Using Multisource Feedback Coaching Effectively in Executive Education

Many executive education programs that are focused on leadership now use multisource feedback. Both the faculty and clients then hope that providing this feedback will lead to performance improvements. Multisource feedback research has shown, however, that the extent to which improvement occurs depends on a variety of personality variables. Researchers have both suggested and to some extent shown that providing coaching in addition to giving the multisource feedback increases the amount of performance improvement. Few empirical studies have, however, explored what it is that coaches do that leads participants to improve their performance after an executive education program. To better understand what participants find effective in the coaching they receive, we conducted a qualitative study of the coaching perceptions of managers participating in executive education programs. The key finding, which seems to contradict much of the existing coaching literature, is that participants in multisource feedback coaching sessions in executive education programs expected and wanted their coach to take an active role in interpreting their results and in making action recommendations.