Seven aspects of the TTC framework

The final TTC framework (Figure 5.9) consists of seven aspects, which guide a coach in coaching transitioning leaders in a manner that may facilitate transformative learning during the career transition process. The seven aspects are summarised in Table 5.5 below, and is elaborated on in the rest of this section.

TTC aspect Description

A. Contextual Set clear coaching boundaries (career transition and transformative learning) B. Contractual Three-way contracting between coach, coachee and organisation (line manager

and/or HR) Confidentiality

C. Aspirational Set goals relating to being more successful in the new role D. Procedural Five TTC stages:

Initiate Understand

Identify and design Reflect and redesign Complete

E. Temporal Coaching must start before the promotion takes effect (2–3 sessions a few weeks apart)

Frequent coaching (every 2–4 weeks) for the first 6 months

Less frequent coaching (every 1–3 months) for another 1 to 2 years

Duration of each coaching session is minimum one hour but should be flexible regarding maximum time to allow for crucial insights

F. Technical Questioning

Reflection

Active Experimentation

Frameworks and Theory (about career transitions and transformative learning) Challenging views and assumptions

G. Efficacious Perspective transformation occurs if (Hoggan, 2016): Evidence of deep influence

Evidence of change on multiple levels (e.g. work and home) Evidence of permanence of change

Source: Author’s own compilation 5.8.1.1 Contextual

The context and focus of the coaching must explicitly be set to be ‘transformative transition coaching’, dealing with supporting the transitioning leader by facilitating transformative learning. This notion of context in coaching is mentioned by Cox et al. (2014) in their structural analysis of a coaching engagement (see Figure 2.6) where they mention environmental factors, organisational agenda and culture and relevant discourses as being part of the context for coaching.

To set a firm context, frameworks and theory about career transition and transformative learning must be shared with the coachee. In terms of career transitions, the leadership pipeline model (Charan et al., 2011), and Jaques’ (1996) stratified systems theory were received well by TMs. These models assisted TMs with awareness of the typical challenges that they faced and how to addressed them. The coach should also create awareness of transformative learning in TMs by sharing Mezirow’s theory and specifically highlighting the concept of different types of perspectives and the three levels of reflection (Mezirow, 1994).

reference is made to theory, such as in the second TTC stage, while in other cases, the coach should introduce theory as and when necessary to focus the context. A coaching framework has structure, process and an underlying philosophy (Stout-Rostron, 2012). This explicit use of focused theory informs the underlying philosophy of the TTC framework and is also in line with what Brock (2010) refers to as a contextual mutual learning process.

5.8.1.2 Contractual

A contract to guide the coaching intervention and to manage the expectation of all parties involved must be agreed upon between the coach, transitioning leader and his or her organisation. This contract must spell out the rules of engagement, and emphasis should be placed on the confidential nature of the coaching, to the exclusion of the organisation. This idea is in line with other research, which indicates that formal contracting is one of six generic stages of a typical coaching intervention (Passmore & Fillery-Travis, 2011:76), and that contracting, which includes the organisation, assists in making the leadership development process visible (Sparrow, 2007). Kahn (2011) also mentions the importance of contracting in outlining boundaries, fees, timelines and expectations.

5.8.1.3 Anticipatory

Coaching goals must be agreed upon and recorded in collaboration with the organisation. These coaching goals must relate to challenges faced by the transitioning leader in his or her new role. This goal setting is to help ensure the focus of the coaching remains within the context of the career transition. Goal setting in coaching is listed as one of the six generic stages of coaching (Passmore & Fillery-Travis, 2011) and appears to play a prominent role in various definitions of what coaching is (Grant & Stober, 2006; Kilburg, 1996; Maltbia et al., 2014).

