Running head: PERSONAL VISION IN COACHING - RESEARCH PAPER1
Personal Vision in Coaching
Frank J. Ball M.Ed. Ed.S.
Liberty University
LIFC 501
December 11, 2022
Dr. Aubrey Statti
Personal Vision in Coaching
Setting a personal vision with a client is how a Life Coach allows the client to see where they
want to be in the future. The Life Coach can then utilize that vision when focusing on
goalsetting; this will allow the client to stimulate high quality goals that will expand the
likelihood of the client’s success. The personal vision is essential for the client to see a realistic
vision that has achievable goals that will not overwhelm the client. A Christian Life Coach
should help direct the client within God’s vision for them and evoke hope and inspire when the
client’s vision fades.
Crisis is an overused word in our society, yet it is not too powerful an account for the world that
we live in. Unhappiness, melancholy, despair, solitude, isolation, uncertainty, and the ruination
of morals running rampant throughout cities, towns and rural streets. Individual improvement or
Life Coaching is surging rapidly. Our churches have seen the burdens of the trending societal
changes and as a result the personal lives of Christians often reflect the surrounding culture more
than the way of Christ (Moreland, 2007).Christian Life Coaching is someone with a deep
relationship to God and trained to facilitate and aid others into illuminating God’s goal in their
life (Moreland, 2007).A Life Coach works on initiating a client’s personal vision, setting goals
and objectives for their life. If the client learns to allow Christ to be the wellspring of their mind
and heart for their vision, the Christian Life Coach can show the client passion for God’s will
making progress along the way. The Christian Life Coach can help transform the influence of
society through the power of the gospel (Moreland, 2007).We need to help reverse the societal
changes running rampant in our world today. Our culture needs change. We don’t need to waste
our lives preoccupied with things that don’t matter (Moreland, 2007). We need to allow progress
into our life through Jesus, and expect God to provide the only sensible life plan available.
Leaders develop in the direction of their dreams, not in the direction of their deficits. Yet many
coaching interactions intended to promote a leader’s development fail to leverage the benefits of
the individual’s personal vision. Drawing on intentional change theory, this article postulates that
coaching interactions that emphasize a leader’s personal vision (future aspirations and core
identity) evoke a psychophysiological state characterized by positive emotions, cognitive
openness, and optimal neurobiological functioning for complex goal pursuit. Vision-based
coaching, via this psychophysiological state, generates a host of relational and motivational
resources critical to the developmental process. These resources include: formation of a positive
coaching relationship, expansion of the leader’s identity, increased vitality, activation of learning
goals, and a promotion–orientation. Organizational outcomes as well as limitations to vision-
based coaching are discussed.
Connecting Theory to Practice in Vision-Based Coaching
Born out of a practical need to address the short-comings of existing leadership training
interventions, executive coaching has evolved based on lessons of experience rather than
theoretical grounding. As a result, a plethora of models exist in the practitioner literature, but
relatively few have been subjected to rigorous scientific evaluation (for a review, see@Grant,
2011). Although scholars have begun to link psychological traditions such as behaviorism,
humanism, gestalt, and positive psychology to the coaching process in handbooks and
practitioner magazines (e.g.,@Passmore et al., 2013), theory-based examinations of coaching
phenomena are surprisingly absent from peer-reviewed journals. A recent exception is@Gregory
et al.’s (2011)@application of control theory to explain how coaching can enhance behavior
regulation via goal monitoring and feedback. The need for theory-based coaching models not
only supports grounded practice but also advances the field of coaching through scholarly
examination of coaching processes.
A potential shortcoming of coaching models derived from practice is their susceptibility to
economic, technological, and socio-cultural influences of the business environment. For
example, many coaching engagements begin with multirater (i.e., 360-degree) feedback and
identification of short-term objectives (Feldman and Lankau, 2005), presumably in an effort to
demonstrate return-on-investment. Additionally, popular coaching models such as GROW
(Goals, Reality, Options, Wrap-Up/Way-Forward;@Whitmore, 1992;@Alexander, 2010) and GAPS
analysis (Goals, Abilities, Perceptions, Standards;@Peterson, 1996) advocate early identification
of goals. These goals are derived through reflective exercises that provide information that is
“personally relevant to achieving their goals” (Peterson, 1996, p. 79), such as writing a personal
mission statement, values clarification exercises, or career preference assessments. Yet these
models put a focus on the client’s present reality, and—if used in isolation—may lead to a
process of arriving at goals that circumvents the deep reflective work necessary for
organizational leaders to identify their ideal selves. In fact,@Jinks and Dexter (2012)@suggest that
many coaches “…do not spend enough time or use appropriate refinement around facilitating
exploration of a broader picture of a client’s preferred future before focusing on specific goals”
(p. 103). Focused goals without the context of a long-term vision can result in short-term
behavior modification but may lack the emotional commitment required to sustain one’s
strivings over an extended period of time. In executive coaching, this is of particular importance
because development unfolds over the course of a leader’s career, often requiring months or
years to master various leadership capabilities (Lord and Hall, 2005).
