The Coaching Habit, by Michael Bungay Stanier and The Fearless Organisation, by Amy C. Edmondson
Recently I recruited Greg Stitt, who is my son, into my coaching business.
To help me stay on top of things, I asked him to read and review some books that caught my eye.
His first two reviews, including Coaching for the Masses are below.
In their respective ways, the books provide entry points to coaching.
This is relevant for Greg, because he’s learning the trade, and also for me, because I’m gearing up to launch a mass coaching training programme for the construction industry.
I hope you enjoy the reviews. At the end, I ask you, the reader, for a favour.
Take it away, Greg …
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GS writes: Stanier provides everyday coaching advice for managers in the workplace and anyone who needs to empower others.
It raises seven essential questions that will help you hold effective coaching conversations, whether you’re trained as a coach or not.
Usefully, it offers life hacks on a range of issues with a nice, light touch, with references provided should you want to delve deeper.
It’s a great introduction to coaching and directs your attention to relevant academic material.
The techniques are easy to use, which is relevant given Michael Bungay Stanier’s findings that many managers find coaching training overly theoretical and divorced from everyday life.
I would recommend The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier to anyone who could benefit from developing the coaching habit.
GS writes: People need to feel safe in an organisation in order to perform as best they can, so psychological safety is probably the main reason why a coaching culture is necessary.
This book makes a powerful case for that.
To back it up, Edmondson furnishes many examples of company leaders who’ve fostered psychological safety successfully, and of leaders who neglected it – often with disastrous consequences.
Satisfyingly, she challenges anyone who characterises it as airy-fairy or a ‘luxury we simply can’t afford’.
Creating and maintaining psychological safety is hard, but she is convincing in her arguments that, without it, a company will not be able to tap into its people’s creativity, motivation and and ability to innovate.
Edmondson offers insights into creating psychological safety, but the book is not a comprehensive manual; that would require a whole other book.
In many ways, this book is relevant to everyone.
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Thanks, Greg.
Now, that favour.
Can you recommend a book for a person new to coaching?
I’m going to be encountering lots of them.
I’d love to hear from you, and maybe Greg will read and review it.
Leadership Team Coach Dave Stitt works with construction industry executives and project teams enabling them to deliver remarkable results in a remarkable way.
Read more blogs from Dave – If you were really, really confident, how would you be?
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47 years experience in construction industry, last 22 as leadership team coach