In an organisational psychology research, identity has become an important phenomenon (Brown, 2015, 2017, 2022). Studies relate identity to self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-worth (Brenner et al., 2018), to positive emotions (Kalkhoff et al., 2016) and to coping and adjustment (Collins & Bertone, 2017). Identity makes one’s life meaningful (Brown, 2022) and plays an important role in one’s overall well-being and success (Caza et al., 2018). Self-identity is a socially constructed understanding of the self, as well as a subjective sense of ‘Who am I?’ (Brown, 2022; Ruane, 2013). In the conceptualisation of the self, multiple identities exist (Burke & Stets, 2009; Stryker & Burke, 2000) because one’s identity encapsulates the set of meanings that define the self in terms of various role, social and person identities (Brown, 2015; Davis, 2022; Stets & Serpe, 2013). Identity is fluid and continually changes through various processes of personal transformation (Brygola, 2011). Identity change occurs when the meaning in one’s identity shifts, and this is an ongoing, lifelong process (Burke & Stets, 2009; Stets & Burke, 2014; Stets & Serpe, 2013). The dynamic process through which identity is gradually and continuously shaped throughout the lifespan is called identity work (Sveningsson & Larsson, 2006). Identity work is aimed at achieving positive well-being and securing a strong self as a basis for social relations (Collinson, 2003; Knights & Willmott, 1989).

Identity work entails reflexive thinking (Brown, 2022) to constantly define and redefine the self through interaction with others (Vough et al., 2020) and construct meanings of the self that are coherent, unique and valued (Ruane, 2013). It is a fundamental self-processing dynamic that includes the cognitive, discursive, physical and behavioural activities (Caza et al., 2018) that individuals engage in to form, present, repair, maintain, strengthen and revise identities (Alvesson & Willmott, 2002; Brown, 2015; Sveningsson & Alvesson, 2003). Identity denotes one’s understanding of the self, while identity work explains the processes through which this understanding is formed, maintained or changed over time (Brown et al., 2008; Sveningsson & Larsson, 2006; Vough et al., 2020). Identity work is not simply an internally focused process of self-shaping, but a coming together of inner self-reflection and outward engagement, through talk and action (Watson, 2008). Thus, identity work includes both an intrapersonal (the self, ‘Who am I?’) and an interpersonal (the other, ‘Who are we?’) process (Ruane, 2013), and it is subjectively and socially constructed. Identity work is activated by life complexities (Moore & Koning, 2015) and work-life crises and transitions (Sveningsson & Alvesson, 2003; Watson, 2008) that cause identity threat (Breakwell, 2010) or identity uncertainty (Bennett, 2021). Personal uncertainty stimulates identity work and initiates sensemaking of the self (Bennett, 2021; Mills et al., 2010) to maintain self-esteem and coherence (Ashforth et al., 2008).

Identity work and sensemaking are intertwined, mutually enactive, reciprocal processes (Bennett, 2021; Brown, 2015; Moore & Koning, 2015; Vough et al., 2020). The former is part of a broader sensemaking process, and sensemaking is inherent to identity construction (Kanji & Cahusac, 2015; Koerner, 2014; Rothausen et al., 2017; Vough et al., 2020; Weick, 1995). In identity work, the focus of sensemaking is the self (Brown, 2022; Mills et al., 2010). Identity work constitutes an ongoing sensemaking process in which self-meanings are relationally constructed (Bennett, 2021; Kreiner et al., 2006a, 2006b; Van de Ven, 2020; Vough et al., 2020) to establish a meaningful balance, or congruence, between one’s self-identity and one’s social identity (Kreiner et al., 2006a; Watson, 2008). The coaching relationship is well positioned to facilitate constructive identity work, providing a safe space to make sense of the self in relation to others (Bennett, 2021; Emson, 2016; Yip et al., 2020).

People invariably use metaphors in their everyday discussions and storytelling to express themselves (Cassell & Bishop, 2019; Prince & Forr, 2021; Smith, 2008; Thompson, 2021). Apart from enabling vivid expression, metaphors are common, indispensable conceptual tools for making sense of everyday life and understanding complex lifeworld experiences (Lakoff, 1993). The power of metaphor in making sense of one’s experiences is widely established, and metaphor is often used in research aimed at elucidating the meaning of work-life experiences (Cassell & Bishop, 2014; Flotman & Barnard, 2022; Grisoni & Page, 2010; Offstein et al., 2023). A metaphor is a symbolic expression of comparison, in which a literal object or idea is used figuratively to describe something else, implying a likeness or similarity between the two (Marshak, 1993). Metaphors are visual, verbal and psychological conceptions people use to express meaning, and using them generates new understanding (Cassell & Bishop, 2014; Flotman & Barnard, 2022; Jacobs & Heracleous, 2006). As such, metaphors are sensemaking tools, not only for the self but also for others to whom metaphors are expressed with the objective of conveying meaning.

