The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

I've had this book since late 2017 and I'm halfway through reading it. I only wish I'd read it much sooner! I bought it at a time when I had plans to start some kind of coaching programme for clients of my accounting firm, but with no formal coaching skills or training I didn't know where to start. As it turns out, I spent 2018 laying the foundations in my firm for all other services which would free up my time to get into coaching. Now, in 2019, I am venturing into coaching with clients and other accountants and this book is exactly what I needed to face my challenge, to build a structure around coaching sessions and to give my clients clarity on how coaching works and what can be achieved if they commit to the structure of the programme. An excellent, easy and practical read and suitable for anyone who wants to get into coaching themselves or others, or for managers looking to adopt a coaching habit with their team. Highly recommend! Michael breaks down 7 critical coaching questions that will revolutionise the way you engage with your peers and those you currently manage (but will soon be coaching!) It doesn’t just span your working life, but I’ve found it has helped in my personal life too; e.g., when a friend confides in me and is looking for help or a sounding board. The book is really quick to read. It’s concise enough that I didn’t find myself thinking, “yeah, yeah, I’ve got the reason why now get to how I improve in area x” yet it gave me enough that I felt I could go out and practice with it. One would have to be blind not to see the power in what is being said and in an era where there is enough momentum to confine ‘Command and control’ style leadership to the 80’s where it belongs, this book couldn’t be more timely.

I read this book in preparation for a coaching course. Being new to coaching this was a great introduction to coaching and asking powerful questions. I liked that it was underpinned by research findings, to demonstrate why these questions really work. Additionally, the author offers book suggestions for further reading, which I appreciate. Coming from a help profession background, I really liked to see the drama triangle and how we can get stuck in these roles! A great reminder for anyone that offers advice too quickly (myself included). Why not 5 stars? Even though, I appreciated the very practical side of the book and the storytelling elements, I would have liked to gain more insights into how emotions can get in the way of actions and how to work with emotions as a coach.

This is a great book with practical advice for building a coaching habit. The coaching tools in this book are small enough to practise daily and make a real difference in conversations.

Eye opening and brilliant book. I would recommend it to anyone struggle to break through the noise of coaching, mentoring or management.

This book was four years in the making and yet reads in an entertaining, enlightening and informative way that hides the craft of a great writer. It is very well supported by a website that through a series of sketches and videos supports the learning. Otherwise we all too easily forget this stuff. You may like me not have the stomach for the research into the sometimes obscure source material that supports the principles used in this book. Indeed the author credits his researcher by name throughout the book which makes for a reliable and meaningful read. In the style of the great author he moves from source via sorcery to the "secret sauce" that turns this book from "good to great". This is the same author who has so far raised 400,000 dollars through his book "End malaria", so I am not alone in rating this author. The book covers 7 powerful coaching questions to save us from the bear traps we all blunder into. Resisting the urge to provide the solution is particularly tricky. All the questions are gently introduced with warmth and humour, so it is never a begrudging read. Personally, I read the book in parallel with a more challenging book which for me gave this book a bit more bite and motivated me to stick with the other book. I sometimes question myself about why I read so many of these books for small incremental improvements to my performance but the author reads 100 such books a year and lists a selection at the end with the learning that he received from them, I am not alone in my curiosity.

A concise but useful book that helped me to conceptualise the struggles I was experiencing with my boss at work. I liked the simple structure, and the author’s gift for condensing what must have been a lot of research into simple suggestions. There’s nothing revolutionary here, but it’s sensible and easy to follow.

Good book. It's packed full of useful information that you can use in a pragmatic sense. Doesn't try to be over complex. It's to the point and will be useful for anyone who has a role where coaching is needed.

A great book, however, I still think the GROW model is more relevant. This book was talking more about the conversation techniques - and also loved how he inserted Karpman Drama Triangle which could happen during coaching, yet the solution was missing in the book i.e. The Empowerment Dynamic (TED) by David Emerald.

Great book to read in leisure time

Non trovando l'edizione italiana ho acquistato quella in inglese, anche per esercitarmi. Lo trovo un testo molto utile, pratico e l'autore è molto divertente. Facile da leggere ed efficace.

Love it! Highly recommended for managers or people keen on acquiring coaching knowledge and put effective coaching into practice.

You should buy and read The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier if you’re interested in improving your performance as a manager and your team’s performance and morale. If you’re reading this review of a book on coaching for managers, you probably fall into one of two camps. You might be a manager who’s already doing some coaching or you’re a manager who hasn’t made coaching part of your toolkit yet. You may already have made coaching part of the way you manage. If that’s true. you can skip over the next section of this review and get right to why this book will be an excellent addition to the other coaching books you own. It’s also possible because you’re interested in adding coaching to your manager’s toolkit and you’re seeking a good book to get you started. Then the next few paragraphs are for you. The benefits of coaching are pretty straightforward and well documented. A boss who coaches his or her team members effectively will have a more productive team, have higher team morale, and will have a more enjoyable work life. OK, so why aren’t you doing it already? My experience suggests that there are three possible reasons. You may think that the coaching that managers do and the coaching that sports coaches do is the same. Nope. Sports coaches do a lot of telling and don’t ask many questions. The art of the coaching manager is the art of the question. Or, you may think that the coaching that managers do and the coaching that professional executive coaches do is the same. Nope. Professional coaches are a godsend for us. But they’re professionals with a bag full of professional tools and expertise. Coaching with them is an event that you put on your calendar. The art of the coaching manager is coaching “in the workflow” several times a day. That’s why it should be a habit. Or, you may think that the coaching that managers do requires deep knowledge of psychology and coaching theory. Nope. The fact is that all the great supervisors I studied coached routinely without a bit of specialized training. Heck, my mother used to do it with me and my sister. They all asked something like: “Why do you think that happened?” or “What do you want to do?” and then listened. It was all about conversation and part of the normal flow of life and work. That’s what this book is about. Ask more. Say less. Simple enough that this preacher’s boy can get it. Here are the details. What’s in this book? Coaching is simple. So is this book. Coaching is lean. So is this book. The first chapter is about why you need the coaching habit. The second chapter is about creating the coaching habit. Yes, habit, something you do reflexively several times every work day. The advice in this chapter is based on real science, not that nonsense about “28 days.” The next seven chapters are about seven questions you can ask Just seven and that’s enough. There are “Master Classes” that help you ask the questions effectively. There are pointers to videos and podcasts and other helps. Still not sure? Well, there’s good news. Check out the “Look Inside the Book” feature for the Kindle version of this book. That will give you the “Why” you’ll need to judge if the book is for you Bottom Line: Five Stars If you’ve already read several books on coaching, this book and the advice on habit building will be a wonderful addition to your library. If you’re trying to figure out if coaching will help you and how to get started, this is the perfect book to buy, read, and use.