Moreau, Fabien <br/><br/>
The bifurcation of executives-turned-coaches: A Foucauldian perspective beyond the norms of career transition in managerial theoretical models 

 -  2021.<br/>							 
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<br/><br/> The career transition experience of executives-turned-coaches can be characterized as a bifurcation. Taking a Foucauldian perspective, we analyze the underlying subjectivation process of this career transition using twenty-five life narratives. This exploratory research shows that the career as an apparatus of power has effects including professional overinvestment and difficulties and dissonance at work. These effects caused a saturation (even an exhaustion) that fostered a realization followed by a bifurcation. Experiencing this bifurcation as a crisis led our interviewees to become coaches. The analysis of this complex process justifies the sociological perspective of the bifurcation, which goes beyond the career transition norms posited by managerial theoretical models. Our grounded theorizing offers indispensable analytical support for aspiring coaches. Furthermore, it can help HR managers recruit coaches and is a tool for managing career transitions.