The Coaching Research Agenda: Pitfalls, Potholes and Potentials

Third, I will look at the fundamental issue of measurement—which once again is a nested element of the broader problem regarding conducting research on professional coaching. What tools should be used to measure coaching effectiveness? The tools being used might have more impact on the outcome of the assessment of effectiveness than the actual coaching processes being studied. A finely calibrated measuring stick that is applied to micro-events often yields quite different results from a less finely calibrated measuring stick that is applied to macro-events.

I will save my identification and analysis of a fourth nested problem for the third issue of The Future of Coaching. This problem concerns the ways in which evidence regarding coaching practices actually get used and the ways this evidence can influence the quality of professional coaching being provided.  I will devote quite a bit of space to this fourth problem because I believe it is the real elephant in the room. I will suggest ways in which to talk about and potentially influence this elephant, focusing on a fundamental question: does this research really make a difference with regard to the way professional coaching is conducted? Is it really worth the time and effort (funding) to build a strong foundation for evidence-based professional coaching if this foundation is being ignored? If many of those in the coaching business are going their merry way in providing services based on hunches and their own tried-and-true experiences, then why do the research? Maybe it is all a matter of marketing and networking in the field of professional coaching – at least at the present time. We may still be operating in a frontier village where snake oil sells better than prescription medications.

In this future essay I will also be balancing off the challenges of coaching research with some optimism regarding the kind of research that can be done to build an evidence-based foundation for professional coaching. I will encourage the use of multiple strategies, the triangulation of research methods and sample populations, and the establishment of collaborative initiatives based on the principle of “reflective practice.”