What changes with coaching? Investigating within-person changes in reflection, the predicting role of implicit person theory and the effects on perceived utility of coaching

Abstract

Coaching literature assumes that people undergo personal change through coaching. We contend that different types of change may occur with coaching and investigate whether this is the case in reflection (a key competence in coaching). Results from our sample of 61 coachees indicate that three types of change (alpha, beta, gamma) are observed across participants. Alpha change refers to a substantive change in reflection (i.e. an increase or decrease), beta to a recalibration of one's assessment of reflection and gamma to a re-conceptualization of reflection. We further examine implicit person theory (IPT) as a predictor and perceived coaching utility as a correlate of the three types of change. We observe a higher probability that incremental IPT will associate with alpha change versus other types of change, and that beta and gamma changes correlate positively and negatively, respectively, with perceived utility for work. No significant correlations are observed between types of change and perceived utility for personal development. Our study represents an exploratory contribution to a better understanding of the within-person changes in reflection following coaching intervention, and has implications for both theory and practice, which we discuss along with indications for future directions.