Abstract

Purpose: This study provides a culturally grounded conceptual reinterpretation of Korean coaching leadership by building upon psychometrically validated findings of the Korean Stowell-based Coaching Leadership Scale (K-SCLS) and examines how Korean cultural mechanisms shape leadership dynamics in SME contexts. Research Method: A secondary theoretical reinterpretation design grounded in selective literature review was employed. Drawing on a foundational validation study of 300 Korean SME employees (Lee, 2025), this manuscript critically examines the historical formation of Western coaching's non-directive identity and reinterprets the validated bifactor structure of K-SCLS through Korean cultural frameworks. Results: Four main findings emerged. First, Western coaching's non-directive principle is a historically contingent construct shaped by humanistic commitment and regulatory reinforcement rather than a universal imperative. Second, bifactor modeling revealed that the general coaching leadership factor accounted for 90.1% of explained common variance (ECV = .901), substantially exceeding Reise et al.'s (2013) 70% threshold for essential unidimensionality. Specific factor omega coefficients (ωS = .044–.157) fell uniformly below the .20 threshold, indicating that subdimension scores contribute negligible unique reliable variance beyond the general factor. Third, Direction Facilitation is reconceptualized as culturally adaptive structure provision operating through uncertainty reduction and collective reframing. Fourth, the near-unidimensional integration pattern provides a theoretically grounded basis for proposing horizontal and vertical peer coaching ecosystems as frameworks for future empirical investigation. Conclusion: Korean coaching leadership constitutes a near-unidimensional integrated construct whose subdimensions function as culturally inseparable facets of a holistic leadership orientation. Jeong, uri consciousness, and chemyon are proposed as theoretically plausible interpretive lenses for this integration pattern, and peer coaching ecosystems represent theoretically grounded extensions requiring empirical validation.