Metaphors are often consciously created to convey meaning, but they are also implicitly part of and universally used by the cognitive unconscious to interpret work-life experiences (Marshak, 2013; Marshak et al., 2000). Ultimately, metaphors connect cognitive understanding with emotional experience. Aptly referred to as the language of the unconscious (Bennett, 2022), metaphors are useful for expressing and making sense of more obscure emotional, intuitive and transpersonal experiences that are not always available for cognitive, analytical reasoning (Marshak, 1993; Shinebourne & Smith, 2010). The visual and symbolic nature of metaphors enables conscious, cognitive sensemaking (Dunbar, 2016; Emson, 2016; Parry, 2008), and in the coaching context, metaphors are a powerful and effective means to make sense of everyday problems and experiences (Cassell & Bishop, 2019; Offstein et al., 2023). The power of using metaphors in the coaching context lies in their ability to provide vivid, memorable and emotionally arousing representations of experience (Grisoni & Page, 2010), as well as to creatively, intuitively and intentionally disrupt conventional thinking, to enable new understanding and inspire social change (Moratti, 2021). Coaches can use metaphors very effectively (Passmore, 2022) as a method of self-reflection, providing insight into unconscious intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics (Grisoni & Page, 2010) and generating new personal and social identity narratives (Moratti, 2021) for the coaching client.

Metaphors in coaching thus go beyond sensemaking, to enable creative problem-solving, inspire behaviour change and facilitate personal transformation (Bennett, 2022; Jacobs & Heracleous, 2006; Thompson, 2021). In the coaching context, metaphors may therefore offer significant potential for the coaching client to reflectively explore their identity (Emson, 2016) and to research coaching processes (Offstein et al., 2023), such as identity work.

The study included participants in senior leadership positions in a corporate setting who had participated in a coaching programme of at least six sessions. Participants were coached by certified integral coaches from diverse industries. Interviews were conducted by LS at the business premises of each participant. Being a certified integral coach, LS gained access to participants through her network of integral coaches. Acting as gatekeepers, integral coaches introduced the study to potential participants and provided the researchers with the contact details of willing participants.

Purposive sampling was used to select seven participants rich in experience of the research phenomenon and willing to share their experiences (Olivier, 2011; Ritchie et al., 2014). Inclusion criteria were being a senior leader in a corporate setting who had participated in at least six coaching sessions. Four participants were women, and participants’ ages ranged between 31 years and 49 years (the average age is 40 years). The race distribution was four whites, one Indian and two Africans. All the participants were on a senior management to executive level and hailed from various industries, including financial services (n = 3); telecommunications (n = 1), transport (n = 1); entertainment and media (n = 1); and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) (n = 1). To enhance homogeneity, participants were coached by certified integral coaches using the same coaching model. To ensure confidentiality, pseudonyms are used when referring to participants (i.e. P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6 and P7).

Data collection focused on the coaching experiences of coaching clients. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews commenced with a core question: ‘Tell me about your experience of coaching and how it transpired for you?’ This was followed by probing questions to elicit rich narratives on the coaching experience. Data saturation was reached after concluding the interviews with the seven participants. Data highlighting reflective metaphors were extracted from the transcribed interviews, and it constituted the primary data set of this study.

Participants frequently used metaphors to describe their coaching experiences. Reflective metaphors were the focus of the data analysis, because of their explanatory richness and their value in condensing information and making subjective experiences tangible and easier to work with (Sullivan & Rees, 2008). Some metaphors were generated by the participants during the interviews when reflecting on their coaching experience, and some they recalled from their coaching sessions as used by themselves and their coaches. Thematic analysis was applied from a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Clarke & Braun, 2013, 2017). Interpretations were related to the theoretical framework of identity work, sensemaking and the use of metaphors in coaching.

An application for full ethical approval was made to UNISA College of Economic and Management Sciences Research Ethics Review Committee on 13 January 2017. The ethics approval number is (2016 CEMS/IOP_087).

