The double‐edged sword of coaching: Relationships between managers' coaching and their feelings of personal accomplishment and role overload

Abstract

Attention to the effects of managerial coaching usually focuses on subordinates. However, knowledge of the impact of coaching on the coaches is limited. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, this study examined the extent to which coaching has benefits and costs for managers who spend time and energy coaching their subordinates. Structural equation modeling results from a multisource, time‐lagged survey showed that managerial coaching rated by team members affected managers' self‐ratings of job attitudes through a dual‐path model. Managerial coaching was positively related to managers' personal accomplishment, which had a subsequent positive effect on their job satisfaction. However, coaching also heightened managers' role overload, thus resulting in their work fatigue. In addition, results showed that managers who reported lower (versus higher) perceived organizational support tended to experience lower (versus higher) personal accomplishment and higher (versus lower) role overload associated with coaching. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.