To participate in the Colloquium, applicants must submit a short paper describing a challenging, exciting, or unusual leadership coaching case from their practice and a separate description of how they handle that particular situation. The “Whatever Works: Coaching and Beyond in Supporting Executives” theme allows the authors to reflect on their experience with questioning coaching methods, models, or accepted practices, enhancing coaching with other methods and approaches, or choosing to withdraw from the engagement due to methodological or ethical concerns. We invite cases that reflect the coach’s struggles, temptations, anxieties, hopes, and choices. As usual, we at ESMT are more interested in finding out what is taking place, rather than what some of our colleagues fantasize about. The paper should consist of two parts:
Part 1
In the first part of the paper, the authors are asked to describe the context of the leadership coaching intervention briefly, outline the challenge that they faced in working with the particular client, and put together the questions that they may have regarding this particular situation, and regarding their own feelings or behaviour in this situation. Obviously, the authors should take care of the necessary client identity protection measures while providing enough information for the colloquium participants to work with the situation. Let us emphasize once again: the case is NOT about the difficulties of the coachee, it is about the problems of the coach.
Part 1 should not exceed 2000 words.
Part 2
The second part of the paper should describe the steps taken by the coach and the outcome of those steps. Please make sure that part 2 covers the following aspects:
- What was the approach taken to handle the challenge?
- What could or couldn’t the coach deal/cope with?
- What are the questions that remain unresolved for the coach?
Part 2 should not exceed 1000 words.
All the submitted papers will be reviewed by the Colloquium Convenors for acceptance for discussion at the 14th ESMT Coaching Colloquium. Acceptance will be based on the perceived match of the submission with the topic of the Colloquium and the expected interest of those who attend it. Authors of the accepted papers may be asked to make additional revisions or edit their submissions for the presentation at the Colloquium. The Convenors reserve the right to reject submitted papers without explanation. Please note that the submission of the paper means the submitter’s willingness to have their case made available to other participants of the Colloquium and to have it discussed as part of the event.
Reference
For reference purposes, examples of cases presented in the past Colloquia can be found in:
Korotov, K., Bernhardt, A., & Radeke, J. (Eds.) (2021) Cases in Executive Coaching: From the Annals of the ESMT Coaching Colloquia. 2nd Edition. Berlin. ISBN: 9798769553929
Korotov, K., Kets de Vries, M.F.R., Florent, E., & Bernhardt, A. (2012). Tricky Coaching: Difficult Cases in Leadership Coaching. New York: Palgrave McMillan. ISBN: 9780230280229.
To submit
NEW THIS YEAR: THE PAPER SHOULD BE SUBMITTED USING THE TEMPLATE AND FOLLOWING THE FORMATTING RULES SPECIFIED THEREIN.
You can download the Microsoft Word Template here.
Please submit your paper until September 1st, 2024 via email to CoColl@esmt.org.
Authors of accepted papers will be able to register for the Colloquium at a reduced “Participant” fee. On the first evening of the Colloquium, attendees will be assigned several papers authored by other people. They will be asked to be prepared to discuss on how they would have handled the described situations.