Mindsets of experienced action learning coaches and their impact on the practice of coaching action learning groups

ABSTRACT

Team coaching has become more utilized in organizations as they realize the importance of developing highly effective teams. There has been some research done on the skills needed by those who coach teams. However, very little has been done on the mindset needed for effectively coaching teams, and no research on the mindset for coaching action learning teams. This qualitative research is the study of 19 highly experienced master action learning coaches who have been certified by the World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL) and have over 500 h of action learning coaching experiences over a 10-year-plus time period. The Master Action Learning Coaches (MALCs) were asked to (a) confirm if the 5 key mindsets identified by the researcher for coaching action learning teams were valid and (b) provide examples and questions that accrued from incorporating these mindsets in their coaching of action learning teams. The MALCs concurred on the 5 mindsets, and also provided a rich array of examples of how these mindsets affected their coaching. Two additional mindsets were offered as well. Implications for research and as well as the practice of action learning coaching are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Mindset
• action learning
• coaching
• action learning coaches

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Marquardt

Michael Marquardt is Professor Emeritus in Human and Organizational Studies at George Washington University. He is the co-founder and first President of the World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL). Mike is the author of 27 books and over 150 articles in the areas of action learning, global leadership, organizational change, and crosscultural teams. His publications have sold over 1 million copies in a dozen languages. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Marquardt has led action learning programs with hundreds of organizations in over 50 countries worldwide. [email protected].