There are many books about coaching, and new ones being published all the time. There are a couple of publishing houses, or divisions of them devoted to coaching. They range from the highly theoretical and academic (I’ll be writing an angry blog about a recent academic book about coaching being sold for £100), to the light and practical, and everything in between.
What do you like in a coaching book? Is it the practical element? The theory? The examples that you can use? Or something else. Whatever it is, I hope this article helps you to make good choices in your coaching books.
What makes a great coaching book?
For me, there are a number of elements that go to making up a good coaching book. These include:
Research based. I am so over reading books that are “I came across this approach and thought, I’ll try”. It may be a sign of my age, but I’m definitely looking for books that take the topic relatively seriously. If you want to see what taking human behaviour seriously looks like in practice, have a read of my piece on whether coaches need to be experts in human behaviour.
Accessible. Although I want them to have a research based, I want to be able to read this as a practising coach, and see the possibilities for my practice. I don’t want to have to write chapter summaries, make elaborate drawings, and only then be able to see how it can impact on my coaching.
For all. Many of the books I read make assumptions – that the coach is full time, experienced and that coaching is their principle occupation. This leaves a gap – what about writing for the coach who is newer, who is only coaching for part of the week, and who has other concerns in their work life? (If you’re wondering whether coaching is something you’re cut out for at all, my post can anyone be a coach? is worth a read.)
Our #1 coaching book – Coaching Skills by Jenny Rogers
This is the book that we recommend as being the nearest thing we have to a course textbook to coaches on our ILM coach training programmes. Why…
Firstly, the readability. Coaching is a human-to-human interaction and deserves to be explained relatively simply. And that’s what this book does. Simple and clear, but still in adult terms. There is no patronising, but just a good flow of conversational style.
Next, it explains good practice. Whether she is writing about contracting, strong questions, how to listen well or how to challenge respectfully, it is well explained. It is very clear that Jenny Rogers is a good coach, who understands coaching at a high level, and draws on her experience to write about it.
She writes from a human and humane perspective. As a coach, she understands the thoughts, feelings, worries and positive thoughts that she and fellow coaches have. So she can share ideas from the perspective of a skilled coach.
And my favourite. She is unequivocal on what she considers to be good practice, and poor practice. The section on ethics is very strong, and she explains in great detail what good ethical practice is and isn’t.
And of course there are a few bits I don’t agree with.
Asking about our coachee’s childhood. Jenny always does this, and says she regrets not doing so earlier on in her coaching career. It gives lots of rich, useful information that can help serve the coachee well. I’m sure that this is true, and for a therapeutic style of coaching, that’s fine. But not all coaches are going down the therapeutic path.
Working from a set list of questions. She was taught early in her career that to ask 16 set questions, in order, will always yield results, so she advocates this for new coaches. I tend not to agree. Some questions may be redundant or would be better replaced by others. And it doesn’t exactly encourage close listening.
Feedback from coaching clients. And finally, she always asks for feedback at the end of the session, to improve her practice for her client. I think it’s great to ask for feedback, but at the end of the coaching session is the wrong time. We don’t want the coachee to stop thinking about their issue and start thinking about us. So, I prefer to ask them at another point.
The other coaching book we like – The Complete Handbook of Coaching (Cox, Bachkirova, Clutterbuck)
This book is at the other end of the scale from the Jenny Rogers one. It is the core text for many of the MA courses in coaching, and is presented as a book for coaching style of professionals. It is well written, well edited and highly professional. Some aspects that we particularly like include:
It is in three main sections, each having 8 or 9 chapters. Each section has a slightly different focus.
Each chapter is authored by a different coach/coaching academic. This gives a hugely wide variety of views.
And each chapter focusses on one aspect only, and it is the aspect that this coach has expertise in. This gives a high amount of credibility, and can give us the confidence that each chapter is full of relevant, rich detail.
The first section focusses on different styles and approaches to coaching. Different approaches to coaching can be confusing for us, so separate chapters on solution focussed coaching, person centred coaching or TA and coaching is incredibly useful.
Help with application. The second section looks at different areas that we can take coaching to, including working with teams, working on performance and working with leaders. It’s definitely not information about marketing, but it does help to widen our reach and understanding of how to take coaching out to the wider community.
And help with professionalising. The last section gives coaches everything needed to start with supervision, reviewing ethical codes, and working sensitively with clients.
It’s a great book to read in any order. We often recommend a chapter in the book when covering one particular area in our coach training.
A few honourable mentions
Amongst the many other books, a few that stand out include:
The Coaching Habit, by Michael Bungay Stainer. Straightforward, everyday language, and focussing on what he says are the 7 questions that coaches can use pretty well at any time. Good for the coaching style of manager and the new coach.
The Art of Coaching, by Jenny Bird and Sarah Gornall. This is particularly good for coaches who like to use visuals in their coaching practice, or who learn well when looking at drawings. The coaches are both very experienced, and use the visual approach to explain many aspects of coaching.
Final words
Books aren’t the only resource to draw on when continuing to study as a coach. But they are a good one. Do share your own thoughts and recommendations, and I’ll publish them too.
Happy coaching and happy reading.
