Transformational Coaching Workshop: Applying a Person-Centred Approach to Coach Development Programs

Abstract

It is well established that coach learning and athlete outcomes can be enhanced through participation in Coach Development Programs (CDPs). Researchers advocate that the quality of CDPs can be improved by: (a) placing a greater emphasis on facilitating coaches’ interpersonal behaviours (Lefebvre, Evans, et al., 2016), (b) using appropriate and systematic evaluation frameworks to guide the evaluation of interpersonally-focused CDPs (Evans et al., 2015), and (c) incorporating behaviour change theories into the design and implementation of these CDPs (Allan et al., 2017). In doing so, the relevance of CDP content and the uptake of this content among coaching practitioners may be enhanced. Transformational leadership theory provides a valuable guiding framework for designing CDPs that aim to promote positive development in youth sport. Thus, the goal of the present paper is to outline the development of a novel, evidence-informed CDP: The Transformational Coaching Workshop and to provide practical strategies for the implementation of this workshop.

Impact of transformational leadership on work performance, burnout and social loafing: a mediation model

“…Previous literature supports this finding that transformational leadership promotes motivation in employees and develops positive psychological states such as meaningfulness of work, experienced responsibility for the outcomes and knowledge of work results. It indicates that transformational leadership directly exerts its influence by helping employees or followers to think more positively about themselves and their tasks, by enhancing the quality of their relationships, and by creating environments that are fair, respectful, and supportive [86] and all of these factors contribute positively toward employee's self motivation toward his/ her work (i.e., intrinsic motivation). The positive elements of transformational leadership bring out positive psychological states by escalating intrinsic motivation among employees.…”

Guidelines for Need-Supportive Coach Development: The Motivation Activation Program in Sports (MAPS)

“…Several reviews have concluded there is a need for CDPs that are grounded in behavioral change theories (Allan et al, 2017;Evans et al, 2015;Lefebvre et al, 2016). Turnnidge and Côté (2017) suggest integrating interpersonal theories into coach education both to explore the interpersonal dimension of coach-athlete interactions and to design effective, interpersonally-focused CDPs. Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017) is one such theory.…”

A grounded theory of inspirational coach leadership

“…These behaviors resonate with previous leadership theories. For example, outlining an athlete's potential and providing encouragement has links with the inspirational motivation dimension of TFL . In addition, making sacrifices for athletes appears to relate to self‐sacrificial leadership …”

“…For example, inspirational motivation would satisfy the transcendence characteristic of inspiration because leaders articulating an exciting vision of the future may make followers aware of better possibilities. Research in sport by Turnnidge and Côté has further highlighted how coaches can show TFL behaviors to inspire followers (eg, by discussing goals and expectations). However, while TFL provides useful suggestions into how inspiration can be evoked by leaders, there are several theoretical issues with TFL that have been identified in contemporary reviews within organizational and sport literature.…”