Raising Leadership Self-Efficacy and Minimizing Organizational Burnout Among School Administrators in a GROW Model of Cognitive Behavioral Coaching

• Published in: Journal of leadership & organizational studies 2023-11, Vol.30 (4), p.464-482
• Main Authors: Igu, Ntasiobi C. N., Onyishi, Charity N., Amujiri, Benjamin A., Binuomote, Michael O., Modebelu, Melody N., Okafor, Ifeoma P., Awe, Bolupe Abayomi, Fausta, Manafa, Obih, Solomon O., Eke, David O., Ezemoyin, Marcel C., Uzoma, Bethel N., Ugwu, Joy I., Mbon, Usen F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Burnout; Educational administration; Instructional Leadership; Leadership; Leadership Styles; Organizational behavior; Self Efficacy
• ISSN: 1548-0518; 1939-7089
• DOI: 10.1177/15480518231171748

Poor leadership self-efficacy and high organizational burnout are context-based cognitive conditions that sabotage leadership outcomes across organizations. When school administrators who are the leaders and directors of school affairs struggle with poor leadership self-efficacy and elevated levels of burnout their leadership styles are negatively affected with far-reaching impacts on the teachers, students, and the overall school outputs. This randomized control trial sought to investigate the effectiveness of GROW-Model (GROW-M) of Cognitive behavioral Coaching in raising leadership self-efficacy and minimizing burnout symptoms in a sample of school administrators in Enugu State, Nigeria. Participants included 77 school administrators who were randomly assigned to GROW-M (N = 38) and waitlisted control (N = 39) groups. A 2-h GROW-M program was delivered to the GROW-M intervention group weekly for 9 weeks. Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators’ Survey and the School Leaders’ Self-Efficacy Scale were employed to source data at preintervention, postintervention, and follow-up evaluations. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to explore data using SPSS version 24. Results revealed that participants’ organizational burnout reduced, while their leadership self-efficacy improved significantly at posttest. The changes in burnout and leadership self-efficacy levels were sustained through a 3-month follow-up. We concluded that intervention using GROW-M minimizes organizational burnout and raises leadership self-efficacy as a pliability resource for coping with overwhelming work demands.