Customer Reviews

Coaching Leaders: Guiding People Who Guide Others (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)

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Dan White has written a terrific book that gets inside the "black box" of executive coaching to describe how behavior change and growth can occur at work. This book is informed by a mastery of the literature on leadership and by the author's own savvy about organizational life. His book is worth buying just for the summary chapter on "What is Leadership." From that excellent starting point the author goes on to describe the practice of coaching in detailed, but highly accessible terms. While other books have extolled the virtues of coaching and the results it can bring, none, in my experience, give as good a feel to the reader for how a coach actually goes about facilitating behavior change and growth. Through many case examples, Dan White shows how a coach's skills and techniques impact the dynamics of behavior. He offers a valuable window into how a skilled coach uses questioning, listening, pattern recognition, and reframing to challenge the client to grow as a manager and leader. His chapter on coaching themes gives a very valuable overview of typical coaching assignments and helps the reader understand the broad applicability of executive coaching. I highly recommend this book for both beginning and experienced coaches and for organizational sponsors of coaching who want to gain an in-depth understanding of how the process really works.

In an engaging, accessible style, Dan White communicates a sophisticated, true-to-life understanding of the coaching process that comes from his immersion in the field. In my favorite chapter, "The Nature of Coaching," Dan restores thinking to a primary position as the necessary ingredient in behavior change. He connects the dots so that we recognize the centrality of thinking - discovery, capture, recognition, refinement, repetition - and dialogue - listening, questioning, investigating - as the bedrock of both leading and coaching. We gain an appreciation for something as simple as leaders making a conscious decision to set aside time for thinking, and as complex as seeing learning to think as the ultimate take-away from a coaching experience.

Because Dan is very clear and passionate about what he thinks, and because he provides us with cogent examples from his coaching experiences, he offers us a terrific education in the many facets of coaching leaders in today's corporate environment. Because Dan is obviously well read, he brings the perspectives of a wide array of disciplines to the discussion. And yet, true to his credo, he presents his thinking - always fresh and alive, in ways that stimulate and provoke the reader to think freely and creatively about the issues at hand, inviting us to participate in the dialogue. Thank you, Dan.

I found this book very helpful for understanding the coaching process. The book is easy to follow and good for anyone considering getting into the field or for someone who wants to understand how the process works and effects clients.