Customer Reviews

Coach Your Teen to Success: 7 Simple Steps to Transform Relationships and Enrich Lives

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What parent wouldn't like to make the sometime rocky teen years into a time where you can really empower your teen to become an effective adult? I consider this book a must-read for anyone who wants to parent their teen with heart, head and soul. This book is jam-packed with exercises, tips and thought-provoking questions that will help parents and anyone who has a special teen in their life. I found the advice to be on-target and insightful, and the information is well-organized and clearly presented. I especially liked the "workbook" quality of Coach Your Teen to Success; throughout the book there are many exercises (conveniently designed with spaces for answers) to help you fully synthesize the wisdom of this book (e.g. how to transform questions into "positive whys" and a Parenting Styles Self-Assessment). The book is written in an inspiring and clear style and offers concrete suggestions for changing the relationships between teens and parents. The guidelines on how to be a conscious listener and how to change criticisms into affirming words were two areas that I could begin working on right away. I'm looking forward to developing deeper and better relationships with the teens in my life, thanks to this book.

Kids don't come with instructions, but "Coach Your Teen to Success" is the next best thing! I wish I had had this practical book when my daughters were preteens. My life would've been so much easlier if I had known how to talk to teens in order for them to want to listen AND how to listen in order for them to talk. I particularly benefited from the Insightful Questioning step/section. Now my conversations with my young adults are delightful and meaningful. I highly recommend this book - easy to read and very effective. I liked it so well, I read it TWICE!

To any parent who wonders how to communicate with their teens, and what choices their teens are going to make when the parent is not there, a sigh of relief is in store. "I would give anything in the world to be able to talk with my teen, or better yet, have my teen talk with me," is a lament often heard from parents of teens.

One of the many gifts Barbara McRae offers in Coach Your Teen to Success is her ability to provide practical, step by step information for both parents and teens, not only to (re)connect, but to rediscover the heart to heart bond and energy so crucial in the parent teen relationship. A must read for all parents.

Barbara McRae's approach is as refreshing as it is practical, and goes straight to the heart of what matters. The author presents simple straightforward steps, with exercises included to strengthen both parent and teen confidence and clarity.

In Part 1: Setting the Coaching Foundation, the author offers six
compelling chapters, including (1)What Parents Want; and (2) What Teenagers Want From Their Parents. Particularly powerful is the exercise Ms. McRae presents: write down the commonalities you discover in what both you and your teen want. The consideration of what each of us want from one another is a powerful wakeup call--how many of us have forgotten how difficult those teen years were, and what we longed for from our parents? And, as parents, we now have the tools to clarify our own wants for our children, presented by the author.

In Part 2, Clearing the Path, the four chapters include (9) Top 10 Qualities of Successful Parent-Teen Relationships and (10)Three Parenting Pitfalls. Grounded in the manageable, supportive and nurturing approach, so typical of this author, parents are empowered and strengthened. We all need these kinds of tools and encouragement.

The Seven Simple Steps presented in Part 3 are also elegant and reality based, as in the preceding chapters. Once again, the author demonstrates and offers the reader the essence, the foundation, of her approach to the parent teen relationship: love, devotion, dignity and respect, partnered with depth and practicality. Ms. McRae offers us the critical tools to demonstrate and manifest superb communication and connection, not only with our teens, but with each other. Among the glories of this book are its down to earth clarity and do-ability.

As parents, we perceive this world to be challenging and complex, for ourselves, and especially for our teens. Coach Your Teen To Success provides the map we need to navigate the precarious terrain, and is enormously encouraging and functional. Use the tools, and get results!

Barbara McRae has lovingly provided us with a solid brick by brick foundation each one of us needs to connect with the children we love, to best serve our children, and in turn, serve our highest selves, the best part of who we are.

I read Barbara McRae's new book as an Author, Coach, and Mom. "Coaching Your Teen to Success" reflects Barbara's deep appreciation for a parent's need for peace of mind, joy and satisfaction. The coaching approach she uses sets a new bar for how parents can learn to interact with and influence their children from the standpoint of mutual respect and authenticity. By setting a coaching foundation and using tried and tested coaching skills, readers can evolve to a new level of relationship, leadership, and modeling as 'parent coach'.