5.8.1.4 Procedural

This research revealed that there are five distinct stages involved during a TTC intervention as follows:

i) Initiate: Define the context for the coaching, agree on the contract and identify the most

pressing challenges faced by the transitioning leader.

ii) Understand: Analyse the current perspectives held by the transitioning leader by using the

perspectives questionnaire (Table 5.3) to assess his or her view on all eight of the Mezirow perspectives (Mezirow, 1994): sociolinguistic, moral-ethical, epistemic, philosophical, psychological, health, political, aesthetic.

iii) Identity and design: Identify the most problematic perspective from the list in the previous

step, reflect on the reasons for and influence of this perspective on success in the new role using Mezirow’s (1994) three levels of reflection (content, process, premise), conceptualise

change the problematic perspective.

iv) Reflect and redesign: Reflect on the progress with transforming the problematic perspective

by using Hoggan’s transformative learning criteria (Hoggan, 2016) and design a new behavioural experiment to deepen the transformative process.

v) Complete: This state is reached when the transitioning leader shows an acceptable level of

perspective transformation according to Hoggan’s criteria. A strategy is defined to secure the transformation, make sure stretch goals are set and that a decision is made to terminate the coaching or select a new problematic perspective to transform.

Note that these five TTC stages are not singularly linked to individual coaching sessions, meaning that a coachee could remain in one stage for more than one coaching session. Stages could also be revisited or multiple stages covered in a single coaching session. The coaching state transition notation captures these dynamics (see sections 5.6.3 and 5.7.3).

A key element of the Procedural aspect of the TTC framework from a theoretical perspective is the explicit inclusion of transformative learning theory in the coaching process. This is achieved by using Mezirow’s perspectives and three levels of reflection (Mezirow, 1994) and Hoggan’s (2016) gauge of the level of transformative learning in the coaching model. This use of theory is an attempt to include theory explicitly from adult learning into coaching in line with what Theeboom et al. (2013:13) suggest.

5.8.1.5 Temporal

Coaching must start before the promotion takes effect (two to three sessions a few weeks apart), followed by frequent coaching sessions (every two to four weeks) for the first six months after the promotion and less frequent coaching (every one to three months) for at least another one to two years. The duration of each coaching session is minimum one hour but should be flexible regarding maximum time to allow for crucial insights.

Research into the efficacy of coaching versus the number of coaching sessions reveals that the robustness of the coaching results increases with the number of coaching sessions (Theeboom et al., 2013) and it is known that in transformative learning, deeper levels of learning occur when adequate time is available for critical reflection and active experimentation (Mezirow, 1991). Leadership development theory states that there is a time delay of between four and eight months before new leaders demonstrate new learning (Hirst et al., 2004). It is therefore crucial to provide more intense support in the form of coaching during this period as suggested by this aspect of the TTC framework.

5.8.1.6 Technical

This research found that the main coaching techniques that promote transformative learning are questioning, reflection, active experimentation, using frameworks and theory (about career

techniques can be used together with the coach’s standard techniques and tools, but since this research found empirical links between these five techniques and transformative learning, effort must be made to use these techniques.

The coaching literature mentions the importance of using psychometric assessments (Bond & Naughton, 2011; Kombarakaran et al., 2008), which can be related to using frameworks and theory. Questioning and listening are fundamental coaching techniques professed by a number of coaching scholars (Passmore & Fillery-Travis, 2011; Peltier, 2010), as is reflection (Kolb, 2014). The notion of challenging coachees is not generally advocated by the humanistic, non-directive school of coaching (Whitworth et al., 2007), but in what is referred to as the ‘third-generation coaching’, the coach and coachee work together via a narrative collaboration to generate new meaning, which may include challenging assumptions (Stelter, 2013).

5.8.1.7 Efficacious

The ideal end result of transformative transition coaching is the transformation of one or more problematic perspectives held by the transitioning leader and evidence of the transitioning leader being more successful in the new role. Using Hoggan’s (2016) three criteria for transformative learning, is an attempt at evaluating the level of transformation and hence, to an extent, the success of the transition coaching intervention. This addresses a criticism levelled at transition coaching and held as a reason for limited use of transition coaching: the lack of measure of coaching success (Bond & Naughton, 2011). The Efficacious aspect of the TTC framework attempts to apply a measure of coaching success, which is to the advantage of both the individual and the organisation. The benefits of coaching to the individual and their organisation have been widely researched and discussed (Bachkirova et al., 2014; Grant et al., 2010; Kahn, 2011; Kauffman & Coutu, 2009; Kombarakaran et al., 2008; Kilburg, 1996; Theeboom et al., 2013).