The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

I've had this book since late 2017 and I'm halfway through reading it. I only wish I'd read it much sooner! I bought it at a time when I had plans to start some kind of coaching programme for clients of my accounting firm, but with no formal coaching skills or training I didn't know where to start. As it turns out, I spent 2018 laying the foundations in my firm for all other services which would free up my time to get into coaching. Now, in 2019, I am venturing into coaching with clients and other accountants and this book is exactly what I needed to face my challenge, to build a structure around coaching sessions and to give my clients clarity on how coaching works and what can be achieved if they commit to the structure of the programme. An excellent, easy and practical read and suitable for anyone who wants to get into coaching themselves or others, or for managers looking to adopt a coaching habit with their team. Highly recommend! Michael breaks down 7 critical coaching questions that will revolutionise the way you engage with your peers and those you currently manage (but will soon be coaching!) It doesn’t just span your working life, but I’ve found it has helped in my personal life too; e.g., when a friend confides in me and is looking for help or a sounding board. The book is really quick to read. It’s concise enough that I didn’t find myself thinking, “yeah, yeah, I’ve got the reason why now get to how I improve in area x” yet it gave me enough that I felt I could go out and practice with it. One would have to be blind not to see the power in what is being said and in an era where there is enough momentum to confine ‘Command and control’ style leadership to the 80’s where it belongs, this book couldn’t be more timely.

Good book. It's packed full of useful information that you can use in a pragmatic sense. Doesn't try to be over complex. It's to the point and will be useful for anyone who has a role where coaching is needed.

This is a great book with practical advice for building a coaching habit. The coaching tools in this book are small enough to practise daily and make a real difference in conversations.

This book was four years in the making and yet reads in an entertaining, enlightening and informative way that hides the craft of a great writer. It is very well supported by a website that through a series of sketches and videos supports the learning. Otherwise we all too easily forget this stuff. You may like me not have the stomach for the research into the sometimes obscure source material that supports the principles used in this book. Indeed the author credits his researcher by name throughout the book which makes for a reliable and meaningful read. In the style of the great author he moves from source via sorcery to the "secret sauce" that turns this book from "good to great". This is the same author who has so far raised 400,000 dollars through his book "End malaria", so I am not alone in rating this author. The book covers 7 powerful coaching questions to save us from the bear traps we all blunder into. Resisting the urge to provide the solution is particularly tricky. All the questions are gently introduced with warmth and humour, so it is never a begrudging read. Personally, I read the book in parallel with a more challenging book which for me gave this book a bit more bite and motivated me to stick with the other book. I sometimes question myself about why I read so many of these books for small incremental improvements to my performance but the author reads 100 such books a year and lists a selection at the end with the learning that he received from them, I am not alone in my curiosity.

I've read many books in this review series, and many more that haven't made it to a review. I don't say these words lightly. THIS IS POSSIBLY THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ. Since I started my career in sales in my mid-20s, I've been fascinated with the power of a good coach. Although in my early call centre days I didn't realise it, I had a manager who was also coaching me. Properly coaching me by letting me find things out for myself. I didn't realise this was what he was doing until many years later and only after finishing this book (and writing these very words, if I'm being honest) did I realise that what could be perceived as laziness by some we worked with (Simon Miller, Ben Thurstan, Brett McKenna, Kirsty Wilson were all also coached by Colin) was actually highly effective coaching. Asking more questions is a great start to coaching but here Michael distills things down in to seven questions that will enable you to coach efficiently, effectively and (importantly) in a way that is low impact on you. Used regularly, in order, these seven questions will allow you to become a much more effective coach whilst putting a lot less pressure on yourself. The questions are labelled The Kick-start, The Awe, The Focus, The Foundation, The Lazy, The Strategic and The Learning questions. Each of the questions is backed by both illustrations of how to implement them but also by solid research on the science behind them. I've already started using some of these questions in my coaching sessions and they truly are brilliant. My biggest take away (one that's hard to implement at first) is to Tame The Advice Monster. I coach my team to listen more and talk less, yet as a coach I was very keen to solve problems FOR (or with) my team - rather than performing my proper job of allowing them to solve it themselves. Michael - kudos to you. I'm a new convert and evangelist.

A concise but useful book that helped me to conceptualise the struggles I was experiencing with my boss at work. I liked the simple structure, and the author’s gift for condensing what must have been a lot of research into simple suggestions. There’s nothing revolutionary here, but it’s sensible and easy to follow.

I read this book in preparation for a coaching course. Being new to coaching this was a great introduction to coaching and asking powerful questions. I liked that it was underpinned by research findings, to demonstrate why these questions really work. Additionally, the author offers book suggestions for further reading, which I appreciate. Coming from a help profession background, I really liked to see the drama triangle and how we can get stuck in these roles! A great reminder for anyone that offers advice too quickly (myself included). Why not 5 stars? Even though, I appreciated the very practical side of the book and the storytelling elements, I would have liked to gain more insights into how emotions can get in the way of actions and how to work with emotions as a coach.

Eye opening and brilliant book. I would recommend it to anyone struggle to break through the noise of coaching, mentoring or management.

Not worth buying. Absolutely no depth to this book. It repeats itself continuously in a different way.

A great book, however, I still think the GROW model is more relevant. This book was talking more about the conversation techniques - and also loved how he inserted Karpman Drama Triangle which could happen during coaching, yet the solution was missing in the book i.e. The Empowerment Dynamic (TED) by David Emerald.

Great book to read in leisure time

Non trovando l'edizione italiana ho acquistato quella in inglese, anche per esercitarmi. Lo trovo un testo molto utile, pratico e l'autore è molto divertente. Facile da leggere ed efficace.

Love it! Highly recommended for managers or people keen on acquiring coaching knowledge and put effective coaching into practice.