Aligning the ontologies of leadership and coaching using Leadership-as-Practice

Leadership studies have replaced old, reified definitions of ‘hero-leaders’ to incorporate post-modernist ideas. By contrast, managerial coaching studies consistently leave out any discussion of their underlying ontologies and often appear to rely on philosophies that “reduce[s] complexity to simplistic variables in a highly structured cause and effect relationship” (Hurlow, 2019, p. 124). Given that the role of leadership is widely acknowledged in the managerial coaching literature, we apply a Leadership-as-Practice lens to demonstrate how a process ontology has the potential to change everything. To rejuvenate the field, ensure philosophical and epistemological alignment, promote future research, and improve training opportunities, we offer the new term: ‘leaders-who-coach’.