Intentional change theory (Boyatzis, 2006,@2008) outlines a developmental process that occurs as
leaders create enduring personal change and, hence, provides a foundation for executive
coaching. Having evolved from self-directed learning theory (Kolb and Boyatzis, 1970), ICT
addresses mechanisms of identity, affect, and physiology that underpin enduring behavior
change. Specifically, ICT holds that sustained, desired change occurs in a dynamic, non-linear
process punctuated by five discoveries or epiphanies: (1) discovery of the ideal self, (2)
assessment of the real self as compared to the ideal self, (3) formulation of a learning agenda, (4)
practice and experimentation with new behaviors, and (5) the support of resonant relationships
(Figure@1;@Boyatzis, 2008). Discovery of the ideal self entails articulating one’s deepest
aspirations, hopes, and dreams for the future, as well as positive aspects of one’s core identity.
The real self involves examining one’s current strengths and weakness in relation to the ideal
self. A learning agenda comprised of broad goals and specific actions is devised in order to bring
an individual closer to his or her ideal self. Practice and experimentation is the step by which the
learning agenda is implemented and refined. Finally, a set of trusting, growth-fostering
relationships supports each discovery.
Vision and Positive Coaching Relationships
The importance of the coaching relationship is not unique to vision-based coaching. Many
researchers hold that it is in the context of high-quality relationships that growth and
transformation occur (Josselson, 1996;@Miller and Stiver, 1997;@Dutton, 2003). Similarly,
coaching research consistently identifies the quality of the coaching relationship as a key
predictor of positive coaching outcomes (Kampa-Kokesch and Anderson, 2001;@Bennett,
2006;@Gyllensten and Palmer, 2007;@Gregory and Levy, 2011). High-quality coaching
relationships have been described in a number of ways. In a qualitative study of individuals who
went through a workplace coaching process,@Gyllensten and Palmer (2007)@found positive
coaching relationships were established on a foundation of trust and transparency, which
promoted psychological safety and active participation in the process.@Bluckert (2005)@added
rapport, support, and challenge as key elements of a successful coaching relationship. According
to@Gregory and Levy (2010), high-quality employee coaching relationships are evidenced by a
genuineness and comfort in the relationship, as well as positive communication and the
facilitation of development. When the connection between a coach and a client is marked by
these positive qualities, the developmental aims of coaching are achieved more rapidly (Baron
and Morin, 2009).
According to ICT, such growth-fostering relationships are the center around which desired,
sustained change revolves (Boyatzis, 2008). To be clear, ICT does not suggest that effective
coaching relationships require both members of the dyad to be in the PEA state at all times. In
fact, recurrent activation of the PEA and NEA is necessary and healthy for the coaching
relationship, assuming comparatively more time is spent in the PEA. Acute periods of negativity
can be productive in moving a relationship forward because they signal that something in the
relationship needs attention which, once resolved, strengthens the relationship. In these cases, the
NEA is not a static state but part of the natural evolution of growth-fostering relationships
(Jordan and Cooley, 2000). Such relationships have been found in other domains to ease career
transitions (Ibarra, 2003), assist in growth and development (Boyatzis et al., 2006;@Ragins and
Verbos, 2006), enhance and enrich identity (Roberts, 2007), and establish interpersonal trust that
facilitates learning from failure (Carmeli and Gittell, 2009;@Carmeli et al., 2009). Relationships
of this nature also have physiological benefits that contribute to resilience and engagement at
work (Heaphy and Dutton, 2008).
Positive Relationship Formation
The ability to establish a positive relationship is paramount to executive coaching practice. Early
coaching interactions are shaped by relational images, or generalized mental models about what
the coaching relationship should entail and how each party should behave (Miller and Stiver,
1997). Relational images built on prior experiences of painful developmental relationships can
undermine the formation of a positive coaching relationship (Jordan, 2010). Vision-based
coaching offers an alternative for engaging in developmental relationships that can modify
existing dysfunctional scripts.
When a coach tunes in to an individual’s ideal self, the best version of themselves they aspire to
be, as opposed to their shortcomings, it communicates acceptance and affirmation (Roberts et al.,
2005). As the coach demonstrates the empathetic attunement, understanding and sharing in the
affective-cognitive experience of the client, the client experiences safety and positive emotional
bonding that reinforces the PEA state of both parties (Jordan, 1991;@Boyatzis et al., 2006). The
PEA state is critical when a new relationship is forming. Positive emotionality is associated with
an increased range and depth of self-disclosure (Cunningham, 1988;@Vittengl and Holt, 2000).
Based on diary studies, those who experience greater positive emotions have more enjoyable
social interactions (Berry and Hansen, 1996) and greater friendship closeness (Berry et al.,
2000). In a study of college roommates who are getting to know each other in the initial weeks of
school,@Waugh and Fredrickson (2006)@found that those who displayed greater positive emotions
also experienced greater self-other overlap (interpersonal closeness) and a more complex
understanding of one another. Thus, through the mediating effects of the PEA state, vision-based
coaching accelerates the formation of a positive relationship between the coach and the client.
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