Customer Reviews

Executive Coaching: Developing Managerial Wisdom in a World of Chaos

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Dr. Kilburg's book provides an interesting discussion of executive coaching, and nestles it nicely within the framework of the entire field of Human Resources Development! Case studies make for easy reading, as well as better understanding, but it is easy to see the complexity of thought behind the book's organization. There is no question that Dr. Kilburg is a scholar of the highest order. Clearly this is a reference book that can be revisited over the course of a career, as one's knowledge of the field grows, with new insights to be found with each return trip! Also, I think the many tables, figures, and models will be a resource to the thought process of coaches as they do their work, frequently without the benefit of a coach of their own! This book solves that pesky problem of where to go for high level help! I congratulate Dr. Kilburg on his fine work!

Linda Dillon Jones, Ph.D. Director of Training and Education Johns Hopkins University

At last, the executive coaching puzzle is coming into focus! More of the missing pieces have been accounted for thanks to Dr. Richard Kilburg and his insightful book on executive coaching. After reading this book, I feel like I have been made privy to a well-kept secret-psychological dynamics. Coming from a fairly traditional Industrial/Organizational Psychology (I/O) background that focuses primarily on systems, I immediately embraced the book in my quest to learn more about how unconscious psychodynamic processes influence executives' behaviours. Finally, a thoughtful, scholarly book addresses these invisible and powerful processes and ultimately makes the individual a focus in psychology.

Dr. Kilburg is also one of the first to blend Clinical Psychology, I/O Psychology, and Organizational Development and view executive coaching from a broad, holistic perspective. He provides a comprehensive 17-factor framework illustrating how systems and psychodynamic approaches can be integrated and applied to real-world issues and problems. Not only is Dr. Kilburg sensitive to the complexity and unpredictability of executives' behaviours, he provides a practical and tangible guide for coaches to learn more about how to have a meaningful impact on their behaviours.

Thank you Dr. Kilburg for writing a process-oriented book that encourages coaches to think deeply about the material and synthesize it in harmony with their own style and perspective. Because this book is not a quick fix and technique oriented, it offers the opportunity for individuals to think for themselves and put the pieces together in their own way. I invite all executive coaches or people wanting to learn about executive coaching to carefully read and reflect upon the ideas and issues presented in this book.

Tracy Cocivera, Ph.D. Candidate, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, University of Guelph

At last, the executive coaching puzzle is coming into focus! More of the missing pieces have been accounted for thanks to Dr. Richard Kilburg and his insightful book on executive coaching. After reading this book, I feel like I have been made privy to a well-kept secret-psychological dynamics. Coming from a fairly traditional Industrial/Organizational Psychology (I/O) background that focuses primarily on systems, I immediately embraced the book in my quest to learn more about how unconscious psychodynamic processes influence executives' behaviours. Finally, a thoughtful, scholarly book addresses these invisible and powerful processes and ultimately makes the individual a focus in psychology.

Dr. Kilburg is also one of the first to blend Clinical Psychology, I/O Psychology, and Organizational Development and view executive coaching from a broad, holistic perspective. He provides a comprehensive 17-factor framework illustrating how systems and psychodynamic approaches can be integrated and applied to real-world issues and problems. Not only is Dr. Kilburg sensitive to the complexity and unpredictability of executives' behaviours, he provides a practical and tangible guide for coaches to learn more about how to have a meaningful impact on their behaviours.

Thank you Dr. Kilburg for writing a process-oriented book that encourages coaches to think deeply about the material and synthesize it in harmony with their own style and perspective. Because this book is not a quick fix and technique oriented, it offers the opportunity for individuals to think for themselves and put the pieces together in their own way. I invite all executive coaches or people wanting to learn about executive coaching to carefully read and reflect upon the ideas and issues presented in this book.

Tracy Cocivera, Ph.D. Candidate, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, University of Guelph

Richard Kilburg, Ph.D. is the acknowledged preeminent scholar/practitioner of executive coaching. His work in the field of executive coaching is fundamental. As a practitioner, he consults with executives if fields as various as higher education and industrial organizations. Dr. Kilburg grounds his work in both theory and practiceby affirming that the "coach" uses his/her self as the primary tool in coaching sessions. To be an effective coach, one must have a searching and honest apraisal of oneself, one's strengths and blind spots. Dr. Kilburg takes himself and his recommendations seriously, having submitted to the kind of therapeutic regimen he urges others to take as they prepare to intervene in organizations as "coaches."

It is a sad commentary on the consulting field that many persons have attempted to develop consulting businesses after having been retired, willingly or not,from active employment without the solid psychological and personal training Dr. Kilburg's writings represent. "I don't have a job. I have some experience in the business world. I think I'll become a consultant." Such thinking imperis the coach, the client and the emerging field of executive coaching.

Luckily there are organizations creating certification procedures for persons wanting to enter this field. Dr. Kilburg's books ought to be used as texts in training to become an executive coach.

Roger Cooper, Psy.D.
President, the Society of Psychologists In Management