Managerial coaching, often discussed under terms such as Manager as Coach or Managerial Coaching, has long been part of the Anglophone coaching and leadership discourse.

In this context, the manager as coach can be seen as one of the formative roots of workplace coaching: a practice in which reflection, learning and development are embedded directly in everyday leadership.

A substantial body of empirical literature has explored managerial coaching in the English-speaking field, starting the widely cited review by Beattie et al. (2014). In the German-speaking context, however, coaching by one’s own manager remains a more contested topic. Questions of hierarchy, trust, confidentiality, voluntariness and role clarity become particularly relevant when the coach is also the line manager.

In this Professional Dialogue on 7 December 2026, 13:00–14:00 CET, Monika Hübner, ICF PCC, Programme Manager of the part-time Master’s programme Coaching and Leadership at Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena and member of the EMCC Research Group, will share findings from the newest qualitative research project.

The project explores how employees experience being coached by their own managers and which key moments they identify in this process.

The presentation will be followed by a moderated discussion. The teaching team of the Master’s programme will be available for exchange, questions and further dialogue.

Possible discussion questions:
• How do employees distinguish coaching by their manager from feedback, mentoring, advice
or performance conversations?
• Which competencies do managers need to coach without turning coaching into hidden
steering?
• What can key moments in managerial coaching tell us about the effectiveness and limits of
this format?

Participants are welcome to stay for up to 30 additional minutes after the official dialogue for informal exchange and networking.

Reference for context:

Beattie, R. S., Kim, S., Hagen, M. S., Egan, T. M., Ellinger, A. D., & Hamlin, R. G. (2014). Managerial Coaching: A Review of the Empirical Literature and Development of a Model to Guide Future Practice. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 16(2), 184–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422313520476