In the data, coaching was frequently compared to a journey of self-exploration. Participant 2 reflected that the coaching sessions entailed probing questions, leading him on a journey of deep self-exploration and self-discovery, where he faced his ‘own nonsense’. He said:

He pondered the capacity for self-reflection that he has consequently developed through being coached, that is, to continue to journey the path of self-exploration as essential for his broader life journey, where he feels less threatened by self-exploration, to the point of seeing its value:

The difficulty of the metaphoric journey of self-exploration is mitigated, and the journey is likened to moving ‘like a feather in the wind’. Like a feather in the wind, P2 yields to being moved on the journey of self-discovery: ‘It’s here now, and then the wind will blow, and then it will drift a little bit and it will touch down here, and then you’ll be there’. In yielding to the process of self-exploration, P2 implies engaging in continued self-reflection, even after coaching sessions were terminated.

Winter (2016) explains that metaphors are used to conceptualise an emotional experience. Both P2 and P5 described this journey with the self as an emotional journey:

P3 reflected on the emotional journey, indicating how difficult being coached was, because it exposed internal tension, conflicts and struggles with the self. Having these exposed, however, enabled her to be more in touch with her emotions and how her body forewarns her about her emotions:

Both P2 and P5 mention through the journey metaphor that coaching entails a process of self-exploration in which they became aware of difficult emotions, but that they had to cognitively process these, changing their way of thinking and behaving:

Another participant thus also remembers it as a valuable thinking journey:

Similarly, P1 likens the coaching journey to a more enduring self-exploration practice, which may suggest continued self-reflection after coaching terminates:

P1 realised that working with the self is not an easy, fixed or straightforward process. One needs to take time to explore all the aspects of the self, which are unexpected yet naturally part of the self. There are aspects of oneself that one is not aware of, or that one wants to ignore, because they are uncomfortable. Yet the coaching journey taught her the importance of taking time to self-reflect, and she likens the self-exploration journey to meandering:

P1 was later more open to self-exploration, and ultimately these ‘wanderings’ became a worthwhile exploration of the whole self. She said:

Beyond the coaching space, she now enjoys the self-reflective capacity to ‘meander’ and explore herself in ‘wide areas’ as an insightful self-processing endeavour.

Participants’ coaching experiences indicate how self-exploration brings into awareness aspects of the self that they previously did not confront in a conscious way. P2 used the metaphor of a chameleon to describe how coaching helped him realise the identity tension that he experienced between being himself and wanting to please others and conform to their expectations. Through being coached he became aware of how his ‘chameleon’ behaviour diminished his ability to fulfil his needs and consequently lowered his self-confidence:

This awareness of the consequences of his behaviour gave him insight into the role he plays in preserving his self-esteem. As a result, he started to take responsibility for his choices and behaviour. P2 said: ‘I was looking more for what other people were describing I needed, rather than what I knew I needed’. Being coached led him to ponder the following: ‘What is important to me? What does matter to me? What are my values?’ (P2).

Developing self-awareness is described by P5 as a wrestling process, and he compared it metaphorically to being in a pressure cooker and crawling out of his skin. He related that during coaching:

For P5, self-exploration caused extreme discomfort, because ‘having to crawl out of your own skin and look at yourself from the outside it was hard’. However, this brought self-awareness:

This ultimately gave him self-insight, which brought relief:

The self-awareness that P7 derived from the coaching experience was compared to opening a window: ‘It was almost like opening that window in your mind’. Metaphors of self-insight abound in her (P7) narrative about light and dark. These describe how through being coached she came to see herself and present herself differently in life:

This ability to be more self-aware, and its consequent insight into self-behaviour, becomes an enduring competence:

Being coached enabled participants’ intrapersonal processing, leading to self-acceptance, and it enabled interpersonal processing, which empowered participants to become more self-determined. The metaphor of the Scottish King Robert the Bruce that P1 used indicates both her self-acceptance and how this empowered her to become more self-determined in her work behaviour. In developing the metaphor, her developing self-acceptance is initially demonstrated:

She reflected on Robert the Bruce as being a leader with both positive and negative characteristics, and she realised that through being coached, she had learnt to accept her weaknesses and integrate them with her strengths. Her continued use of the metaphor of Robert the Bruce also indicates her evolving self-determination:

She explained:

The metaphor illustrates how P1, through being coached, had moved to become more self-accepting and a more self-determined, participative leader and achiever.

