Tatiana Bachkirova

Developmental coaching: theory and practice

• Abstract
Although coaching is often portrayed in the literature and amongst coaches as a
developmental enterprise, the concept of developmental coaching is less than clear and
open to misinterpretations. This paper introduces a theory specifically developed for
coaching practice and fully described in the author’s book »Developmental Coaching:
Working with the Self«. The theory is based on a new conceptualisation of the self and
suggests a developmental framework that implies a certain trajectory in the adult
development process. For coaching practice this theory advocates an individual approach to
coaching clients of the three different groups and suggests three mechanisms of influencing
development.

Many coaches nowadays present themselves as developmental coaches rather than skills or
performance coaches, but rarely the explanation of this term is provided. The review of
literature that uses explicitly the term of developmental coaching (Berman & Bradt 2006;
Hawkins & Smith 2006, 2010; Cox & Jackson 2014; Palmer & McDowall 2007) shows that
this concept is poorly defined with some elements overlapping and others contradicting each
other. For example, developmental coaching as a genre is described as:
holistic – addresses the whole person rather than only work-related goals,
addressing long-standing behaviour problems,
used for working through transitions during the lifespan,
aiming to increase the broader human capacities of clients,
implying a non-directive approach,
suitable to use for a better trained external coach rather than for a manager as coach or an
internal coach.