The workbook format is a proven way to get past the motivation-only phase of so many self-help books and Barbara's simple style makes the material easily accessible. She covers a broad range of topics: from what teens want from parents, to situational awareness -'what needs to be accomplished in a given context', to parenting pitfalls.

Readers will come away with new ways of looking at their situations and the ability to take new and different actions. Isn't that what we all need if we don't want the same situations repeating themselves? Get this book and you'll have a first class teen coach on your team!

Lea Belair
www.leapcoaching.com
www.walkonwaterthebook.com

When we want to obtain the right to drive a car, we need to get a license. This requires us to take a hands-on driving test plus a written exam, yet when we become parents we don't even get an instruction manual! Thanks to Barbara McRae, we now have a valuable resource on how to bring out the best in our children, especially in their most challenging years--their teens!

I salute Barbara for her keen insight into showing us where we may be going wrong and how we can correct it. Highly recommended!

Zev Saftlas, founder of EmpoweringMessages.com

Without a doubt one of the best guides for parents of teens and pre-teens available today! Expertly written by Barbara McRae, parent, mentor, coach, and founder of Teen Frontier International, Coach Your Teen To Success helps you guide your children through the changes, challenges, and choices they face as teens. Just as valuable, this book shows you how to foster a healthy, positive relationship with your teenager.

I like how Barbara dives right in. As a parent, she knows how busy you are, so she doesn't waste your time -- she gets to the point fast and starts with a list every parent can relate to: "What Parents Want." Right away, she provides space in the book for you to write down your thoughts, ideas and observations. The next chapter follows logically: "What Teenagers Want From Their Parents." Each point is described clearly and succinctly. Again, you'll find space to write down your own observations.

The rest of the book continues to follow logically, taking you step by step through relevant topics, including changes (your teenager's AND your own), pitfalls, the heart connection, and really listening. Coach Your Teen is highly interactive; as you read, you're given ample opportunities to personalize each topic to get the maximum mileage out of the clear advice presented.

The appendices cover additional vital areas, including teen suicide prevention and a section to help you start more meaningful conversations with your teen. Unlike some books out there, everything here is timely. Barbara skillfully explains the "evolution in teen parenting" -- a MUST read. Understanding this evolution is one of the keys to building a solid relationship with your teen. I especially appreciate Barbara's emphasis on mutual respect. As she accurately points out, guilt tactics once used on us will not work on today's teens.

If you want to understand your teen, help your teen, and build and maintain a solid relationship with your child as he or she grows through the teen years, get this book. It's an indispensable guide that will smooth your paths and strengthen the parent/teen bond.

--Graciela Sholander, http://dreamitdoit.net

As an Author, Coach, and Motivational Speaker I read a lot of books about people, their motivations, and their relationships. Coach Your Teen to Success is an outstanding guide for you to build, strengthen, and enhance your relationships with teens. Whether the teens are yours (blessings on you because I remember what a challenge I was in those years), or you work with teens, or for any variety of reasons you have to deal with teens on a regular basis you should read and use this book. Coach Your Teen to Success is great and I give it an A+.

I really like how Barbara structured Coach Your Teen to Success into three building blocks to prepare you to use the tools she provides.

Part One is Setting the Coaching Foundation. Here you will take a look at what both parents and teens want in a relationship. You'll work past the natural resistance to change and learn the six stages of change. Finally you will learn to ask questions of your teen and about your teen using a positive framework that works to bring you closer and builds connection.

Part Two will look at how you parent your teen. Are you participative, permissive, or authoritarian? At different points in relating to your teen any one of the three may be useful and you'll learn which style best helps you to coach your teen to success. Next you'll look at the top ten qualities of success parent-teen relationships and the finish part two with three potential parenting pitfalls and how to identify and deal with them when they crop up.

Part Three is the seven coaching steps;

Heart Connection
Coaching Presence
Conscious Listening
Insightful Questioning
Affirming Words
Supportive Communication
Facilitating Growth

Finally McRae wraps up with a brief epilogue that re-iterates, reinforces, and emphasizes that this is different, it will take time, and if you follow the seven simple steps you will coach your teen to success.

I highly recommend that you get a copy of McRae's Coach Your Teen to Success and refer to it often to help you and your teen build a great relationship!

Kevin Decker
www.KevinDecker.com