective managers and leaders and understanding and managing employee attitudes and behaviors in organizations.

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Notes

  1. The dropout rate from the coaching program and implicitly, the study, was caused by major changes that installed over the course of post-intervention assessment. The company employees were notified that the factory in that location would close, and therefore they would lose their jobs. Despite these changes, the coaching program was continued and completed as planned, but with a significantly lower number of participants. Also, as the influence of these unexpected changes over participants became clearly apparent, it was tackled within individual coaching sessions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, 37 Republicii, 400015, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Lucia Ratiu & Adriana Baban

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Oana A. David

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  1. Lucia Ratiu
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  2. Oana A. David
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  3. Adriana Baban
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Correspondence to Lucia Ratiu.

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Ratiu, L., David, O.A. & Baban, A. Developing Managerial Skills Through Coaching: Efficacy of a Cognitive-Behavioral Coaching Program. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 34, 244–266 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-016-0256-9

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