It is clear that some contradictions in this mix indicate the lack of a unifying theory behind the
approach. However, in spite of conceptual and theoretical weaknesses, the actual practice of
developmental coaching as a genre is apparently vast and growing.
On the other hand, there is a multitude of well-known and respected theories in the field of
adult development (e.g. Kegan 1982; Torbert 1991; Graves 1970; Cook-Greuter 1999; Wilber
2000) that have prompted development of various applications to coaching. These theories
suggest that people undergo significant changes in terms of their meaning making, moral
reasoning and many other aspects during their lifetime. These changes occur in a logical
sequence of stages throughout the life of each individual and influence the way people feel,
make meaning and engage with their environment. They argued that development can be
influenced by other people who can provide appropriate support and challenge in a timely
way if they are able to identify the developmental trajectories of those they aim to help.
Interestingly, none of these authors refer to the practical approaches that follow from their
theoretical contribution as a form of developmental coaching.
The value of the insight these theories provide for individualised approach to coaching clients
is obvious. Practical applications of some theories described, for example, by Berger (2012);
Berger and Fitzgerald (2002), Kegan and Lahey (2009), Berger and Atkins (2009) show how
useful these theories can be for coaching practice. However, there are also some issues that
prevent effective use of them in coaching. The main issue is associated with the need to use
complex and labour-intensive instruments of measurement that require not only sophisticated
training but also a high level of development of the scorers themselves. Another issue is about
intention for precision when these instruments are used. This precision is not justified for
coaching for several reasons. For example, there are factors that interfere with the quality of
measurement such as verbal fluency and educational and social background (McCauley et al.
2006; Manners & Durkin 2001). There is also a concern about the prediction of progressive
sequence in development. Although several longitudinal studies provide support for
sequentuality of stages, they also challenge the theorised irreversibility, for example, of ego
development (Adam & Fitch 1982; Kohlberg 1969 Westenberg & Gjerde 1999; Manners &
Durkin 2001).
There are two further concerns in applying cognitive-developmental theories in coaching
practice (Bachkirova 2014 2011). The first one suggests that developmental stages, instead of
being a source of deeper understanding of the client, may become a main focus of attention in
coaching creating an illusion that development can happen as the result of high motivation
and efforts by the client or the magical skills by the coach. Secondly, even if the above is
avoided, there is a limitation of each individual theory being focused on one particular
developmental line. However, the actual coaching assignments are more complex and
multifaceted. When coaches encounter an individual client, they may need to work with a
variety of themes such as interpersonal, cognitive, emotional, etc. This should involve
addressing each area of development with an open mind in spite of the indication of a
particular stage in some of the others (Bachkirova 2011, 2013).
To summarise, developmental coaching as a genre is becoming widespread amongst
practitioners. However, it suffers from the incompatibility of various conceptualisations of
developmental coaching and the lack of a unifying theory behind the approach. On the other
hand, there is a solid body of research and theory behind adult development theories, but
considerable issues associated with the diagnostic instruments which they entail prevents
wider applications of these theories in coaching practice.
A new theory of developmental coaching
To rectify the issues identified above a new theory of developmental coaching is proposed.
The theory does not claim a discovery of new laws of human nature, rather a new synthesis of
ideas that allows integration of many other approaches to facilitating individual development.
It draws from the wider fields of knowledge such as psychology, philosophy and neuroscience
and shares concepts with the existing practical approaches to coaching.
The theory suggests the importance of understanding the nature of self as changes in the self
indicate an opportunity of individual approach implied in developmental coaching. For
example, the proposed concepts emphasise a division between the conscious mind and the rest
of the organism including unconscious, automatic operations and the body. An analogy of the
rider and the elephant are used (Haidt 2006) to illustrate that the role of the conscious mind,
as a rider is significantly exaggerated in the functioning of the whole organism.
The theory proposes that there are at least three separate notions of self which helps to explain
confusions in the extensive literature about the nature of self. From the phenomenological
perspective the self will be seen as an experiential dimension postulating a simple »I« as the
most basic pre-reflective sense of self. In a more objective sense the properties and areas of
the brain that are associated with the actions of the organism have to be considered. As a
second notion it is postulated that there is a neurological network, an executive centre (ego),
responsible for the coherent behaviour and normal functioning of the individual in the world.
Finally, the self is also seen as a narrative construction, an aspect of human nature (narrator)
that explains the view of the self that we consciously and linguistically conceive. Overall on
the basis of current findings in various studies a case is made that the three main elements for
understanding the self are:
sense of I as a pre-reflective self-consciousness – centre of awareness,
ego as an executive centre,
self-stories constructed by a narrator (conscious and reflective linguistic function of the
mind/brain) – identity centre.
It is argued that the executive centre or ego, as a network of mini-selves, is the most important
notion for applied purposes. Each mini-self is a combination of brain/mind states and
processes that are involved in the organism’s engagement with a certain task or more
precisely, it is a particular pattern of links between different areas of the brain that become
activated or inhibited when the organism is involved in an act. These patterns may involve not
only sensory stimuli, but memory, cognition, interpretation of meaning, and so on. Many
mini-selves work simultaneously in different circumstances. Therefore, the ego, functioning
mainly subconsciously, is responsible for satisfying the organism’s needs. Consciousness may
not be involved when these needs are unambiguous. However, when there is greater
ambiguity, complexity or greater leisure the mini-selves may involve conscious layers of
information from memory, perception or beliefs (Gazzaniga 1985; Claxton 1994).
It is important to clarify that although these notions of self are called »centres« for uniformity,
neither of them implies a reality of a specific place in the mind/brain, which could justify a
vision of the self as a little operator in charge of the organism. Only the first of these centres
may feel like a centre from the phenomenological perspective, but two other notions both
imply multiplicity of mini-selves or self-stories.
Three mechanisms of developmental coaching
The aim of developmental coaching is to facilitate »organic change« – a change that is
initiated in the executive centre, implying that a new mini-self is getting ready to be formed to
satisfy a need that is important to the whole organism. That is why there is a natural energy
behind it. In order for a new mini-self to emerge most elements of it should be in place:
channels to receive information from inside and outside the organism, necessary functional
skills and motor-schemas to be activated, including links in the brain that can contribute to
preparing this mini-self to go live. However, the organic change can be blocked and coaching
may become a viable option. These blockages suggest that something is missing in the
working cycle of the mini-self. It could be at any section of this cycle: input section, action
section or communication between them. Therefore there could be at least three types of
blockages or obstacles to organic change which could be addressed by means of
developmental coaching:
low quality of information at the input point,
interruption from the narrator at the process of communication,
no obvious behaviour routes exist at the action point.
It is postulated that attention to these potential obstacles in developmental coaching will
enhance client’s engagement with the change they are aiming at. Consequently it is proposed
that the main mechanisms that allow an organic change to take place are:
Improving the quality of perception
Working with the multiplicity of self-stories
Working with the elephant (unconscious, automatic parts of mind/brain and body).

