Linguistic Analysis of Coaching in Organizations

In this episode, Dr Natalie Lancer, with Juliette Alban-Metcalfe, Dr Anna Kane and Dr Eva-Maria Graf, discusses how research can be applied to coaching in organisations. We cover linguistic research in coaching conversations, the use of psychometric tools in coaching, and confidence at work. We ask:

• What do we mean by self-confidence?
• How can we use different models and tools to build confidence in clients?
• What do coaches and clients do when they are having an authentic coaching conversation?
• What does the research show about using closed questions?
• What can we learn from the EDI (Embodied, Dynamic, Inclusive) model about confidence
• including our physical experience?
• What are the 12 types of questioning sequences that show up in coaching?
• How do coaches work with ideologies, stereotypes and generalisations, including gender,
• when coaching leaders?
• How can psychometric tools support the coaching process towards increasing self-awareness?
• What makes coaching unique?

We talk about the benefits and limitations of coaching tools, including psychometrics, in achieving the aims of better leadership and team working. We also discuss how to manage coachees’ resistance during the coaching process. The episode concludes with the panel sharing their future research plans.

Our guests today are:

Juliette Alban-Metcalfe is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, CEO of the Real World Group, author and researcher. As a leadership and organisational behaviour expert, Juliette has authored articles and book chapters on leadership, teamworking and diversity & inclusion and she has helped establish assessments of Engaging Transformational Leadership. She earned her MSc in Occupational and Organisational Psychology from Birkbeck, University of London and her MSc in Positive Organisation Development and Change and Certificate in Appreciative Inquiry from Case Western Reserve University. She is currently undertaking a doctorate exploring effective leadership of hybrid teams. She also served as co-Chair of the Thought and Action Steering Group of the UK government-sponsored Engage For Success and co-edited the International Congress on Leadership, Management and Governance.

Dr Eva-Maria Graf is Associate Professor in Applied and English Linguistics at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria and is also a coach and trainer of coaches. Her research interests and publications are in applied linguistics with a focus on the helping professions, in particular, coaching. She is the founder of linguistic coaching process research which analyses the micro interactions between coach and client in coaching sessions. She uses Conversation Analysis and Interactional Sociolinguistics to interrogate her data.  She co-launched the first open-access academic journal on coaching research in the German speaking market (Coaching | Theorie & Praxis). She currently investigates forms and functions of questioning practices in coaching from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating qualitative linguistic and quantitative psychological methods (https://questions-in-coaching.aau.at/). 

Dr Anna Kane is a Chartered Coaching and Occupational Psychologist with 20 years’ experience offering occupational psychology services within public, private and third sectors. Anna is driven to support people from under-represented groups navigating leadership roles. She draws upon principles and practices of mindfulness, compassion, creativity, innovation and an appreciation for our innate, embodied intelligence. Her research draws on queer and black feminist theory to challenge the status quo and deliver meaningful, progressive outcomes. As a coach, facilitator and supervisor she enables individuals, teams and organisations to experience restoration, growth and transformational change. You can read about her research on the measurement of self-confidence and the Embodied, Dynamic and Inclusive (EDI) model in the International Coaching Psychology Review.

Your host, Dr Natalie Lancer, is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist, and British Psychological Society (BPS) Registered Supervisor. She is the Chair of the BPS’s Division of Coaching Psychology and an accredited member of the Association for Coaching. She is the host of this podcast series and invites you to email any comments to docp-tcppod@bps.org.uk

https://www.bps.org.uk/member-networks/division-coaching-psychology

© British Psychological Society 2023