The skilled coachee: An alternative discourse on coach

This thesis examines the role that coachees play in coaching conversations and \nrelationships. It develops theoretical insights into the concept of a skilled coachee, \nproviding an alternative discourse to that which is dominant in the coaching literature. \nDespite the emphasis on coachee benefits as an output of coaching, the prevailing \ndiscourse of coaching privileges the skills of the coach in coaching relationships and \ndownplays the agency of coachees and the role this plays in coaching processes. \nUsing a hybrid research methodology, which draws on central tenets of action \nresearch and grounded theory, seven coaching relationships are examined using a \nmixture of observation, paired and individual interviews. The subsequent analysis \nsuggests a heuristic of coachee skills and behaviours deployed in coaching \nconversations. These sets of skills and behaviours include: enabling mechanisms which \nenhance and facilitate the coaching conversation and defensive mechanisms which \ncoachees - often unconsciously - can adopt to protect themselves from \nembarrassment or threat. These coachee skills work in complement with coach skills, \nas articulated in the coaching literature. \nThis study thus contributes an alternative discourse of coaching within which coachees \nare more agentic in the process, than has previously been acknowledged. This \nalternative discourse has three elements to it: (1) coaching is a skilled collaborative \npartnership where both parties utilise process skills; (2) all behaviours, whether \nenabling or defensive, are functional for the participants in maintaining a \ndevelopmental relationship; (3) responsibility for the coaching process can be \nextended to encompass both coaches and coachees. These conclusions hold \nimplications for a range of stakeholders, including coaches, coachees, scheme \ndesigners, academics, professional bodies, supervisors and therapists.