Coach on the Desktop (CoTD)
COACH on the DESKTOP (CoTD)
The currently unpublished Coach on the Desktop (CotD) was an online leadership development tool designed to strengthen leaders’ capacity for sound judgement in everyday decision making.
Where instruments such as the Leadership Judgement Indicator (LJI) provide structured insight into leadership preferences and capability, the CotD supported the ongoing development and internalisation of leadership judgement through repeated application in real workplace situations.
Grounded in the Formula 4 Leadership model and informed by contingency-based leadership research, the CotD provided a principle-driven framework for analysing leadership decisions involving people, tasks and organisational context.
Users were guided through a structured sequence of non-directive Leadership Judgement Questions that examined factors such as:
• the importance and urgency of the decision
• the technical demands of the task
• the capability, motivation and experience of those involved
• the degree of trust, disagreement and developmental opportunity present.
Based on this analysis, the CotD identified a best-bet leadership approach and explained the reasoning that underpinned it. The tool did not remove individual autonomy or responsibility; rather, it made the decision logic explicit, transparent and open to reflection.
The CotD was developmental rather than psychometric in nature. It did not generate standardised scores. Instead, its purpose was to help leaders refine their discernment by making habitual assumptions visible, challenging over-reliance on preferred styles, and strengthening the alignment between leadership behaviour, task requirements and people needs.
A central feature of the CotD was its cumulative history function. Each use created a record of the decisions analysed, the judgement questions answered, and the leadership approach selected. This provided objective material for reflective review and coaching discussion, enabling patterns of judgement to be identified over time.
For this reason, the CotD was particularly effective when used alongside leadership coaching, mentoring and development programmes. It sustained learning between sessions, supported behavioural integration, and accelerated the transfer of leadership theory into practice.
Used individually, the CotD helped leaders embed disciplined judgement in daily decision making. Used collectively within organisations, it promoted a shared leadership language, greater consistency of approach, and improved confidence and coherence across leadership teams.
Together with the LJI and related Formula 4 Leadership resources, the Coach on the Desktop formed a complementary vehicle for the development of reflective, principled and context-sensitive leadership judgement. It is currently unpublished. The User Guide is provided for educational and academic purposes only. No other rights are granted to those who download it.
Important notice: This User Guide is provided for information and educational use only - no other rights are granted. If you choose to download or use it (or any other materials on this website), you do so entirely at your own discretion and risk. You remain responsible for your decisions and actions, and the authors and website owners cannot accept liability for outcomes arising from use of the material, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Finally, because this is an older working document, some screenshots and imagery reflect an earlier design style.