In order to improve the quality of perception both internally and externally coaches
traditionally aim at development of active listening skills, observation skills, attention to body
language, etc. In coaching two main issues which interfere with a quality of perception:
conditioning and self-deception should be addressed. Conditioning comes with getting
»second-hand knowledge« and is useful to some extent. But we are often conditioned by the
culture of organisations, by circles of friends, by society as a whole in ways that prevent
change and development. The second obstacle to perception is self-deception. Whilst during
conditioning the filters to perception of reality are polished by influential others, in self-
deception this job is done internally. Working with the holes in clients’ perception is a task of
developmental coaches.
The next mechanism of developmental coaching is working with multiplicity of self-stories. It
appears that the narrator, being a linguistic function in the rider, has developed in evolution
together with our ability to use language. The narrator puts together conscious stories or
theories of self that we think we are. Some of these stories may be less then helpful in the
process of change. Coaches can assist clients in accepting the fact of multiplicity, matching a
self-story with a real mini-self and working on the synthesis of self-stories.
The third mechanism of change working with the elephant (the emotional unconscious mind
and the body) is about better interaction between the rider and the elephant in the process of
organic change. One way of addressing this is promotion of soft thinking (Claxton 1999, p.
146) in addition to traditional hard reasoning which implies the inhibition of other parts of the
mind. Soft thinking instead implies a soft focus, »looking at« rather than »looking for«
(Claxton 1999; Claxton & Lucas 2007) without forcing out new, unstable and fragile ideas
that come from the unconscious. Another way of working with the elephant is better
communication with the emotional body, improving two-way traffic between the rider and
elephant (Bachkirova 2011).
Coaching according to developmental themes
Although it was proposed that the above mechanisms are fundamental for developmental
coaching they must be applied in a different way for different people at different stages of life
and for different problems that need to be tackled. For coaching purposes it is particularly
important important to know how clients engage in action. Therefore, developmental
coaching suggests an individual approach to clients according to their stage of ego
development – a centre that is responsible for engagement in action.
The ego could be developed to various degrees, from unformed to fully formed. When the ego
is fully developed the mind/brain can act or refrain from action if necessary in a way that
reasonably satisfies the organism as a whole with all the multiplicity of its needs and tasks.
With the unformed ego there are needs that remain unsatisfied and tasks unfulfilled. They
actually need more help or guidance from others. The sign of a fully formed ego is the
capacity of the whole organism to take ownership of the past, withstand anxiety about what
the future holds and build relationships with others without losing the sense of who they are.
Their choices may be constructive or destructive, but they are made according to their own
criteria that can be rationally explained. At the same time this stage of the ego is associated
with other developmental challenges. The sense of control and self-ownership may lead to an
overestimation of what is possible and realistic for the organism, which may result in a lack of
attention to and even abuse of the body when working to achieve some specific targets. The
third category, a reformed ego, represents capacities of the ego that go beyond those of the
formed ego. There is a much more harmonious relationship between the elephant and the
rider, manifested in the ability of the organism to tolerate the ambiguity of some needs and
tasks, thus minimising energy wasted on conflicts between the various mini-selves.
Table 1 presents three stages of ego development. It included characteristics from various
theories. However, the number of stages is reduced to three for simplicity and because various
statistical data suggest that these are the most characteristic for the majority of adults (Beck &
Cowan 1996; Wilber 2000; Torbert 1991). It is so more likely that they will represent a
clientele of coaches. The stages are described in four major aspects of the individual:
cognitive style, interpersonal style, conscious preoccupations and character development with
a fifth aspect proposed in the theory of developmental coaching (Bachkirova 2011).

