Hult Ashridge Center for Executive Coaching
Building bridges between science and practice in the executive coaching field
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Mission
The Ashridge Center for Coaching, formed in 2005, is an internationally recognized center of research excellence in the field of Executive Coaching, as well as a leading innovator and provider of standards for the profession.
As one of Hult’s research initiatives, the aim of the Hult Ashridge Center for Executive Coaching is to build bridges between science and practice and promote rigorous foundations for the executive coaching field. Our research is grounded in the belief that coaching is a mutual and co-created, relational practice and is used to inform the continuing development of our coaching and supervision qualification programs.
Building on our established research base, the center aims to advance knowledge in the important field of coaching. Through both qualitative and quantitative research, we explore new ways of working, new applications for coaching, and new ways of delivering impact.
Impact
We believe that executive coaching has a key role to play in helping leaders navigate an increasingly uncertain and fast-changing business, political, economic, and social environment. Coaching is the only leadership development initiative that is tailored to the specific circumstances of the moment—something that leaders need more and more.
Over the past twenty years, ongoing research has provided us with rich insights into the effectiveness of coaching and the fabric of real coaching conversations; research has also given us a first indication of which ‘sub-outcomes’ (outcomes per moment, or per session, or between sessions - as opposed to overall outcomes of a full coaching assignment) can be achieved through coaching.
Our Director
Meet Erik de Haan, PhD
Erik de Haan is the Director of Hult Ashridge's Center for Executive Coaching with over twenty-five years of experience in organizational and personal development. He aims to support individuals in their search for what is right and just for themselves and for others in their organizations. His expertise covers process consulting for organizational change, consultant to teams and boards, strategic conferences, and executive and team coaching.
Erik has an MSc in Theoretical Physics and gained his PhD in Physics with his research into learning and decision-making processes in perception. He is a British Psychoanalytic Council registered psychodynamic psychotherapist with an MA in psychotherapy from the Tavistock Clinic; has (co-)authored more than 200 articles and 16 books; and sits on the editorial board of three journals including the Consulting Psychology Journal.
Erik has worked with universities, hospitals, and multinational companies. He is currently Professor of Organization Development at the VU University Amsterdam. Erik is an Ashridge, EMCC, and ICF-accredited coach and supervisor and is qualified to deliver a range of psychometric instruments. He is fluent in Dutch, English, Italian, German, and Spanish.
Contributing Researchers
Viktor Nilsson, MSc
Viktor Nilsson is an Analyst and Adjunct Professor with a decade of in-depth research experience. Specializing in research methodology, Viktor passionately analyses public perceptions and attitudes towards Sweden's image for the Swedish Institute, while also teaching Quantitative Research Methodology at Hult Ashridge. His diverse experience encompasses providing insightful analyses for business, academic, and public organizations.
Holding an MSc in Research Methodologies in Psychology from the University of Strathclyde, Viktor has made significant contributions to the field, authoring several papers in notable organizational and psychology journals. He is deeply passionate about bridging the gap between scholars, professionals, and students in the vital field of research methodology and data analysis.
Patrizia M. Ianiro-Dahm, PhD
Patrizia is Professor of Industrial, Organizational and Health Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. She manages and supervises two projects to develop students' coaching and training skills (coSTARK and SKILLS). Her research focuses on coach-client interaction (especially nonverbal behavior) and health promotion. She is trained as a systemic/solution-focused therapist and counselor and as a systemic coach for young professionals. Before joining the University of Applied Sciences, she gained professional experience as a coach, trainer and advisor at the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.
Current Research
Follow the Money: Charging for Coaching, led by Erik de Haan & Adrian Furnham
What can we learn about coaching from the "other" side of the coaching relationship, the money exchange side?
Background to the research:
Money is half of the equation in coaching: one person provides a subtle and elaborate service; the other person provides … money. As is well known, spending and receiving money has a profound impact on our psychology and brings out raw emotions which are difficult to control.
It's interesting to us that in coaching, to date, only ever the coaching side of the relationship has been researched, and never the other side—the money side. Money seems again to be “the last taboo,” as they say. This also fits in with a general research bias towards coaches, at the detriment to what clients contribute to the relationship.
We want to begin by researching the coach’s relationship with money. The coach responses will be correlated with some demographic differences between the coaches, with some personality characteristics of the coaches, and the choices coaches make with regard to taking on clients and dealing with cancellations, among others.
What we hope to find:
- Links between how coaches deal with the money side of the equation and anxieties they have.
- Links between personality aspects of coaches and how they handle money in the coaching relationship
- A deeper understanding of the coaching profession as a live marketplace
Areas of Focus
The Hult Ashridge Center for Executive Coaching conducts extensive research in executive coaching, team coaching, and supervision. The Center published a minimum of 10 research papers annually since 2005, including significant studies like the largest-scale effectiveness study in 2016 and the most rigorous meta-analysis study in 2023. The center's research encompasses both quantitative outcome studies and qualitative research, emphasizing real-world consulting and coaching scenarios.
Executive Coaching Impact Research
Executive coaching is a relatively young profession. Contracted one-to-one sessions enable leaders and managers to learn from their current practice and work through feedback, change and challenge, hard decisions, and relationships at work. The Hult Ashridge Center for Coaching has been very active in quantitative, outcome research in executive coaching, helping to establish what works and for whom.
Executive Coaching Process Research
Although indications are that coaching is moderately effective, it is not straightforward to translate the results from impact research into guidance on interventions by practicing coaches or into better teaching and accreditation for coaches. The Hult Ashridge Center for Coaching sets out to be a bridge into practice, by firstly studying not just the outcome of coaching but also the process. In other words, we do not just want to study the end result of coaching after a number of sessions, but we also aim to study coaching moment by moment. We are well known for our research into critical moments in coaching.
Supervision
The Hult Ashridge Center for Coaching has had a longstanding interest in supervision. From our earliest executive-coaching programs more than 20 years ago, we have offered at least group supervision to all candidate coaches. Our outputs offer our students and supervisees guidance in terms of the challenging nature of supervision and potential areas of conflict and misunderstanding.
Leadership in Crisis – Coaching on the Leadership Shadow
In today’s fast-paced, interconnected, and mercilessly competitive business world, senior executives have to push themselves and others hard. Paradoxically, to succeed as leaders, they also need to relate to others very well. Under stress and challenge, the qualities executives have relied on to get them to the top and to achieve outstanding results can overshoot into unhelpful drives that lead to business and personal catastrophes.
Our work on The Leadership Shadow draws on the lived experience of executives to make sense of what actually happens when their drivers overshoot and they act out the dark side of leadership. It shows how executives can find stability in the face of uncertainty, resilience in the face of gruelling demand, and psychological equilibrium as a leader in the face of turbulence.
OD Consulting, Action Learning, Team Coaching
At Hult Ashridge, we have led one of the largest projects of Action Learning, which took place at the BBC (for all levels of leaders at the BBC). This project and another project in the Netherlands gave us the opportunity to analyze the nature of the learning in this practice, which is different from more established forms that are more knowledge-based or experiential.
Upcoming Events
June 13, 2025
Relational Coaching Conference
The ninth Relational Coaching Conference is in June 2025 on the theme of Trauma.
Coaching Standards
Examples of standards that have been proposed are the Ashridge Code of Conduct for Coaches, the Ashridge Code of Conduct for Supervisors, and the Coaching Behaviours Questionnaire, a popular online psychometric tool. The ACC has also played a key role on the EU’s Leonardo Project to create a European System of Comparability and Validation of Supervisory Competencies.