Leading High Impact Teams: The Coach Approach to Peak Performance (Hardcover)

by Cynder Niemela (Author), Rachael Lewis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A terrific primer for all team leaders ... use this to keep them firing at 100%. -- Mark Keough, Vice President Monster Learning, monster.com

The most comprehensive and practical book I've read in more than twenty years of working with teams. -- Marcia Reynolds, MA, M.Ed., MCC, Author of Being In the Zone and Capture the Rapture, Past President, International Coach Federation

Product Description
In today's work world, a leader capable of galvanizing a team to produce superlative results is invaluable. This book shows new team leaders the way to avoid costly trial-and-error mistakes. It inspires seasoned team leaders to leverage the "Coach Approach" to make their team experiences lighter, more synergistic and infinitely more productive. Full of practical, step-by-step activities, real life stories and anecdotes to quickly apply, you'll learn what it takes to lead or coach a team to high impact.

When you read this book:

· You'll learn what it takes to build and lead a High Impact Team.

· You'll read real stories of how other team leaders developed their High Impact Teams.

· You'll get practical examples and activities for working through the normal ups and downs of team projects.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: High Impact Publishing (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971088802
• ISBN-13: 978-0971088801
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,160,359 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, real-life team leadership in a book!, November 2, 2001

By	"as-you-like-it-coach" (Loma Linda, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This book really delivers. Many books of this type offer general guidelines without easy-to-use, practical examples and tools. This book bridges the gap between concept and practice. The examples are inspiring AND illustrative. I have been building and leading teams for over 25 years, and there resounding truths from the trenches in the pages of this book, but there is more--this book brings new applications of sound ideas, and innovative ways to see, hear, and empower any team you'd like to turn into a high-impact team. Worth every penny and every minute; I return to its very well-organized pages again and again for ideas and inspiration.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You're A Coach, You Need This Book!, October 2, 2001

By	Barney Ruffles (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews

When two master coaches, who between them have 50 years of experience, agree to share their wisdom in a practical and highly readable fashion, would you be willing to listen? And if their focus was how to create and maintain dream teams, would you be willing invest in a 200-page book? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then Leading High Impact Teams: The Coach Approach to Peak Performance by executive coaches Cynder Neimela and Rachel Lewis is definitely for you.

More coaches today are being asked to apply their results-oriented approach to groups, And while many coaches are successful with individual clients, too few have had the 100+ opportunities that these two authors have had in sharpening their work with groups, particularly using coaching to transform individuals into spectacular teams.

With an even greater number of organizations relying on teams to achieve their corporate goals, there is little room for experimentation or trial and error approaches. The authors of this book have provided hands on guidance for coaches by packing the book with specific, usable tools, ideas, assessments, checklists, key questions to ask, activities and case studies. No matter what stage you are in with team development, this book will take you from the murky novice to the accomplished practitioner.

This isn't a book about how to coach individuals within a team, although the authors do provide guidance here; this book is about how to create a coaching culture within a team; how to transform the attitudes and behaviours of the group to help the team achieve a real competitive advantage.

Until I read this book most of my work with teams was based on limited experience and voracious reading of virtually every published team-work tome. I struggled to help teams deal with "meetings where nothing seems to get done," "agreements that occurred with no follow through," "personality conflicts," "team members feeling pressured to take on more than they can handle," and many instances of team members "talking at each other instead of to each other."

Leading High Impact Teams uses anecdotes and stories that I would swear came from transcripts of my team coaching efforts. The toughness of some teams often led me to question my role and caused me to engage in activities that (with hindsight) seemed to conflict with coaching. Fortunately each chapter of this book offers specific help in the form of a coaching role overview, specific activities a coach can use to assist the team, and case stories that show how the ideas and reality are integrated.

As a result of reading this book, my confidence as a team coach has improved considerably and we have added it our best books on coaching list at ... An additional bonus of this book is that the authors use nautical metaphors to help readers navigate through the various concepts and examples. Even the format of the book provides "anchors" in the margins to help readers chart their course. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to go beyond just staying afloat as a team coach. This book will help you navigate by the stars and help your team captain and crew gain exceptional wealth as a result of the journey.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and Practical, October 3, 2001

By	Christy White, VP e-business Solutions, Prude... (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews

This is fantastic reading with invaluable insight for executive managers committed to generating results on their teams. Amidst the mirad of advice out there--this should be required reading for team members and executives leading teams. Top 10 High Impact Team Practices, team phase development and weathering storms are among the most practical "how to" examples in the book. There are sectors of information---"distinctions" and "inquiries" that are perfect to use in team meetings as catalysts for problem solving/solution creation. Brilliantly done, wonderfully concise and easily implementable.