Customer Reviews

Adaptive Coaching: The Art and Practice of a Client-Centered Approach to Performance Improvement

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Over the past decade, the concept of coaching in the business world has become so ingrained that it's part of the landscape. A wide range of conversations, methods of feedback delivery, and relationships have been accepted as coaching in a rather loose collection of techniques...and results. As we move into an increasingly challenging period for employers, leaders must become substantially more effective at this process we describe as coaching. A whole new generation of leaders must be taught, coached, and brought to a higher level of performance.

Bacon and Spears, experienced in coaching more than 2,000 individual clients in Fortune 500 companies, share their knowledge and experience. Their researched-based approach emphasizes the skills needed by coaches and that coaching styles must be adapted to what the client needs. The eight styles they identify are directive (teacher, parent, manager, philosopher) and non-directive (facilitator, counselor, colleague, mentor). This model alone will expand, deepen, and enrich the work done by the vast majority of coaches in the corporate world.

The book offers even more, delivering checklists, assessment tools, tips and tools, and a wealth of sample coach-client dialogues. Recognizing the special opportunities the future will hold, the authors include insights into coaching across cultures, across generations, as well as coaching women, minorities, and C-level executives.

An epilogue with even more perspectives adds value to this volume, as do the reference section and comprehensive index. This is not a book for readers who simply want to gain a few insights into improving their coaching effectiveness. You'll learn, but you'll be overwhelmed. Adaptive Coaching is like a college textbook on the topic. It's a heavy, deep, and thorough treatment with relatively small type. The $39.95 price suggests that this is more than the average airplane reading management book...and it is. If you're serious about the critical and fine art of coaching in the complicated corporate environment, you'll gain considerable knowledge, insight, and growth from this book.

Side note: I am the author of Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People. As a workforce futurist, I see what's coming... including a dangerous dearth of leadership. Application of the principles in this book will help today's leaders strengthen each other and the next generation of leaders.

What I like about this book are the concrete examples they give of "almost" coaching and best coaching. The best coaching book I've read. Recommended it to all laypeople looking to be better coaches.

As someone who seeks to improve their coaching skills, Bacon & Spear provide great advice on how to be a great coach, but from the client's perspective. If we want to be successful as a coach, we need to deliver value to our client and provide them the tools they need in the way they want them to be delivered. Bacon & Spear remind us that our clients need to drive this process in terms of making sure we coach in the style they prefer so that they are most open to our suggestions and advice.

This book is full of valuable tools, helpful scenarios, and useful suggestions on what to do in several different types of situations with different types of clients. It is obvious that they have a wealth of experience that can be ours to tap in order to be the most effective executive coach for our clients.

Author, "Trust is Everything"

Much important information in this book is contained in tables, all of which are difficult to read, and some of which cannot be read at all. if the publisher wants to charge such a high price for a digital book, the least he can do is test the formattimg to ensure that his customers can at least read the whole book.

if you are unfortunate enough to buy this edition, prepare to be frustrated as you try to change font sizes and pan through the tables in vain.

Adaptive Coaching reveals how the best coaches know how to
use different models of coaching to help their client reach
their highest potential.