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Higher quality 6” x 9° black and white photographic prints are availabie for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA ® 800-521-0600 DISSERTATION UNDERSTANDING MANAGERIAL COACHING: THE ROLE OF MANAGER ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS IN EFFECTIVE COACHING Submitted by Lucy Harrison Wenzel Department of Psychology In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Ft. Collins, CO Spring, 2000 UMI Number: 9981376 ® UMI UMI Microform9981376 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY December 20, 1999 WE HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE DISSERTATION PREPARED UNDER OUR SUPERVISION BY RUSSELL CROPANZANO, JERRY DEFFENBACHER, KATHY RICKARD, AND MICHAEL SLATER ENTITLED UNDERSTANDING MANAGERIAL COACHING: THE ROLE OF MANAGER ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS IN EFFECTIVE COACHING BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING IN PART REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY.
Committee on Graduate Work Adviser 4x ~ “ z -adWfser (Department Head/Director il ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION UNDERSTANDING MANAGERIAL COACHING: THE ROLE OF MANAGER ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS IN EFFECTIVE COACHING As the world of work has changed, so have the roles and responsibilities of managers. Organizations have begun to insist that leaders take much of the responsibility for the development of employees. One proven method for doing so is through one-on- one coaching between manager and employee. While coaching has been found to be effective, there has been no research on which personal attributes and skills help make a coach effective.
This study investigates the relationship among managerial attributes, managerial skills, and coaching performance to help fill this gap in the literature. The literature is reviewed and a model for coaching performance is proposed and tested. The results indicate that managers who are effective coaches are more likely to build relationships with their staff and to lead courageously. In addition, those who were bright were more likely to be effective in analyzing issues, which helped them to lead in a courageous or forthright manner.
In contrast, when one was bright but did not use his or her intelligence to carefully analyze issues, a negative relationship between intelligence and leading courageously was found, indicating that the more intelligent the individual, the less likely they were to be considered a strong leader, as well as an effective coach. lil This is an important finding as it challenges the long accepted theory that intelligence is the foremost predictor of performance (with a positive, not a negative relationship). Building relationships with people was also found to be a significant predictor of coaching performance. Those who listened to their staff and were outgoing and social were more likely to be viewed as making interpersonal connections with employees and therefore perceived as better coaches.
The findings of this study have implications for how managers are hired and developed. The results suggest that organizations must look not only at personal attributes such as cognitive ability, assertiveness, and sociability, but also at how these are channeled through skills such as analyzing issues, leading courageously, listening to others, and building relationships. Study limitations and future research directions are proposed and discussed. Lucy Harrison Wenzel Psychology Department Colorado State University Ft.
Collins, CO 80523 Spring 2000 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Russell Cropanzano, Ph., for his tremendous help in making this study a reality. Russell’s quick turnaround of drafts and feedback was astonishing and well above the call of duty. In addition, his constant support kept me sane and on track when I felt like giving up. Russell has lent guidance and coaching as I progressed through the Industrial and Organizational Psychology program and has challenged my thinking to help me learn and grow as a professional.
Jerry Deffenbacher, my co-adviser from the Counseling Psychology program, has supported me throughout my efforts to study both /O and Counseling Psychology. He has championed my cause and encouraged me when the difficulties seemed to outweigh the advantages. He has provided generous feedback and helped make this dissertation a much better paper. Many thanks go to Kathy Rickard and Mike Slater who provided excellent suggestions as I worked on this project and whose flexibility and hard work made this project possible.
They made the proposal and final oral defense meetings interesting, challenging, and enjoyable. My friends and coworkers have lent me tremendous support and understanding as I have worked on this study to the exclusion of everything outside of work. I promise I'll be a better friend and colleague now that the focus of my dissertation is complete. Special thanks go to Cindy Marsh and Joe Bast.
I am forever in their debt for their generous support and encouragement Finally, I want to thank my family. I truly owe it all to them. They have been there every step of the way for me — cheering and consoling as needed. I’m particularly grateful to my Mother, Father, and wonderful Poppa.
