The book can be used as a 10-week program to help readers launch their sales approach. Each chapter begins with a transcript from a telecourse on a given topic, followed by key points, homework exercises, and worksheets.

Ms. Pomerantz addresses the differences between sales, marketing, and networking. She then describes how to target prospects and contact them to ask for a meeting. She discusses how to handle the gatekeepers in an organization and provides guidelines for follow up and tracking. Samples of proposals are provided, and she discusses contracting and pricing.

The content of the book is most appropriate for the beginning coach or for a coach who experiences particular anxiety about selling. Many of the concepts will be familiar to those who have taken business courses. However, the book is unique in that the coaching format literally coaches the reader through their fears and into the action phase of selling. Also, the challenges and struggles of the telecourse participants help the reader to normalize anxieties about selling and to "feel the fear and do it anyway." A reader who follows the guidelines and completes the assignments will finish the program with a personal action plan and with new experience in identifying and contacting target markets.

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• HRD Press, Inc, 2006 (A good source for bulk discounts on multiple copy orders.)

Bacon and Spear have defined how coaching is practiced in the real world. They postulate that coaching falls into two camps: "directive" and "non-directive." Coaches who use a directive approach believe that they help best by using their knowledge and experience to tell, teach, and advise a client what to do. Coaches who use a non-directive approach believe that they help best by asking questions and listening. They stimulate a client to think, reflect, and learn from their own experiences.

Coaches tend to prefer one method over the other. In that lies the problem. According to the authors, a coach's preferred style tends to come from the coach's own experience with learning, rather than from the preference of the person they are coaching.

During the years 1996-2002, Bacon and Spear's professional development firm, The Lore International Institute, surveyed over 2000 Fortune 500 executives who received coaching along with the executive coaches who delivered it. The results were eye opening. Of the executives who received coaching, 57% said they would like more coaching; 60% said they would like better coaching; 56% said their coaching was not focused on the right things; and 45% said that getting coaching with their current coach has not had much positive impact on their work performance. With all the hype about "coaching," these results are dismal at best. The authors suggest that a big reason for the poor results is the way that coaching is being delivered. Of the executive coaches surveyed, 59% said they coach using a directive style. However, of the executives who received coaching, 65% said they prefer a non-directive style, and even more, 83%, said they prefer "a coach who asks questions to help me explore issues myself."

These results show how organizations are missing the boat when it comes to delivering an effective coaching program. Bacon and Spear set up the foundation of their adaptive coaching approach by providing a taxonomy of eight coaching styles. Four styles are directive and four are non-directive. The names assigned to each style might be debatable; however, the distinctions are good ones. Any coach should easily recognize his or her preference and whether they stick predominantly to one style. In order to deliver the most effective coaching, the trick is to adapt to the style preferred by the client being coached. Comprehensive assessments and asking the right questions are the tools necessary to discover a client's preference.

Clearly, Bacon and Spear show the need for incorporating more non-directive coaching. They also present solid information on the primary skills (listening, asking questions, giving feedback) and they give excellent sample dialogue for using non-directive coaching. They provide a holistic view of the ideal coaching process from the assessment stage, the ongoing dialogue, and closure. One thing I might add is that good experiential training and real world experience are the probably the best ways to develop non-directive coaching skills.

Even though Bacon and Spear show the need for more non-directive coaching, they also show that one out five still prefer directive coaching. Excellent training programs that focus solely on the non-directive approach are certifying many new coaches. These coaches need to recognize when to adapt their style when working with clients who prefer the directive approach. Many clients prefer and need both types of coaching at different times in a coaching relationship.

The section on coaching special populations is a real bonus. Reading it definitely increased my awareness and got me thinking about my own limited perspective when coaching someone from a different culture, status, gender, age, or race. Bacon and Spear offer great insights on how to be more cautious, but effective, in coaching people with significantly different backgrounds.

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• Davies-Black Publishing 2003

• For additional reviews or purchase: W.W. Norton & Company (A 20 percent discount is currently available)

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• W.W. Norton & Company 2004

The book is first about the "being" of coaching, for as Marlena says "Who you are being as a coach is one of the greatest assets that you bring to your clients."