Table 1: A cumulative description of the three stages in adult development with addition from
Bachkirova (2011)
Stages Unformed ego Formed ego Reformed ego
 Cognitive style Socialised mind Self-authoring mind Self-transforming mind
Ability for abstract Can see multiplicity and Systems view; tolerance of
(based mostly on thinking and self- patterns; critical and ambiguity; change from
Kegan 1982) reflection analytical linear logic to holistic
understanding
Interpersonal style Dependent Independent Inter-independent
Conformist/self- Conscientious/ Autonomous/
(Loevinger 1987; conscious individualist Integrated
Cook-Greuter 1999) Need for belonging; Separate but responsible for Take responsibility for
socially expected their own choices; relationship; respect
behaviour in communication and autonomy of others;
relationships; individual differences are tolerance of conflicts; non-
peacemakers/keepers valued hostile humour
Conscious Multiplistic Relativistic/ Systemic/integrated
preoccupations Social acceptance, Individualistic Individuality; self-fulfilment;
reputation, moral Achievement of personal immediate present;
(Graves 1970) »shoulds and oughts« goals according to inner understanding conflicting
standards. needs
Character Rule-bound Conscientious Self-regulated
development »Inappropriate« feelings Self-reliant, conscientious; Behaviour is an expression
(Loevinger 1987; are denied or repressed. follow self-evaluated rules; of own moral principles.
Cook-Greuter 1999; Rules of important others judge themselves and Concerned with conflicting
Kolhberg 1969) are internalised and critical of others roles, duties, value
obeyed. systems.
Engagement in action Unformed ego Formed ego Reformed ego
(Bachkirova 2011) Reduced sense of Capacity to take ownership Harmony between mind and
control over themselves of the past and act body in action. Appreciation
and environment. Higher independently. »Mind over of complexity in the
dependency on others body« control of action. relationship between self
for action. and environment.

The main difference that is proposed with the fifth aspect is that it does not need any use of
the instruments of measurement. The concerns and the goals that clients bring to coaching can
show a pattern that is developmental. These themes are not only about goals – they are about
the challenges that people face in life, what they find difficult, what their life circumstances
demand from them. The pattern in the themes (table 2) would indicate the stage of the ego in
each client and will help to shape an individual approach to coaching.

Table 2: Three groups of developmental themes (Bachkirova 2013)

Unformed ego Formed ego Reformed ego
Decision-making in difficult Coping with high amount of self- Dissatisfaction with life in spite
situations with a number of created work of achievements
stake-holders Achievement of recognition, Internal conflict
Taking higher level of promotion, etc. Not »fitting in«
responsibility than they feel they Interpersonal conflicts Search for meaning
can cope with Drive for success and underlying Overcoming life crisis
Work-life balance connected to fear of failure Initiating a significant change
inability to say »no« Problem solving Dealing with personal illusions
Performance anxiety Learning to delegate Staying true to themselves in a
Issues of self-esteem Stress management complex situation

This theory also proposes a fourth stage of ego with a soul. This stage can also be identified
by the themes that the client might wish to explore, e.g.:
intention for spiritual development,
lack of progress in a chosen path,
making sense of a mystical experience,
coming to terms with mortality of the organism,
realisation of incompleteness of work for a mission,
overcoming spiritual illusions.

However this stage is treated differently from the other three. It is more complex because it
involves at least three potentially overlapping groups of individuals:
1. those who demonstrate unusual capacities that may indicate a stage, reached by a few;
2. those who have had special (spiritual) experiences which may happen to many people;
3. those who have deep interest in the spiritual, an inclination that could be shared by anyone.

Only the first group could be considered as a fourth stage. The clients from the other two
groups may bring for coaching a theme of this stage, but most likely they would be identified
as gravitated to one of the previous three stages.

The developmental coach would approach a new assignment initially in the same way as any
other coach: identifying the clients’ needs, exploring their situation fully and clarifying the
goals. However, she would gradually uncover a sense of the state of the client’s ego from
taking into account the issues they both identified, the challenges the client faces and the
difficulties he/she experiences. The task of the coach is to engage with whatever issue/goal is
presented, but noticing at the same time a pattern in these: a developmental theme. The job to
do between the sessions is to explore these patterns and consider relevant coaching strategies
through reflection on the previous sessions, preparation for the coming sessions and
discussion of these cases in supervision.

In terms of selecting specific interventions, coaches may choose to use any appropriate tools
and methods that they are familiar with. There are traditional coaching approaches
particularly useful for some specific developmental themes. For example, Cognitive-
behavioural coaching and Transactional Analysis have good methods suitable for working
with unformed ego. The Existential approach on the other hand fits well when working with
reformed ego. In addition to these approaches the developmental coach would also be
considering the three main mechanisms: working with perception, the elephant and the
multiplicity of self-models.
Conclusion
This theory and approach are one possible way of seeing the role of coaching on a wider scale
of the psychological evolution and at the same time as an intimate one-to-one interaction with
a focus on a concrete theme important for a client. As any theory, this is only one particular
map to a vast territory of individual change and ways of facilitating it, which I hope could be
useful for coaches and could contribute to the body of knowledge about influencing individual
development.
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