The Little Book of Coaching: Motivating People to Be Winners [Hardcover]

Ken Blanchard (Author), Don Shula (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2001

Are the people who report to you giving you their best? Is each individual on your team performing to his or her fullest potential?

For more than thirty years, renowned business consultant and bestselling author Ken Blanchard and legendary NFL coach Don Shula have motivated teams to peak performances. In their classic, authoritative work on coaching, Everyone's a Coach, they distilled their rich collective experience down to its key elements and shared their secrets for inspiring others to greatness.

Now, by popular demand, Blanchard and Shula have created The Little Book of Coaching, capturing the essence of their classic in this indispensable motivational gem--a gift to their readers and fans.

At the heart of this book is a simple acronym that describes the qualities of an effective leader:

Conviction-driven--Never compromise your beliefs

Overlearning--Practice until it's perfect

Audible-ready--Know when to change

Consistency--Respond predictably to performance

Honesty-based--Walk your talk

Using a highly effective "tag-team" approach, Blanchard and Shula impart the five leadership secrets behind this acronym. Shula tells you how each coaching concept worked on the field, and then Blanchard explains how you can apply each strategy in a leadership situation.

Instructive and inspirational, The Little Book of Coaching is the essential handbook that will teach you how to unleash excellence in anyone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In brief paragraphs and anecdotes, business guru Blanchard and NFL coach Shula offer wisdom on how to help people excel. The advice is sound, if simple: "Avoid being a `leave alone and zap' manager and use... praising more." While some of Blanchard and Shula's fans may find this book indispensable, other readers may seek better-developed material. Given the authors' reputations and the advertising and publicity plans, however, this slim volume should fly out of the stores, at least initially.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"If you need to help someone succeed who's important to you, read this book. It's a coaching winner!" -- Raymond Floyd, PGA Golf Professional

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness; 1 edition (January 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066621038
• ISBN-13: 978-0066621036
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Few people have influenced the day-to-day management of people and companies more than Ken Blanchard. A prominent, sought-after author, speaker, and business consultant, Dr. Blanchard is universally characterized by his friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful, and compassionate individuals in business today. Ken is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world and is respected for his years of groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.

Dr. Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California. In addition to being a renowned speaker and consultant, Ken also spends time as a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he is a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees.

Ken has received many awards and honors for his contributions in the fields of management, leadership, and speaking. The National Speakers Association awarded him its highest honor, the "Council of Peers Award of Excellence." He was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training magazine and Lakewood Conferences, and he received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International. Ken also received The Thought Leadership Award for continued support of work-related learning and performance by ISA--The Association of Learning Providers. Ken has been inducted into Amazon's Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 best-selling authors of all time. The business school at Grand Canyon University bears his name. In addition, Ken teaches students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego.

Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, Ken received a master's degree from Colgate University, and a bachelor's and PhD from Cornell University. An avid golfer, Ken belongs to the Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Little in So Many Ways, April 16, 2001

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Little Book of Coaching: Motivating People to Be Winners (Hardcover)

I began to read this book with great expectations because I hold both Blanchard and Shula in such high regard. Perhaps my expectations were unrealistic but I had hoped for some penetrating insights; instead, I found recycled material from previous publications. Shula is among the greatest football coaches ever but has also achieved great success in an equally competitive environment, the restaurant business, so I had hoped for some of his observations about that. None. Blanchard is among the most innovative thinkers about business and presumably sees all manner of subtle but significant correlations between a great CEO and a great coach. None. From a marketing standpoint, the book's concept is clever. In terms of execution, borrowing a situation from football, it is a fumble on the authors' own goal line.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars In Praise of Pursuing Perfection!, January 4, 2002

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Little Book of Coaching: Motivating People to Be Winners (Hardcover)

Seldom has a book fallen so far short of the philosophy it espouses. Save your time and your money by reading another book on coaching.

"C.O.A.C.H." is the acronym that encompasses this book's brief content (probably less than 15,000 words):

C is for conviction ("Have a common vision and everyone will begin to move in the same direction." "Beliefs come true." " . . . a good coach provides the direction and concentration for performers' energies . . . ." "If you don't seek perfection, you can never reach excellence." "Lacking something to uplift their hearts when difficulties arise, their minds will not be equal to the task.")

O is for overlearning (" . . . get overprepared and help your people do the same." "Perfection happens only when the mechanics are automatic." "People generally respond well to leaders who have high expectations and genuine confidence in them.").

A is for audible-ready ("Prepare well with a plan -- then expect the unexpected and be ready to change that plan." "Audibles are . . . strategies your team knows about and has practiced thoroughly . . . .").

C is for consistency ("Respond predictably to performance." " . . . use redirect and praising more." "Mistakes cannot be tolerated.").

H is for honesty ("unquestionable integrity" "genuine and sincere" "Never ask your people to do more than you are willing to do." " . . . genuine faith [in God] is eminently practical.").

As a summary: "Who believed in you?" "How do you create that spark of self-recognition in others?" "It's about your believing in someone." "And then doing whatever it takes to help that person to his or her very best.")

The book itself offers little more than aphorisms. There are a few football examples. There are even fewer business examples. Examples from other contexts are almost nonexistent. This book would have been better with exercises for readers, questions to answer, and more relevant examples.

Personally, I disagree with the point that perfection should be the vision. Perfection could be a useful goal for an empowering vision, such as the one that the Salvation Army has.

The main benefit I got from the book was thinking through the way that companies fail to prepare for predictable alterations in circumstances, in the way that football teams do with audibles. Using scenarios to think through the future is relatively new to all but a few organizations. Clearly, this major lack will continue to harm organizations in the increasingly volatile social and economic climate of today.

If you have read The One Minute Manager and have seen and heard a top coach in action, you can skip this book.

Provide an example that others can easily understand and follow!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very brief, May 13, 2005

By 

Nata - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Little Book of Coaching: Motivating People to Be Winners (Hardcover)

It's a very brief book, small size, big print, quotations taking whole pages. While it covers some good ideas, it lacks meat. It can serve as a refresher, but definitely not a comprehensive coaching sourcebook.