Their outstanding editing efforts helped this paper make sense and made it readable. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter {: Introduction H Coaching Defined 14 History of Managerial Coaching 17 Origin of the Term 17 The Evolving Role of the Manager 18 Coaching in Organizations: The Early Years 18 Coaching in Organizations: Current Needs 19 Literature Review: Effectiveness of Coaching 22 Coaching Model: Relationships of Managerial Attributes, Skills, and Coaching Performance Coaching-related Skills 29 Analyzing issues 29 Leading courageously 30 Building relationships 30 Listening to others 31 Managerial Attributes Cognitive abilities 32 Assertiveness 33 Vil Sociability 33 Empathy 34 Coaching Effectiveness, Personality, and Intelligence 35 Relationship by Perspective 35 Chapter 2: Methods 37 Participants 37 Procedure 39 Instruments 4i The PROFILOR® 41 Analyze Issues 43 Build Relationships 43 Listen to Others 44 Lead Courageously 44 Coach and Develop 45 Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal 45 California Psychological Inventory 46 Chapter 3: Results 48 Multivariate Analyses 48 Univariate Analyses 49 Correlation Analysis 49 Causal Path Analysis SI Support for Hypotheses 52 Vil Model |: Self Rating of Attributes, Direct Report Rating of Skills, and Direct Report Rating of Coaching Performance 52 Managerial skills $2 Managerial attributes 53 Model 2: Self Rating of Attributes, Peer Rating of Skills, and Direct Report Rating of Coaching Performance 55 Managerial skills 55 Managenial attributes 56 Model 3: Self Rating of Attributes, Boss Rating of Skills, and Direct Report Rating of Coaching Performance 57 Managerial skills 57 Managerial attributes 58 Personality and Cognitive Ability, and Coaching Performance 59 Hypothesis 12: The Causal Models will Vary Based on Perspective 60 Chapter 4: Discussion 61 Implications 67 Selecting Managers Who Coach 67 Developing Managers to be More Effective Coaches 68 Limitations 69 Conclusion 70 References 72 Table |: Coaching Processes and Characteristics in the Literature 81 Table 2: The PROFILOR® Internal Reliabilities 87 1X Table 3: Relationships between The PROFILOR® Skills and Managerial Outcomes 88 Table 4: Sample Demographic Descriptive Statistics 89 Table 5: Instrument Descriptive Statistics 91 Table 6: Correlations: Coaching Performance, Managerial Skills, and Managerial Attributes Table 7: Hypothesis If: Regression of Coaching Performance of Cognitive Abilities, Assertiveness, Sociability, and Empathy 94 Figure |: Proposed Coaching Model 95 Figure 2: Causal Model #1: Self Rating of Attributes, Direct Report Rating of Skills, Direct Report Rating of Coaching Performance 96 Figure 3: Causal Model 2: Self Rating of Attributes, Peer Rating of Skills, Direct Report Rating of Coaching Performance 97 Figure 4: Causal Model #3: Self Rating of Attributes, Boss Rating of Skills, Direct Report Rating of Coaching Performance 98 Figure 5: Revised Coaching Model 99 Figure 6: Hierarchical Regression: Direct Test of Hypothesis I! 100 Appendix A The PROFILOR® Scale items 101 Understanding Managerial Coaching 11 Understanding Managerial Coaching: The Role of Manager Attributes and Skills in Effective Coaching In 1997 Pizza Hut Corporation implemented an organization-wide coaching program in which every leader above the level of shift manager took on the title of coach. This change brought a radical new approach to leadership for their company. Leaders became directly accountable for the development of their people, just as they are for meeting their bottomline goals.
As a result, the culture at Pizza Hut has become more of a learning environment. In addition, Pizza Hut reports a significant gain in revenues which they attribute directly to this program (Lewis, 1998). American Express Financial Advisors has also insisted that all team leaders and managers, as well as many individual contributors take on a coaching role. Their efforts to develop people through coaching has helped give them a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent as well as in contributing to the bottomline (C.
Johnson, personal communication, April, 1999). Leslye Louie, Americas Operation Manger, Product Support Division, Hewlett- Packard (H-P) works closely with an external coach and, in tum, actively coaches employees within H-P. She has found a dramatic increase in skill level and performance among her people, and she is highly sought after as a coach and as a leader (Louie, 1998). Understanding Managerial Coaching 12 These are but a few of hundreds of examples of how coaching has become increasingly important to organizations and leaders working in a highly competitive labor market (Graham, Wedman, & Garvin-Kester, 1993; Peterson, Uranowitz.
Coaching is “the process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and become more effective” (Peterson & Hicks, 1996). Managerial coaching involves supervisors meeting one-on-one with their direct reports or other employees within the organization whom they are coaching and helping them learn and practice new skills to accelerate their development. The need for coaching in the workplace arose from the changing demands on managers to work with individuals, develop them, and help them realize their potential. Managers face increasing demands for performance on the part of their employees.
Many managers are finding themselves in a situation of having to do more with less, and they have found development of their people to be a critical component to becoming more efficient. The responsibility for providing this development generally falls to the manager (Louie, 1998). Therefore, many leaders have found themselves in the position of being a coach as well as a manager. Managers and leaders in organizations have recognized the need for employee development and have found one-on-one coaching to be an effective way to realize desired results for both the individual and the organization (Bielous, 1994; Hicks & Peterson, 1997a: Peterson & Hicks, 1996).
However, being an effective coach is quite different from being a “traditional” supervisor. As a result, a new type of manager with a different set of characteristics and attributes is needed. Leaders have to be competent in more of the “soft skills” of management such as interpersonal skills, communication Understanding Managerial Coaching 13 skills. as well as leadership and development.