A key aspect of coaching is that of listening. Therefore, it is only fitting that the book opens with a chapter on the impact of "empowering and disempowering" listening. An example of disempowered listening is when we "perceive our clients as people who need fixing or need our guidance and advice." Coach Field states, "Your way of being as a listener directly impacts your clients and has the power to impact them positively or negatively." She gives the reader exercises and suggestions to help develop the skill and positive impact of empowered listening. While listening we can either choose to focus on the story or the storyteller. By focusing on the storyteller we stay connected to their internal experience rather than the details of the story. One way that Coach Field suggests we stay connected to the client is to use short contact statements which acknowledge the emotion, do not interrupt the moment, yet allow space for the client to go to a deeper level of insight and sharing.

To encourage the client to be aware of their mind-body-spirit inter-connections, Field suggests that we first begin within. She gives us eight ways to practice "mindfulness" and be more fully aware of what we, as coaches, are sensing in our bodies. Using these techniques, the coach can then explore a variety of possibilities and decision-making procedures with their clients. Through the process of mindfulness, coaches help clients become aware of their "disempowering beliefs" and have them proceed to embody more "empowering beliefs."

Field uses the term "con-fusions" to illustrate how we often associate concepts and ideas, such as anger with hurtful, or crying with weakness. She introduces a great exercise to bring an awareness of what we create, or resist because of these "con-fusions." In Field's words, "Confusions, once realized, have the potential for clients to empower themselves."

Building on previously developed techniques, Coach Field leads the reader through the use of "inspired visualizations," that help clients deal with strong emotions and she describes the concept of "embracing the signals" that our body sends. As Field says, "...when you are really stressed and 'out of control', your shoulders may typically become very stiff and sore. Rather than being angry with your shoulders, another perspective could be to be thankful that they are giving you a warning signal to calm down and find a way to relax. This is a holistic way to look after your physical and your emotional well-being."

We often adopt body positions when in a particular mood or perspective. A coach can help the client embody a new perspective by having them change their body position. Marlena Field walks us through a process to help clients "...experience an intentional body perspective shift."

• For additional reviews or purchase: Body-Centered Coaching

Working with a mentor or a coach is an excellent choice for accomplishing either of these goals, and in her latest book, What Next? The Complete Guide to Taking Control of Your Working Life, Dr. Barbara Moses provides the mentoring and coaching necessary to help people learn to live authentically and turn their dreams into reality. No other book on the market can provide individuals with the awareness, options, skills, and understanding necessary to deal with the bewildering array of challenges and opportunities in today's shifting work world. A virtual bible of resources, this book features self-assessment tools, quizzes, examples, guided exercises, diagnostic instruments, career wisdom based on tough realities, and tips on how to keep from getting derailed and how to overcome career challenges such as burn-out, boredom, and lack of passion.

Dr. Moses, called a Career Guru by Fast Company magazine, believes that the key to both successful career growth and life choices is for individuals to arm themselves with protective skills and act as their own career activists. She identifies 12 career strategies starting with building on your own skills, talents and strengths to finding a mentor to learning how to deal with disappointment, stressful situations and pressure. In addition she identifies eight key motivators that often work in combination or can contradict each other, but can assist individuals to find the best possible match between what drives them and a suitable work environment.

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• DK Publishing, Inc., 2003

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• Jossey-Bass Business and Management Series 2005

Fitzgerald and Berger, a mother-daughter team, compiled sixteen chapters written by twenty contributors, including themselves. The chapters are divided into five parts: Executive Coaching Perspectives, Executive Coaching Practices, Managing Executive Coaching in Organizations, Executive Coaching Issues, and Special Coaching Situations. Topics from the different parts of the book include: "The Coach as Reflective Practitioner," "Understanding and Supporting Development of Executives at Midlife," "Using Executive Coaching in Organizations: What Can Go Wrong (and How to Prevent It)," "Failure and Negative Outcomes: The Taboo Topic in Executive Coaching," and "Coaching across Countries and Cultures." Each chapter ends with conclusions, notes and references to cited sources.

The editors' and other contributors' chapters on adult development and complexity of mind issues in coaching are especially fascinating. These approaches support transformative change in the client-executives and will help coaches themselves as reflective practitioners. For example, Robert Kegan's psychological constructive-development theory will help a coach identify and support an executive whose order of mind is at odds with what the executive's organization demands of the executive. Carl Jung's theories of the qualitative difference in the second half of life (at midlife, an adult will want to bring a larger sense of self into the world) can be used to help coaches to understand how an executive's desire to develop less developed parts of self mesh with the demands of the organization.

