Working alliance and client design as discursive achievements in first sessions of executive coaching
While outcome research has convincingly proven that the working alliance is a key success factor in coaching,
qualitative process-oriented insights are so far missing. We strive to fill this gap by shifting the focus from ‘the working
alliance is crucial’ to ‘how is the working alliance discursively accomplished in authentic coaching interactions?’. The
guiding assumption is that the coaching alliance emerges locally as a joint product of coach and clients’ negotiation process.
We analyze the first sessions of two different coach-client dyads from the executive coaching protocol Emotional Intelligentes Coaching within an integrative discourse analytic framework. Our analyses demonstrate
that the coach displays a specific ‘client design’ in the local discursive management of the working alliance.
Article outline
- 1.The relevance of the working alliance in coaching: An introduction
- 2.The coaching alliance: Relevant theoretical and empirical perspectives
- 3.The coaching alliance: A linguistic approximation via the Basic Activity Model
- 4.Methodology and data
- 5.Working on the working alliance: Analysis and findings
- 5.1Getting started
- 5.2Voicing expectations regarding coach, coaching and coaching alliance
- Summary: Voicing expectations regarding coach, coaching and coaching alliance
- 5.3Negotiating the expectations
- Summary: Negotiating the expectations
- 6.The dynamics of the working alliance and client design in coaching: Summary and outlook
-
Notes
-
References
References (47)
References
Behn-Taran, Angelika. 2014. “I Am My Worst Enemy”. A Linguistic Analysis of Interactive Dynamics or Relational Patterns in Business Coaching
Conversations. Dissertation. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Böhringer, Daniela, Sarah Hitzler, and Martina Richter (eds.). 2022. Helfen. Situative und organisationale Ausprägungen einer unterbestimmten Praxis. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bordin, Edward S. 1979. “The Generalizability of the Psychoanalytic Concept of the Working Alliance.” Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice 16 (3): 252–260. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Drew, Paul. 2018. “Epistemics in Social Interaction.” Discourse Studies 20 (1): 163–187. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gessnitzer, Sina, and Simone Kauffeld. 2015. “The Working Alliance in Coaching: Why Behavior is the Key to Success.” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 51 (2): 177–197. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goffman, Erving. 1979. “Footing.” Semiotica 25 (1/2): 1–29. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Graf, Eva-Maria, and Sabine Jautz. 2019. “‘und wie wie entsteht veränderung und damit haben_s wir ja auch mit dir zu tun’ – Einblicke in die inter-
und intra-aktivitätsspezifische Dimension der kommunikativen Basisaktivität ‘Ko-Konstruieren von Veränderung’ im
Führungskräfte-Coaching.” In Pragmatik der Veränderung, ed. by Eva-Maria Graf, Claudio Scarvaglieri, and Thomas Spranz-Fogasy, 209–237. Tübingen: Narr/ Francke/ Attempto.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Graf, Eva-Maria, and Thomas Spranz-Fogasy. 2018. “Helfende Berufe – Helfende Interaktionen.” In Handbuch Text und Gespräch, ed. by Karin Birkner, and Nina Janich, 418–442. Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Graßmann, Carolin, Franziska Schölmerich, and Carsten C. Schermuly. 2019. “The Relationship between Working Alliance and Client Outcomes in Coaching: A Meta-Analysis.” Human Relations 73 (1): 35–58. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Greenson, Ralph R. 1965. “The Working alliance and the transference neurosis.” Psychoanalytic Quarterly 34: 155–181. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gülich, Elisabeth. 2003. “Conversational Techniques Used in Transferring Knowledge between Medical Experts and
Non-Experts.” Discourse Studies 5 (2): 235–263. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Haakana, Markku. 2001. “Laughter as a Patient’s Resource: Dealing with Delicate Aspects of Medical Interaction.” Text 21 (1 & 2): 187–219.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heritage, John. 2011. “Territories of Knowledge, Territories of Experience: Empathic Moments in Interaction.” In The Morality of Knowledge in Conversation, ed. by Tanya Stivers, Lorenza Mondada, and Jakob Steensig, 159–183. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heritage, John. 2013. “Action Formation and its Epistemic (and Other) Backgrounds.” Discourse Studies 15 (5): 551–578. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heritage, John, and Jeffrey D. Robinson. 2006. “Accounting for the Visit: Giving Reasons for Seeking Medical Care.” In Communication in Medical Care: Interaction between Primary Care Physicians and Patients, ed. by John Heritage, and Douglas Maynard, 48–85. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Horvath Adam O., and Peter Muntigl. 2018. “The Alliance as a Discursive Achievement: A Conversation Analytical Perspective.” In Therapy as Discourse. The Language of Mental Health, ed. by Olga Smoliak, and Tom Strong, 71–93. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hudson, Frederic. 1999. The Handbook of Coaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ianiro, Patrizia M., Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock, and Simone Kauffeld. 2015. “Coaches and Clients in Action: A Sequential Analysis of Nonverbal Interpersonal Styles in Coach-Client
Interactions.” Journal of Business and Psychology 30: 435–456. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jautz, Sabine. 2017. “Immer auf Augenhöhe? Ein Blick in den sprachlichen Werkzeugkoffer im Coaching.” In Sprache in Rede, Gespräch und Kommunikation. Linguistisches Wissen in der Kommunikationsberatung, ed. by Marcel Dräger, and Martha Kuhnhenn, 47–64. Frankfurt am Main etc.: Peter Lang.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kilburg, Richard R. 2000. Executive Coaching. Developing Managerial Wisdom in a World of Chaos. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mondada, Lorenza. 2011. “The Management of Knowledge Discrepancies and of Epistemic Changes in Institutional
