Episode Summary

In this episode of Coaching Revealed, we interview Kavita Govindjee, a coach, facilitator, and researcher who earned her research master’s degree from Nelson Mandela University to explore the impact of coaching on self-leadership. In exploring the impact of generic coaching on self-leadership Kavita explores what self-leadership is, and how individuals can grow this muscle. 

Kavita shares the research base for self leadership, which includes social cognitive theory, how internal and external factors interact, self-regulation theory, how we utilize self-observation and discipline in our goal achievement, and social learning theory, how we learn from observing others. 

With these theories, Kavita explains her research on strategies to develop one’s self-leadership, including behavior-focused strategies, natural reward strategies, and constructive thought strategies. Kavita discusses these strategies and the data from her qualitative study with coaches in South Africa. 

With developing self-leadership, we discuss the barrier such as a lack of awareness and personality factors, with Kavita emphasizing from her work that self-leadership is learnable.

The episode ends with conversation around a self-leadership coaching model Kavita developed called the Triple-A Model - Aim, Actuality, Action. Similar to the GROW model, this model emphasizes exploring the "why" behind goals and spending significant time in the action phase to ensure clients incorporate pleasant aspects, identify motivators, and plan rewards.

In closing, Kavita emphasizes that self-leadership is a skill everyone needs - and coaching may be one of the most powerful ways to develop it.