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• Davies-Black Publishing, 2002

Merrill Anderson, an internationally recognized as the leading evaluator of corporate coaching initiatives, and Dianna Anderson, a Master Certified Coach, build on their collective years of experience, insight and research to provide a practical, user-friendly exploration of leadership coaching. Coaches, coaching initiative managers and business leaders will find great value in this book.

In the first section of the book the Andersons present an empirically-based client-centered model of coaching that clearly reveals what coaches and their clients need to do to achieve transformational change. The fact that this model is empirically-based is important, because it has face validity and resonates with the reader's experience. The model reveals the underlying dynamics that make leadership coaching such a powerful development tool, including the process of translating ever deepening insight into meaningful action. The second section speaks to those who manage large scale coaching initiatives. In this section the Andersons clearly demonstrate the steps that need to be taken to ensure that coaching programs deliver strategic value. In the third section the authors address the value that coaching delivers to the bottom-line. They provide practical, real-world tools and methods that enable the reader to demonstrate the ROI of a coaching initiative. They also provide a powerful business case for leadership coaching, based on the latest ROI studies of coaching that the authors have conducted.

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• Butterworth-Heinemann (Publisher)

Tim Ursiny "knows things." The Coward's Guide to Conflict is indeed a solid resource explaining the value of, purpose for, and resolution of conflict in our daily interactions. Dr. Ursiny begins each chapter with an example from his own personal experience and provides illustrative examples from a professional coaching perspective. He encourages those who want to flee, to "see in new ways." A key reframe in the book is to view conflict resolution as a basis for an improved life whether at work or at home. The chapter titles in the 283-page book deal directly and compassionately with the subject addressed: "The Coward Test," "How to Make Conflict Less Frightening...quickly," and "If Common Sense Is So Common, Then Why Don't They Have It?" The four main sections of the book cover personal choices about conflict, motivating oneself for dealing with conflict, common causes of conflict, and techniques to handle any conflict.

Offering the techniques as the last section of the book is one way that this book stands out from many other "self help," formulaic, or "paint by number" types. Dr. Ursiny first addresses the fears and misbeliefs around conflict, gives readers choices about how they might explore this topic and then supports those choices with solid, compassionate teaching. As a coach he expects that readers will participate in their learning by using the exercises in each chapter as a vehicle for personal reflection and individual growth and development. He is also generous in offering "next steps" and additional resources from other authors with supporting information as well as real life examples and charts/worksheets that can be used for personal application.

The publicity on the back cover categorizes the book as: "Business, Self help." While accurate, the book has far greater scope. It could be used as a textbook in high school and college classrooms, required reading in pre-marriage classes, a communication primer for those starting a business, and certainly as a training guide in business and non-profit organizations to name a few.

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• Sourcebooks, Inc., 2003

In this book David Rock describes my well-developed habit as hard-wired. In Part One (of three) in his 241-page book he explains our hard-wired habits through the current literature and research about our brains. He makes the major point that if you want to help people change, help them think better and don't tell them what to do. He points out that it is just too difficult for people to change deeply entrenched behaviors. Advice just won't work. What does work is to help people create new behaviors by assisting them through their thinking for a self-selected goal. This explains my irritation at unsolicited advice toward a non-existing goal. How do we assist people to achieve a goal without advising?

The author addresses this question in Part Two where he linearly describes six steps to facilitate someone's self-directed learning process. For example, the first step focuses on how to assist people in improving the way they think rather than on what they think. He gives the reader clearly explained ways to accomplish this through scripted dialogues, examples from his own coaching experiences, and personal exercises to anchor the concepts. Once the six steps are mastered, they can be used interchangeably.

The interchangeability of the steps are effectively integrated in Part Three where the author models applications to solving problems, making decisions, giving feedback, working with teams, and communicating with children. Most of the examples are culled from the corporate world. However, since the steps are well-thought out and practical, I found it easy to adapt this model to the educational coaching I do in schools. I particularly liked the section on communicating with children and recommended the book to a parent struggling with a lack of academic motivation in her teenaged son.

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• Harper Collins, 2006

• For another review: Business Lexington Book Review
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• Wharton Publishing, Inc., 2001

I have picked this book up several times over the past year and have quickly put it down after futile page thumbing to get into it. My earnest reading of the introduction and sections hinting of help for my interests brought forth no hint of practical help or urgency to give it a good read. Now I believed my initial need was genuine when I spotted the title as I was dealing with a number of teams with cross cultural members who where having difficulty relating to each other. Eager for some intervention direction I anticipated something of value would be quickly inherent given the title and group behind it. Perhaps I was looking for that magic pill given the stellar reputation of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), but the magic or at least insight for my next group intervention was certainly not forthcoming, not even a glimmer of possibility caught my attention.

