Perceptions of executive coaches about wisdom in organizational leaders

Аннотация

Human wisdom has been a subject of interest and study for as long as there has been a need to make complex decisions (Kilburg, 2006). This study examined the perceptions of executive coaches on wisdom in organizational leaders using the Wisdom Model for Leaders (WML) (Ludden, 2010). The research discovered agreement with the WML constructs and that executive coaches develop wisdom in organizational leaders. The constructs in the WML may provide a better understanding of how wisdom can be developed in organizational leaders. The unique qualities of wisdom are difficult to capture by standard personality assessments and traditional psychometric intelligence tests (Kunzmann & Baltes, 2005). This study uniquely tested constructs associated with a human ability wisdom model (WML) which have been derived from the theoretical conceptualizations of cognition, affect, and conation (Birren & Fischer, 1990). Further, it sought to understand the relationships of the constructs that comprise the model. Finally, the study explored whether executive coaches perceive their role as developing wisdom in organizational leaders. A survey was conducted of executive coaches from a database provided by an executive coaching network, Coach-Source®. With 183 executive coach participants, significant agreement by the executive coaches was found for the constructs that comprise the WML, as well as the fact that they view their role as developing wisdom in organizational leaders. The statistical data were disclosed, the hypotheses were tested, the findings were shared, the implications for the study were presented, and suggestions for further research were provided.