Paul Lawrence
Paul is an organisational coach, consultant, facilitator and researcher, working in the fields of leadership and organisational change. He moved into this space 10 years ago after working in corporate, leading teams in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Japan and Australia. Paul teaches coaching to Masters students at Sydney Business School (University of Wollongong) and has written various academic articles and book chapters. He has four children and in his spare time writes gory historical fiction.
Biography
Paul is an executive/organisational coach, consultant, facilitator and researcher, working in the fields of leadership and change. Before moving into this domain, Paul spent more than 20 years worked in corporate. He worked for a multinational energy company for 14 years where he performed roles in marketing, operations, finance and strategy, culminating in the role of GM for a Tokyo-based retail business in the energy industry. His experiences included setting up new retail operations in Spain, a joint-venture company with a large grocery retailer in Portugal and playing a leading role in establishing a new retail business in Japan.During his time working in the energy industry, his employer more than doubled in size, engaging in multiple joint venture and acquisitions. This period of sweeping change enabled Paul to develop his understanding of complexity and change, experiences that form the basis of his approach to working with organisations.
Paul has been coaching leaders across different functions and industries since 2007 and has over 3,000 hours of coaching experience, working with individuals, groups and teams. He has coached in some of the biggest organisations in the world, ASX100 companies, smaller business, not-for-profits, health, education and government. Paul is also a qualified coach supervisor, trained at Oxford Brookes University.
Paul teaches coaching on the Masters of Business Coaching program at Sydney Business School (University of Wollongong). He has written various academic articles, magazine articles and book chapters. His first book, 'Leading Change: How successful leaders approach change management' was published in 2014, and his second book, 'Coaching in Three Dimensions', is due to be published by Routledge in 2018. He is currently writing a book on dialogue with six colleagues in the Europe.
Paul has four children and in his spare time writes rather gory historical fiction.
Education
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B.Sc., Psychology, University of Durham, 1985
Ph.D., Psychology, University College London, 1989
Grad. Dip. Marketing, Charted Institute of Marketing, 1993
MBA, University of Warwick, 1998
Grad. Dip. Counselling & Psychotherapy, JNI, 2009
Prof. Cert. Coaching Supervision, Oxford Brookes, 2017
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Paul conducts research into coaching, leadership and change. He has written academic journal articles on coaching ROI, coaching supervision, team and group coaching, managerial coaching, adult development, and cultural and organisational change. He is currently conducting coaching into team coaching, dialogue and group supervision.
Personal Interests
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In his spare time Paul writes crime thrillers set in 17th century London. Harry Lytle is the hero of novels such as 'The Sweet Smell of Decay', 'A Plague of Sinners' and 'Hearts of Darkness'. He is very much into sport, and if he seems cranky it's probably because Liverpool just got beat. He also follows, at slightly more of a distance, Brighton & Hove Albion and Lewes FC. Paul has four wonderful children and lives in Sydney, Australia.
Books
Articles
Managerial Coaching - a Literature Review
Published: Jan 07, 2017 by International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring publication description
Authors: Paul Lawrence
Although managerial coaching is often regarded as a ‘cut down’ or simplified version of external coaching, it is suggested here that the role of the managerial coach is, in many respects, more challenging than that of the external coach, such that managerial coaching may be more usefully regarded as a discrete and equally demanding discipline, albeit related to external coaching.
What do experienced team coaches do? Current practice in Australia and New Zealand
Published: Jan 01, 2017 by International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring
Authors: Paul Lawrence & Ann Whyte
Team coaching in organisations is becoming increasingly commonplace, but there remains a lack of clarity as to what team coaching is and what makes it effective. Thirty-six team coaches with experience of working in Australia and New Zealand were interviewed in an attempt to explore what practitioners actually do.
A Best Practice Model for the Effective Deployment of 360 Feedback
Published: Jan 10, 2015 by Development & Learning in Organizations: An International Journal
Authors: Paul Lawrence
Despite the widespread use of these tools there is little conclusive evidence as to their effectiveness. Under different circumstances reports suggest that the use of 360 feedback may be positive, neutral or even detrimental. This article reports the outcome of two studies from which emerged a best practice model, tested inside a government organisation.
Leading Change - Insights into How Leaders Actually Approach the Challenge of Complexity
Published: Jan 09, 2015 by Journal of Change Management
Authors: Paul Lawrence
The results of this study, based on interviews with 50 leaders, suggest that many leaders are at least intuitively aware of the limitations of traditional approaches to change and tend not to rely upon traditional change models. The content of their stories is reflected in the Emerging Change Model (ECM), which captures aspects of both rationalist and emergent change theories and which it is hoped may prove useful to change practitioners as a reflective device.
Building a coaching culture in a small Australian multinational organisation
Published: Jan 02, 2015 by Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research & Practice
Authors: Paul Lawrence
A case study reporting the progress of a two year program to implement a coaching culture in a small multinational organisation with offices in Australia, US, Asia and Europe.
Reflective sketching
Published: Jan 12, 2014 by Socioanalysis: An International Journal about Groups, Organisations and Society from the Systems Psychodynamic Perspecti
Authors: Paul Lawrence & Kieran White
The intention of this study was to explore perceptions of the value of reflective sketching. The findings suggest that reflective sketching is useful tool for coaches working with a systemic approach.
Return on investment in executive coaching: a practical model for measuring ROI in organisations
Published: Jan 03, 2014 by Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
Authors: Paul Lawrence & Ann Whyte
This paper reports the findings of a survey conducted with purchasers of executive coaching services. Using a grounded theory approach, a new model for evaluating investment in coaching services is presented. The new model places a primary emphasis on establishing the purpose of coaching, and on establishing an ongoing, formative approach to evaluation.
What is coaching supervision and is it important?
Published: Jan 03, 2014 by Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
Authors: Paul Lawrence & Ann Whyte
In this study 33 executive coaches from Australia/New Zealand, and 29 purchasing clients, were interviewed about the functions of coaching supervision. The predominant function of coaching supervision for coaches was developmental. For purchasing clients, on the other hand, the primary purpose of supervision was quality control.