I did consider the CCL coaching model of assessment - support - challenge leading to results, all governed by relationship, as backdrop to my own self coaching to get on with my review and took particular notice at the suggestion that while the mind set model is evident, its application effectiveness is less obvious. This stimulus to practiconer self-reflection caused me some disequilibrium and I once again delved into the 466 pages. With new resolve I looked again at Chapter 5, Coaching Across Cultures. Yes, coaching across cultures is more complex and puts added burden on the assessment and relationship aspects of coaching but where is the down and dirty? With gritted persistence I checked out Part Four: Coaching Techniques. The chapters on Artful Coaching, Brief solution Coaching and Constructive-Development Coaching held out some allure for my attention span. But, sadly no cigar; smoke but no fire; stuff to ponder but not the toolkit I wanted to monkey with.

Now this I realize is about my struggle and capacity to extract useful instruction to guide my next moves and certainly not any condemnation of the good folks at CCL. I throw in the possibility of a lack of imagination as well. I just could not get into this book or find it offered much beyond a good coverage of the CCL's coaching model along with a few alternatives and other cerebral content.

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  Jossey Bass (2006)

While there is substantial philosophy and some hard science relating to mindfulness (such as adult complexity of mind, emotional intelligence theory), it is not yet widely discussed in mainstream society. This book is a good introduction to those who have some curiosity about mindfulness, and it is an important resource to those who want to incorporate it into their own practice. It is filled with specific and concrete strategies, exercises and tools. (Review provided by Peer Resources Network member, G. Nelson.)

The author, Doug Silsbee, after reading this review, replied:

Thanks for the intelligent review of the book. I appreciate the reviewer's recognition of the distinction between the perceptions of mindfulness as self-absorption and mindfulness as a disciplined approach to self-knowledge and a reflection of rigorous commitment to service toward our clients. This, I think, is rarely stated explicitly in the coaching literature. Mindfulness is both a cornerstone of our own path of development as coaches, and of our ability to be fully present with those we are coaching. Truly, the two are inseparable.

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• Ivy River Press. 2004

The book is well structured for the individual who is being introduced to coaching for the first time. The nine chapters and six appendices cover the entire range of coaching from how the term coach originated to providing examples of how coaching can be successfully used via the internet. The case based process used by the author provides the reader with proven coaching techniques and demonstrates how they might be used in different situations. A wide variety of 'coachees', as Dr. McLeod refers to his clients, as well as an equally wide range of organizations provide many opportunities for readers to relate personally to the case studies. Every reader should be able to relate to at least one of the case study situations.

In addition to using case studies, specific coaching linguistic tips are explained in the book. These coaching tips are highlighted and fully explained in easy to understand terminology. An appendix allows the reader to quickly find a specific tip if you wish to refer back to it.

Dr. McLeod provides a large menu of coaching skills and techniques in this book. He discusses the key concepts of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and demonstrates possible uses in a coaching situation. What I especially liked about this book is that the reader is provided with a wide variety of tools based upon sound principals.The author does not instill his personal coaching style into the material and leaves it up to the reader to decide what coaching approach might best work for them. The other satisfying aspect of the author's approach is that he often provides the reader with the results of actual coaching interventions based upon use of the coaching skills he discusses.

Human Resource professionals and managers will find this book easy to refer to as needed. For potential coaches and students who are studying in the area of training and performance improvement, this book places all necessary information at their fingertips. The appendices are full of valuable information including a detailed listing of web resources. The glossary is also extremely helpful to the non-professional coaching community. (Review completed by Peer Resources Network member, Dave Fountaine, SPHR.)

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• Crown House Publishing. 2003

Each coaching tool has its own set of structured questions and assignments. One example in the Self Care tools category is PLUG YOUR ENERGY DRAINS (p.51). The author explains how a plastic bag, that was snagged in a tree branch, irritated him for three years every time he looked out of his living room window. Once the bag disintegrated in the 4th summer, he realized how much energy this little bag sapped from him. Why didn't he call the store manager to deal with their litter? Why didn't he trim his own branch and improve the view? Could he have re-framed it for himself, perhaps as a science project to see how long a plastic bag takes to degrade?

