Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others is an insightful, thought-provoking guide that dissects the art and science of coaching.
Beginning with theories, concepts and models, the book moves on to consider rigorous methods of practice and self-observation in a relationship of mutual trust, respect and freedom of expression. It will probe you to rethink how you relate to your clients and your staff, how you produce long-term excellent performance in yourself and how you can become more effective in helping others to achieve their goals
This third edition includes a new chapter on communication and a new central case study that runs throughout the book to illustrate the impact of the themes and concepts discussed in the book.
Coaching, 3rd edition is a rich learning resource guide for new and experienced coaches who want to challenge their methods of partnering with clients. It is also an inspiring guide for training managers and leaders, human resource development managers and general managers who want to develop their teams.
This is heavy reading, but well worth it. Remeber your college philosophy classes and associated textbooks? Well, Flaherty takes the beauty and probing questions of philosphy and creates practical use of them by applying them to the art of coaching. Flaherty relies heavily on a few of his favorite modern philosophers, and takes their discoveries and theories and converts them into assessment models, enrollment techniques, etc. What you end up with is a very lucid, free flowing book that allows the coach to see the client as a human being with varying motivations, competencies, agendas, etc., and frees us from the trap of attempting to coach our clients into becoming ourselves (someone with our values, motivations, etc.); instead allowing them to grow into their own self-correcting, self-generating person. One caveat, this book looks just as much at the growth of the coach as it does at the growth of the client. In fact, the author asserts that failed coaching often stems from a coaches inability to completely appreciate the client for who s/he is (their motivations, world interpretation, etc.); this falls under the topic of Relationship in the book, and essentially discusses the meaning and importance of mutual appreciation, respect and freedom of expression. He advocates self discovery and continued growth of the coach; allowing yourself to learn from your client while they learn from you.
In summary, the book moves us away from simply using techniques and models as our "catch all" coaching tools and moves us towards understanding the unique human being, their unique situation, their unique drive, their unique interpretation of the world, etc. Although the author does provide some assessment model examples, don't expect a step by step coaching program from this work. The author throws out ideas to stimulate our own thinking about ourselves and our clients' needs. It is left up to us to put the theories, suggestions and ideas into a workable form that can be used in our coaching practices.
A note on the heavy, textbook quality of this work: It is just that. It is an amazing, thought provoking work, but it's college textbook like quality (the author does begin to throw in humor around page 90 or so) can be a little rough to get through (hence the 4 out of 5 stars).
I am amazed at the strength of Flaherty's first effort. The well-designed exercises he presents are amazingly effective, and Flaherty's understanding of human behavior is eminently practical. A must-read for any coaching practitioner or anyone who wants a deeper understanding of how to make changes in his/her own life or the lives of others.
I am a coach and i train people into coaching, and I use this book and referr to Flaherty as one good manual to get a frame on how to work with people and which way to build with them the coaching interaction, objectives and achievements. It is also very clear, has a lot of visual maps, and it's quite accurate too when it comes to issues definitions and their origins. It' not the complete guidebokk of coaching but very helpful indeed.I do suggest any coach to have it among the basic important manuals.
Product Details :
- Paperback: 223 pages
- Publisher: Routledge; 3 edition (July 13, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1856178161
- ISBN-13: 978-1856178167
- Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 6.1 x 9 inches
More Details about Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others,3rd Edition
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