Outcomes of Mindfulness Based Coaching for Managers

Abstract

The research literature exploring links between mindfulness and the effectiveness of executive coaching has little to say about coaching outcomes, or about the perceptions of coachees regarding to the utility of this training orientation. Furthermore, existing research does not explore the perceived outcomes of professional coaching, and variations therein, across time. This study analyses the assessments of 14 professional managers, working in the education system and the high-tech industry, of a 12 session coaching process incorporating mindfulness practices. The participants recorded their perceptions of coaching outcomes from each session, contemporaneously, in journals. In addition, they were interviewed at two points in time—at the end of the coaching sessions, and two years later. Generally, the study shows that when individual mindfulness practices are applied in coaching sessions, their effects are similar to that of individual mindfulness practices as applied in work organization settings. On the basis of the participants’ accounts, it seems quite safe to conclude that the mindfulness practices applied in the coaching enhanced their awareness of their body, thoughts and emotions—a process linked to developing the capacity to engage with multiple perspectives and to stress reduction, both leading to positive outcomes in terms of self-development, well-being and performance.