Coaching for Performance (People Skills for Professionals)

Modern coaching methods stem from this book. The coaching methods described in here are still very applicable. The authors emphasis on coaching as a management technique was spot on. Would be 5 stars but there was lots of unnecessary political posturing that distracted from the coaching content.

This book succinctly captures many key concepts about coaching that I learned by going through an 80-hour coaching certification. It explains the GROW Model and offers great insights on how to coach in a supportive, non-directive way. If you think that your role as a coach is to primarily instruct, give feedback, or give advice, this book will challenge you because that is not how the author sees it.John Whitmore is a major influence on other thinkers in the world of coaching for performance, and he presents his content in a style that is long on practicality and applicability. The author won't bog you down in in the detail of theory, and he gives clear, useful approaches for coaching in a supportive, non-directive way.As someone who provides coaching services to others in my job, I found that principles in this book work very well for me in a corporate setting. This book will help you better understand great coaching principles. If you apply the principles to how you coach, you'll become an even better coach.

I went into reading this book expecting it to feel a bit outdated, though still informative, but by the end of the book my expectations were surpassed. It does not take long to read the book through, and it is a book that I will read multiple times. I recommend this to anyone working in management or who plans on starting a business as I believe it holds many bits of information that will do you much good. The layout is also very well laid out.

College course bookBUY THIS AS AN eBOOK.

This book, now in its third edition, is the grandfather of coaching books and approaches. Much of what has come to be known as professional business coaching came from Timothy Gallway and Whitmore's sports training techniques. As such, the book provides a simple foundation for coaching based on the context of awareness and responsibility through asking questions and listening. He presents the G R O W model of coaching - Goal, Reality, Option, Will - as a format for coaching sessions.The book begins with a few foundational beliefs of coaches. Unlike old models of management that work from the "carrot and stick" approach, a coach believes in the potential of the client. Whitmore believes that people are only able to change only that which they are aware. Responsibility must stay with the client if they are to perform. Questions raise awareness and yet maintain the client's responsibility. If the coach tells the coachee something, awareness may increase slightly, but responsibility in now in the hands of the coach, the source of the information. Questions cause the client to pay attention to their actions, think at higher levels, and provide feedback for the coach to work from.The G R O W model provides a sequence of questioning and for the coaching session. A coach starts with the client's goal. Either an end goal, like "retire at age 45," or a performance goal, such as "write a new training manual by December." After further clarifying the goal the coach can move on to the current reality of the situation. Asking such questions as: What have you done on the manual up to now? What are the needs that you think a manual might help? What has kept you from finishing the manual these past two years? Options are then generated from the client as to how they can achieve their goal. Finally, What will you do? Whitmore builds several checks and balances into this last step to ensure performance.The final section of the book is new territory in this 3rd edition. Coaching used to be about performance - doing, acheivement. In the past few years coaching has moved to underlaying motivations of personal fulfillment: the "why" underneath the desire to achieve performance goals. Whitmore includes new chapters on coaching for purpose, getting to life's meaning.Of the dozen books on coaching that I own, this one has consistently been the book I refer back to as I try to explain to someone what is coaching: Believe in the potential of people; raise awareness and maintain responsibility through questions and listening; and follow the GROW model. All are the essence of good coaching.

This book is a must for anybody who wants either to be a coach or to acquire knowledge on coaching. Very easy to read .

A good read for anyone wanting to sharpen their coaching skills, a lot of the content is very similar to other coaching books but the bottom line is in order to be a good Coach you need to constantly look at things in a different way.

Not much useful information in this book. Is written with a lot of useless sports analogy. Significant content about 10 pages, the rest is fluffy staff and waste of paper.For me was a waste of time and money.