I’ll be highlighting books that I am reading (or re-reading) on all sorts of topics this year — Douglas
Reading – The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier – 18 in a series
In my life and I my work, I am often called upon to consult (and console) people who are having issues with their career and more. After writing Career Opportunities for nearly 20 years, the emails I have received have given me an opportunity to assist people all over the world and a wide variety of career issues.
One common occurrence when I am coaching someone is that they ask me for answers to their most pressing problems. Even before I read The Coaching Habit, though, I was already following some of Stanier’s methods. Many times my first response to them was an answer to their problems, but rather a question that might help define their problems further. Often, the problem isn’t what people think it is. It is buried deep within an onion of issues that lead to encompassing nest of smaller, associated issues.
There are times though when, like others, I want to jump right in and “solve” the problem (even though I probably don’t know what that problem is yet.) The Coaching Habit gives me both great reasons and methods for avoiding this consulting trap and bringing real, deep, intimate (and more importantly, self-driven) change to a person. I’ve been consciously employing his methods over the last few weeks and I can see some dramatic shifts in how I approach my consulting my counseling. When I see myself moving into “solution” mode, I now have some tools to help me dig deeper and greater and even bigger impact.
The Coaching Habit is a short and easy read and something you can start putting to work immediately, even before you completed the book. In fact, applying each of the questions as you learn them is a great way to understand them more deeply and integrate them into your life.
From Amazon.com…
In Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact.
Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples’ potential. He unpacks sevenessential coaching questions to demonstrate how–by saying less and asking more–you can develop coaching methods that produce great results.
- Get straight to the point in any conversation with The Kickstart Question
- Stay on track during any interaction with The Awe Question
- Save hours of time for yourself with The Lazy Question, and hours of time for others with The Strategic Question
- Get to the heart of any interpersonal or external challenge with The Focus Question and The Foundation Question
- Finally ensure others find your coaching as beneficial as you do with The Learning Question
A fresh innovative take on the traditional how-to manual, the book combines insider information with research based in neuroscience and behavioural economics, together with interactive training tools to turnpractical advice into practiced habits. Witty and conversational, The Coaching Habit takes your work–and your workplace–from good to great.
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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library
Previously in (Re)Reading:
- This is Taco! by Andrew Cangelose (Author), Josh Shipley (Artist)
- Toast and Jam by Sarah Owens
- Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser
- The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore by Robert Simonson
- The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
- Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies by by Andrew Degraff and A.D. Jameson
- The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by by Jason Fagone
- The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden: 326 Fast, Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Yard One Project at a Time by Sally Roth
- Raised Bed Revolution: Build It, Fill It, Plant It … Garden Anywhere by Tara Nolan
- Bread Is Gold by Massimo Bottura
- Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
- Milk Street: The New Home Cooking by Christopher Kimble
- The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes by Ellen Zacho
- 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson
- Chemistry: A Novel by Weike Wong
- Back Pocket Pasta by Colu Henry
- Steal like an artist 10 things nobody told you about being creative by Austin Kleon
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†![Work your contacts like a pro from the Career Opportunities Podcast [Audio]](http://welchwrite.com/career/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/co-work-contacts.png)
