An integrated model of goal-focused coaching: An evidence-based framework for teaching and practice

International Coaching Psychology Review ● Vol. 7 No. 2 September 2012 © The British Psychological Society – ISSN: 1750-2764 LTHOUGH COACHING is typically thought of as being a goal-focused activity, the use of goals in coaching is somewhat controversial. Common arguments against the use of goal setting in coaching include the propositions that goal setting is an overly-linear process that constricts the coaching conversation and acts as a barrier to working with emergent issues within the complex dynamic system that is the coaching conversation; or that goal setting is associated with coaches cajoling coachees in the blind pursuit of a previously-set but inappropriate goal, leading to ‘lazy’ join-the-dots mechanistic coaching; or even that goals typically focus on issues that may be easy to measure but are of little real importance (see Clutterbuck, 2008, 2010). Some coaches say that they never use goals in coaching, rather they assert that as coaches their role is to help clients explore their values, clarify their intentions, and then to help them achieve their personal aspirations. Yet others seem to steadfastly avoid using the word ‘goal’, but talk about helping clients chart a course, navigate the waters of life, foster transformational change, or re-author personal narratives. Goal setting has even gained a bad reputation in some sections of the academic psychology press, with some authors asking if goal setting has gone wild, and decrying the supposed over-prescription of goal setting (Ordóñez et al., 2009). Whilst, some of these points have merit, goal theory per se has much to offer coaching research and practice. There is a considerable body of literature on goals and goal setting (Locke & Latham, 2002). A search of the database PsycINFO in May 2012 accessing the broader psychological literature base and using the keyword ‘goals’ found over 59,530 citations. Yet the academic literature on the use of goals within the area of executive coaching is far smaller, with the keywords Paper