Guided Reflection Model: How Executive Coaching Can Assist Organizational Leaders Enhance Their Creativity, Innovation and Wisdom

Abstract

This paper outlines how executive coaching can assist organizational leaders engage in a guided process of reflection to enhance their creativity, innovation and wisdom. The conceptual model proposed in this paper is an extension of the Cognitive-Experiential Theory (CET; Epstein, 2014) and the recently developed Cognitive-Experiential Leadership Model (CELM; Cerni, Curtis & Colmar , 2015). Empirical research has shown that people are continually influenced by two information processing systems; the rational system, which is a verbal reasoning system, and the experiential system, which automatically learns from experience (Epstein, 2014). The degree of influence varies along a dimension from negligible to almost complete dominance, depending on the context, affect and understanding of self (Denes-Raj & Epstein, 1994;Epstein, 1998b;Epstein, 2014;Handley, Newstead, & Wright, 2000). The proposed Guided Reflection Model (GRM) complements the CELM by suggesting that the executive coach can play an integral role in guiding the leader to better understand how the integration of the context, affect and self, that is continually under the influence of the rational and experiential systems, can enhance creativity, innovation and wisdom.

For Leaders to be Transformational, They Must Think Imaginatively

“…In addition to imaginative thinking helping transformational leaders create a vision for their organization, imaginative thinking may be critical to the further development of transformational leadership skills via coaching. Cerni () proposed a development framework for leaders that draws upon the connections between thinking styles and leadership styles outlined in the CELM. Cerni suggested that coaching using guided reflection can help leaders effectively tap into their creativity and innovative potential.…”

“…Cerni's () guided reflection model of leadership coaching specifically aims to enhance imaginative capacity in leaders, but it implicitly requires leaders to possess some imagination to begin with. Its goal of enhancing imaginative and creative capacity is enacted by supporting leaders to increase their awareness of how they think.…”

“…Measuring individual differences in preference for imaginative thinking may be a useful addition to selection techniques for potential leaders. Furthermore, a way of enhancing imagination, according to the principles of cognitive‐experiential theory, is to allow the unconscious brain to process information and then use guided reflection to integrate the information into conscious rational thought (Cerni, ). Can you imagine an unimaginative person who is, nonetheless, able to become a transformational leader?…”

The Role of Self‐Attention in Leader Development

“…Captured within self‐attention is attribution‐making, and attributing a poor leadership performance to an unchangeable ability may lead to continued low efficacy, as the individual will believe that effort toward improvement will not lead to positive change (Allen, Jones, & Sheffield, ). A coach may guide reflection, encouraging the individual to consider and question their automatic thought processes and attribution styles (Cerni, ). Encouraging attribution to controllable processes, such as poor leadership strategy rather than poor aptitude, may lead to greater leader self‐efficacy in future leadership attempts.…”

“…Through this process, employees may be better able to reflect upon performance in relation to their specific developmental goals, and evaluate their actions in relation to their predetermined standards of performance (Grant, ). A key role of the coach is to facilitate the development of actionable development plans, targeted toward enhancing leadership weaknesses and leveraging existing strengths (Cerni, ). A coach may also direct the individual toward high‐quality learning aids and strategies that are likely to improve the efficacy of self‐attention, such as the use of reflective journals, and encouraging employees to seek out existing company 360° feedback to generate an accurate assessment of their competence (DeRue et al, ).…”