Effective Coaching: Lessons from the Coach's Coach (Paperback)

by Myles Downey (Author) "'Henry! How are you?'..." (more)
Key Phrases: Self Two, Self One, Level One (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A pragmatic and passionate guide that establishes the many benefits of coaching in order to create a working environment for individuals and organizations to ensure that both fulfill their full potential.

About the Author
Myles Downey is widely regarded as one of the foremost business coaches in Europe whose aim is to help others create work so that it is productive, fulfilling and a joy. He has worked with some of the most successful organizations in the Western hemisphere, across Europe, North and South America and in the former Soviet Union, and in a variety of businesses including professional service firms, banking, manufacturing, oil and gas, brewing and distilling, retailing and information technology. Myles is Director of Studies at The School of Coaching, which he established in the UK in association with the Work Foundation (formerly The Industrial Society), with the aim of "developing great coaches who can transform the performance of individuals and teams in organizations". He studied architecture and practiced in Dublin where he read a book by Tim Gallwey (The Inner Game of Tennis) which led him to coach, initially in sport and later in business. He was also the founding member of a small, successful consultancy firm in London which the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged in 1993 and in 1995 as the leading provider of Executive Coaching in the UK. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors in London. His recent engagements include: coaching key individuals and the leadership team in a £300m construction project, coaching the Country Managing Partner and senior partners in the East European Region of a top 5 Accountancy Practice and developing the coaching ability of senior managers in the Senior Civil Service in the UK. Myles Downey lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Texere; 3 edition (October 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587991721
• ISBN-13: 978-1587991721
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #480,450 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Coaching, April 10, 2002

By	Karl (England, Great Britain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Coaching (Orion Business Toolkit) (Paperback)

Having trailed along on the business sidelines for a number of years, coaching is suddenly enjoying a major surge of popularity. But what's it all about? Tennis in the Boardroom? Golf swings by the water cooler?

Myles Downey's book, despite its relative brevity, makes an excellent job of introducing some of the key considerations involved in training or hiring business coaches. At 135 pages (including the Introduction) you obviously aren't going to get an in-depth explanation of what coaching can do for you and/or your company. What I think you WILL get is a pretty good feeling for whether coaching is something you want to get involved with.

If that makes the book sound a bit airy-fairy, I apologise. Mr Downey also does an excellent job of laying the groundwork for becoming an "effective coach" - if that's what you're after. There are plenty of very practical tips, including useful models, such as the "Spectrum of Coaching Skills" and the "GROW" (or "TO GROW") outline for any coaching session.

One of the highlights of the book as far, as I was concerned, was the inclusion of snippets of dialogue (ranging from a few lines to several pages in length) used to actually demonstrate how to handle various elements of the coaching function.

The one element of the book I felt a little uneasy about was Mr Downey's hypothesis that a manager can also function as coach to one of his/her subordinates. As Mr Downey himself points out, facts and thoughts might emerge during a coaching session that could potentially be somewhat damaging when it comes to appraisal time. There seems to be an assumption that a "good" manager could somehow separate the two functions and ignore in 'manager mode' the things s/he has learnt whilst in 'coaching mode'.

I'd suggest that this is a piece of impractical idealism, which places an unrealistic and unfair burden upon the manager and the coachee alike.

Rather than sweeping such considerations under the rug, it seems to me that coaching is likely to remain a fad until issues such as this have been fully addressed and resolved.