Abstract/Summary

Through a year-long multiple case study, involving 14 participants in two separate organizations in Canada, a qualitative action research project explored how individuals strive for goals, and the role that managerial coaching plays in goal achievement. This study provided answers to three research questions: 1) how do individuals strive for goals in complex, uncertain environments; 2) what are the goal striving characteristics of high performing individuals in complex, uncertain environments; and 3) what influences a manager’s choice to coach for performance. Data were collected via 41 semi-structured interviews and were analysed using a grounded approach, primarily through a constructivist lens. The results of this study indicate that striving for goals in a complex, uncertain environment is an iterative, emergent process of finding your way. A framework – the Goal Pursuit Cycle (GPC) – was developed to describe the process of ‘finding your way’. This model also served as a framework for coaching and described the process of self-regulation in the language of business. To move through the GPC, the individual made choices and took action. These choices and actions were influenced by the individual’s identity and how they responded emotionally to the observed performance gap. Two separate models, and five different constructs, were developed to describe this complex journey. In these models, the constructs of Identity, Emotions, Options & Decisions, Actions, and Results were present and interacted with each other. Emotions were shown to influence the relationship between Observed Results and Reasons for Success/Failure, and Identity was shown to influence the relationship between Reasons for Success/Failure and Self-Confidence. A set of attributes were demonstrated by high performing individuals in complex, uncertain environments. These attributes (Goal Focus, Persistence, Growth Mindset, and SelfReflexivity) allowed the high performer to effectively move through the GPC, and 'find their way' to their goals. Individuals that did not demonstrate these characteristics underperformed compared to their peers. In addition, high performers, with low to moderate levels of expertise, proactively engaged their manager for coaching, while low performers, regardless of experience level, rarely sought out this expertise. High performers with high experience did not typically seek coaching from their manager, instead they tended to rely on their own knowledge or that of their peers to overcome challenges. Managerial Coaching for Performance was studied indirectly, but was found to be effective in elevating an employee’s performance when the manager chose to engage in the coaching moment. Two constructs influenced this choice – the Available Time to Coach, and the Appetite to Coach. The Available Time to Coach was found to be influenced by the effort required to action other business priorities, and the manager’s span of control. The Appetite to Coach was influenced by the degree to which the employee sought coaching, the manager’s fear of the employee’s reaction to coaching and the manager’s mental energy for coaching. This study contributed to our understanding of the impact of managerial coaching on performance. It highlighted the influence of Identity and Emotions in the GPC and contributed to the managerial coaching literature by demonstrating how the GPC, as an expression of self-regulation, could be considered as a coaching framework. It contributed to action research methodology by developing four principles to improve the effectiveness of intervention workshops, and added to grounded theory methodology by detailing an abductive thinking process to generate middle-range theory. It contributed to practice by highlighting the characteristics of top performers, which can be used to strengthen professional development programs for individuals. It also made contributions by visualizing self-regulation as a goal pursuit cycle, and making the concept of self-regulation more approachable by articulating it in the language of business. The GPC also contributed to practice through its use as a coaching framework and the corresponding set of coaching questions that were developed as a result of this study. Lastly, the pathway to the coaching moment highlighted the role of fear and mental energy in a manager’s choice to coach, and these insights can be used to develop coaching interventions to help managers overcome these barriers.