Interactions.” In The Morality of Knowledge in Conversation, ed. by Tanya Stivers, Lorenza Mondada, and Jakob Steensig, 27–57. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Neukom, Marius, Katrin Schnell, and Brigitte Boothe. 2011. “Die Arbeitsbeziehung im Coaching – ein Stiefkind der Forschung.” Organisationsberatung, Supervision, Coaching 18 (3): 317–332. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nowak, Peter. 2010. Eine Systematik der Arzt-Patient-Interaktion. Frankfurt am Main etc.: Peter Lang.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Peräkylä, Anssi: 1995. AIDS Counseling. Institutional Interaction and Clinical Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pomerantz, Anita, and John Heritage. 2013. “Preference.” In The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, ed. by Jack Sidnell, and Tanya Stivers, 210–228. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley Blackwell.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rettinger, Sabine. 2011. “Das Coaching-Erstgespräch: ‘Handlungsidentitäten’ in der Beziehungsgestaltung zwischen Coach und
Klient.” In Beratung, Coaching, Supervision: Multidisziplinäre Perspektiven vernetzt, ed. by Eva-Maria Graf, Yasmin Aksu, Ina Pick, and Sabine Rettinger, 149–166. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Roberts, Celia, and Srikant Sarangi. 2005. “Theme-Oriented Discourse Analysis of Medical Encounters.” Medical Education 39: 632–640. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sacks, Harvey. 1972. “An Initial Investigation of the Usability of Conversational Data for Doing Sociology.” In Studies in Social Interaction, ed. by David Sudnow, 31–74. New York: Free Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sacks, Harvey, Emanuel A. Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson. 1974. “A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation.” Language 50 (4): 696–735. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sarangi, Srikant. 2001. “On Demarcating the Space between ‘Lay Expertise’ and ‘Expert Laity’.” Text 21 (1 & 2): 3–11.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sarangi, Srikant. 2005. “Activity Analysis in Professional Discourse Settings: The Framing of Risk and Responsibility in Genetic
Counselling.” Hermès 41: 110–120.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sarangi, Srikant. 2010. “Practising Discourse Analysis in Healthcare Settings.” In The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Methods in Health Research, ed. by Ivy Bourgeault, Robert Dingwall, and Ray de Vries, 397–416. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schegloff, Emanuel. 2007. Sequence Organization in Interaction. A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Selting, Margret et al.. 2009. “Gesprächsanalytisches Transkriptionssystem 2 (GAT2).” Gesprächsforschung – Online-Zeitschrift zur verbalen Interaktion ([URL]) 10: 353–402.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sills, Charlotte. 2021. “Understanding the Coaching Relationship.” In The Coaches’ Handbook. The Complete Practitioner Guide for Professional Coaches, ed. by Jonathan Passmore, 68–76. New York: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Silverman, David. 1997. Discourses of Counselling: HIV Counselling as Social Interaction. London: SAGE Publications.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Spranz-Fogasy, Thomas. 1992. “Ärztliche Gesprächsführung – Inhalte und Erfahrungen gesprächsanalytisch fundierter
Weiterbildung.“ In Kommunikationsberatung und Kommunikationstraining. Anwendungsfelder der Diskursforschung, ed. by Reinhard Fiehler, and Wolfgang Sucharowski, 68–78. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stivers, Tanya, Lorenza Mondada, and Jakob Steensig. 2011. “Knowledge, Morality and Affiliation in Social Interaction.” In The Morality of Knowledge in Conversation, ed. by Tanya Stivers, Lorenza Mondada, and Jakob Steensig, 3–24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Theebom, Tim, Bianca Beersma, and Annelies E. M. van Vianen. 2014. “Does Coaching Work? A Meta-Analysis on the Effects of Coaching on Individual Level Outcomes in an
Organizational Context.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 9 (1): 1–18. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Weidner, M. 2012. "On
the organization of Polish doctor–patient communication". PhD
dissertation, Department of Linguistics, University of Antwerp.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Will, Theresa, Schulte, Eva-Maria, and Simone Kauffeld. 2019. “Coach’s Expressed Positive Behaviour Linked to Client’s Interest to Change: An Analysis of Distinct
Coaching Phases.” Coaching | Theorie & Praxis 4 (4): 1–10. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zimmerman, Don H. 1998. “Identity, Context and Interaction.” In Identities in Talk, ed. by Charles Antaki, and Sue Widdicombe, 87–106. London: SAGE Publications.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Fleischhacker, Melanie & Eva-Maria Graf
2024.
A closer look into the ‘black box’ of coaching – linguistic research into the local effectiveness of coaching with the help of conversation analysis.
Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice 17:1
► pp. 119 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Kabatnik, Susanne
2024.
“Because he was disgusting”: transforming relations through positioning in messenger-supported group psychotherapy.
Frontiers in Psychology 14
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Jautz, Sabine, Eva-Maria Graf, Melanie Fleischhacker & Frédérick Dionne
2023.
Agenda-setting in first sessions of business coaching—a focus on coaches’ practices to manage the agenda and establish the working alliance.
Frontiers in Psychology 14
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.