Strength-Based Leadership Coaching in Organizations

Positive organizational psychology, with its focus on the identification and development of strengths, is a natural ally to executive development and leadership coaching. However, this approach is only just beginning to come to the attention of organizations and consequently, the research base for strength-based coaching is in its early stages of development. Strength-based Leadership Coaching in Organizations reviews strength-based approaches to positive leadership development and evaluates the evidence for their effectiveness, critically assesses their apparent distinctiveness and considers how strengths can be reliably assessed and developed in their organizational context. Strength-based Leadership Coaching in Organizations reviews key areas of leader and team development and describes a model of strengths development in organizations. It discusses the application of strength-based leadership coaching from the managerial and external perspective within the context of career stage, seniority, role challenges and organizational need in order to facilitate meaningful change. Finally, it covers the limitations of the strength-based approach to leadership development together with the challenges of integrating positive leadership development. It shows exactly what a strengths focus is and that there is increasing evidence that this approach does get results. Where other books focus on one model of identifying strengths, this book offers a balanced and critical examination, showing how to apply a positive strength-based approach.

Dr. Doug MacKie is a business psychologist and executive coach specialising in the assessment and development of executive capability within top 100 companies both in UK and Australia. He is a past participant on the Australian Psychological Society's strategic leaders programme and was a member of the Standards Australia Committee for the guidelines for Coaching in Organizations. He has completed the largest controlled trial to date on the effects of strength-based coaching on transformational leadership behaviour. His research was shortlisted for the BPS Practitioner of the Year Award in 2013.

- - Chapter - 01: An introduction to strength-based approaches in organizations- Chapter - 02: Strengths: definitions and models- Chapter - 03: Positive leadership theories- Chapter - 04: Strengths identification and assessment- Chapter - 05: Evidence for the effectiveness of positive approaches to leadership development- Chapter - 06: Strengths development- Chapter - 07: Coaching for positive leadership development in organizations- Chapter - 08: Using strength-based approaches as a leader or manager- Chapter - 09: Using strength-based approaches for team development- Chapter - 10: The context and limits of strength-based leadership coaching