13: COACHING TO SUPPORT DOCTORAL ROLE TRANSITIONS ■ 309■ EXECUTIVE COACHING—CASE EXAMPLE
The following is a case study of executive coaching in an academic setting that reflects
many of the challenges addressed in this chapter—the tensions that arise for individ-
ual professionals when their institutions undergo changes, when those professionals
transition into positions of greater authority, and when the new leader faces the tasks
involved in developing not only leadership skills, but also leadership consciousness.
■ CASE STUDY I
BACKGROUND
This case example involves a nursing department at a large university that was
undergoing huge expansion and the promotion of faculty with teaching excellence
into positions of administrative leadership (Smith Glasgow et al., 2009). The new
leaders had great competencies in their areas of clinical and academic expertise, but
were new to administrative roles. The female associate dean made an extraordinary
move in providing executive coaching for all of her new academic nurse adminis-
trators in order to support them individually and to create a strong team. Since 2006,
nine department chairs have been, or were currently being, coached. The associate
dean’s wise grasp of the complexities involved in times of transition, her trust in her
new department chairs, and her commitment to the development of a strong team,
all contributed greatly to the success of this executive coaching project.
Like most large nursing organizations, the college had, from an adminis-
trative perspective, a very large, complex undergraduate and graduate nursing
program. There were three bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) tracks, ten mas-
ter of science in nursing (MSN) tracks, and one DNP program that collectively
enrolled a total of 1,500 nursing students and employed 60 full-time nursing
faculty members as well as 200 adjunct faculty members per term. At that time,
several experienced administrators were leaving. After conducting a search, the
college hired or promoted faculty who had extensive teaching experience, but
minimal administrative experience. In addition to a large group leadership sym-
posium to support leadership development for these new leaders, the associ-
ate dean decided to provide executive coaching for the entire novice group of
department chairs and associate chairs.
Not surprisingly, the new leaders faced all the transition challenges dis-
cussed earlier. For those promoted from within their peer group, they had to
readjust boundaries and manage the emotions that accompany authority over
former colleagues. Reassigning teaching schedules and clinical placements
meant delicately managing a shift in relationships. Privileged information
needed to be kept from former friends and discussed only with those in the lead-
ership group. It was no longer appropriate to freely discuss personal feelings
about colleagues or about administrative decisions. For some new department
chairs, this generated the loneliness that can accompany leadership positions.
One department chair was brought in from outside the institution to be in
charge of a large department undergoing huge growth involving administra-
tive and structural changes. While she was learning systems that were totally(continued)