Self Efficacy is defined (Bandura 1997 p.3) as “belief in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” It is concerned then with judgements about personal capability in a specific domain & individual expectation about capability for performance in future situations. Self-efficacy therefore can determine “how people feel, think, behave and motivate themselves” (Cox 2006) seemingly a powerful concept with a plethora of evidence based research to support its claims.
If self efficacy is accepted as a valid concept, here are some ideas & considerations of how it could influence our coaching practice;
Focus on building specific self efficacy perceptions rather than outcome expectations
Influence the building of high self-efficacy by providing feedback on coachees capabilities and performance (including challenge),
Give and encourage the coachee to consider positive vicarious experiences,
Give coachees feedback and encourage them to value others feedback regarding their capabilities
Encourage learners to reflect & judge their own ability in the task at hand (including physiological factors)
Encourage self-observation of specific behaviour, self-judgement of progress towards a specific goal and self-reaction of evaluative judgements of performance
Discuss self-efficacy with the coachee
Consider how coachees self efficacy beliefs may affect the goals that they set for themselves
Consider using anchoring as a technique to increase expectancy of specific task performance
Encourage the coachee to set themselves (culturally appropriate) challenging goals
Combine goals & feedback for optimal performance
Help coachees identify areas in which they are dissatisfied with their performance and also have a high self efficacy for optimal effort towards chosen goals
Support coachees in breaking down tasks into sub-goals, encourage them to monitor their own performance and give feedback to enhance performance
Consider how personal evaluative standards and self efficacy can synthesize in order to increase intrinsic interest in meeting goals
During assessment with a coachee use specific measures to determine benchmarks
When agreeing goals or discussing change or performance use specific & detail focussed questions
Listen for statements made by the coachee that would indicate high or low self-efficacy perceptions and construct questions designed to increase self-efficacy.
Encourage coachees to understand how failure can affect perceived self efficacy in order that future negative repercussions on performance can be combated
Ensure the coachee has a specific understanding of the task/goal
Suggest exploring additional development options in areas that may increase self efficacy (e.g. technology, complexity)
Consider levels of optimal perceived self efficacy differences that may exist in an individualist or collective culture.
Consider the influences of collective self efficacy in collective cultures
References
Bandura, A. (1997). Self Efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman
Cox, E. (2006). An adult learning approach to coaching. In Evidence Based Coaching Handbook. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
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Lynn Wernham