P3 integrated her strengths and weaknesses as she referred to the paradoxical metaphor of light and dark, and she accepted herself for who she is in the tension between light and dark:

For both P1 and P3, being coached thus enabled them to confront and accept their strengths and limitations, and in doing so they found self-acceptance and were empowered to become more self-determined. P3 used various metaphors describing her self-determination. Prominent among these are the war metaphors she used. In using these metaphors, she emphasised her agency, stating that coaching was:

She also highlighted being more self-determined in how she engages with herself, by referring to using a Samurai sword in becoming more authentic through being coached:

The progression from self-acceptance to self-determination was illustrated by P4, through the metaphors of being ‘the hero’ and engaging with life as a ‘dance’ and becoming more agentic in the way she lives life. Through being coached she came to understand that she ‘wanted to compensate, obviously, you know, to fill the gap in everyone’s life, and wanting to be that hero’, but she learns to accept herself:

This realisation led to not only self-acceptance but also an embracing of herself and her life, as reflected in the metaphor of dance: ‘I love dancing, so yeah, life is a dance. Just go with the flow’. Accepting her life with its ups and downs, mistakes and challenges led to self-determination in the way she ‘dances’ her life: ‘Yeah, go with the flow, and if you trip, you just do that in your steps and go on’.

Through various metaphors, participants described their coaching experience as reaching self-actualisation and evolving towards self-transcendence. In reflecting on his coaching experience, P2 describes himself as ‘a seed’ having landed in ‘perfect soil’ and growing into ‘a fantastic tree’. Using this strong nature-inspired metaphor of growth indicates how P2, through being coached, has discovered his potential to be independent and self-confident, to the point of expressing self-actualisation. He said:

P2 extends the metaphor to reflect how he goes beyond the limits of a singular self, describing his being ‘a fantastic tree’ and ‘a forest’. In relating and explaining his seed, tree and forest metaphor, P2 moves from self-actualisation to self-transcendence, and he articulates his interdependence as being part of a larger social whole. P3 used two interesting metaphors, which similarly reflect her experience of self-actualisation and self-transcendence during the coaching process. By comparing herself to The Jungle Book character Mowgli, she recognises how during coaching she was confronted with and challenged by key questions, tensions and conflicts related to her identity:

Through being coached she realises her own needs and overcomes ‘constantly battling with my own self’ to ultimately explain how what she refers to as the ‘Mowgli syndrome’ was transformed into a sense of independence and consequently self-actualised behaviour:

Towards the end, her metaphor progresses from self-actualising behaviour (‘to run away from the pack, or to run separately from the pack’) to self-transcending behaviour (‘build your own pack’). In a further metaphor, the idea of self-transcendence as a key coaching experience is captured by P3 when she compares herself to ‘a rock star’ and speaks of ‘being on fire’. She expresses a transformed self that is noticeable to others: ‘I don’t feel anything’s really changed, but people will say “You’re on fire” or “You’re like a rock star”’. The effect of having been coached for her thus extends from her own experience of being changed to colleagues noticing the positive change in her work relationships.

The experience of self-actualisation and self-transcendence is eloquently related by P6, when he describes how his style has changed through being coached, from being a rigid archer aiming for the bull’s eye to being more fluid and able to steer a boat with people in it in turbulent waters. The coaching experience led him to realise his independence, and that he still needs to actualise himself through goal-directed behaviour. It also revealed to him his interdependence as being part of a team. He noted that to transcend himself and consider the impact of his leadership on others, he needs to be flexible. He related the coaching discussion between himself and his coach in which he integrated the archer metaphor with the metaphor of steering a boat towards fluidity:

In this way, P6 both realises his goals and considers the ripple effect he has on others in the workplace. He said: ‘I still am incredibly rigid, but the thing is I now know’. He therefore works hard at being mindful in considering making changes to his style that would benefit others in his team. He realises that success at work is not about him, but about him in relation to others.

The findings have implications for theorising about identity work as a key process outcome in coaching, as well as for theorising about the value of using metaphor in coaching practice and research.

A limitation of the study is that interpretations were influenced by a specific theoretical framework, and they therefore offer only one perspective of the research phenomenon in contributing to the existing body of knowledge. The possibility of alternative interpretations provides scope for continued research that could adopt different theoretical perspectives. Further research could also explore the different levels of identity in identity work, namely intrapersonal, interpersonal and transpersonal identity.