Chiodi asks the reader: What "plastic bags" are sapping your energy? What are you putting up with ? Can you change your thinking about an annoyance that is difficult to eliminate? How can you make peace with it? How does clutter affect your energy? One of the assignments created by Chiodi for this category includes: eliminating five of the easiest "energy drains" on your list; noticing how better you feel; and scheduling ways to plug each of your other energy drains.

The brevity and simplicity of this book are wonderful. It is especially well-suited as an elegant reminder to a coach who has already worked with a similar tool during coach training. For example, the book will remind the reader to be creative, take a risk, make a plan, or have some fun. But if the client has a barrier to these angles, getting them to be creative will require more penetrating work than just suggesting they be more creative!

The absence of detail has made this tiny book a fast and easy read, and a great jump-start for those who don't/can't bother with bigger books. If the reader uses the suggested novel (or refreshed) tools on themselves, Chiodi provides the space for the willing reader to explore the depths of its insight and learn of the potential firsthand. (Review provided by Peer Resources Network member, S. Drinnan.

The author of this book, Michael Chiodi, in reading this review made the following comments: The word "coaching" these days is being used for a variety of different ways to help other people. Many "trained coaches" would like to define "coaching" as a specific style or approach. Unfortunately, with so many consultants and managers accustomed to using an advice-based, directive coaching approach, I think that coaches trained in a specific style have an uphill battle to fight.

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• Chiberry Press 2003

The authors define what coaching is and describe and illustrate the five key steps in the coaching process, including establishing the coaching relationship, collecting and analyzing data, processing feedback and planning action, taking action, and evaluating performance. Each of these five steps and their specific and concrete way of putting them into practice are applied to each of four major areas: (1) coaching the leader within Ð coaching a leader on the alignment of who and what he/she is and wants to be; (2) coaching the leader with others Ð the leader in relationship with others; (3) coaching the leader with the organization Ð coaching the leader to lead change and transform the organization; and (4) coaching the leader with the community Ð coaching the leader to leave an intentional legacy.

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• Sage Publications, 2002

• For purchase and additional reviews plus a chapter preview: Build Your Practice Bookstore

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• Nashville, Tennesee: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2004, 335p

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• Barnes and Noble

• Publisher and date of publication: Brunner-Routledge, 2001

• Advantage Coaching and Training 1999
• For reviews or purchase: Amazon.com

The authors underscore the importance of coaching as a learning opportunity and show how to establish a learning culture, help businesses identify their learning strengths and weaknesses, recognize learning styles of both individuals and groups, and provide tips on how coaches can build on learning styles to help clients deal with obstacles, resistance, and other barriers. The book also includes a section on how coaching can be applied to the specific areas of call centres, sales, and career coaching. These unique applications reflect the authors' widespread experience, and at the same time highlight the ways in which coaching can be used to deal with modern technology as well as its potential outcomes such as job loss or change.

My experience as coach and mentor, however, suggests that the distinction that Zeus and Skiffington outline between the two roles is not so easily made. I have, in fact, used their excellent description of the personal qualities of a coach, given as a series of 'capacities,' in explaining what those seeking a mentor should look for. While I disagree with parts of the list of differences they have identified between coach and mentor, nonetheless, the list itself is explanatory of the role and skills of one and/or the other.

When the authors turn to the issue of leadership, they resort to models that have long since lost favor. It has been some time since McGregor's Theory X and Y have entered the dialogue on this continent. Lack of any mention of servant leadership is a significant failing since this model seems to be a perfect fit for the coach. The fit is evident in the authors' second book where the personality characteristics mirror those identified by Greenleaf (Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness) and echoed by James Autry in The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom Line Performance. Yet even here, there is no connection to the model of leadership that fits best.

The importance of context, the critical nature of the specific circumstance faced by the coach and partner, has become most evident in my work as coach. While one can learn from the experience of others, each coaching intervention must be tailored to the particular circumstance if it is to be of value. This is missing in The Guide.

In spite of these minor shortcomings, I found The Guide to be of great value in my work as coach, and I would recommend it to those who wish to explore this exciting and rewarding role.

While the second book by the same authors, The Toolkit, would logically seem to be a companion to The Guide, it appears almost as an afterthought. The first two chapters and parts of the remainder are little more than a recap of The Guide. In certain areas, the information is 'toned down' from The Guide to the point where it seems to emphasize the wrong point. For example, the section on the attributes of a coach in the first chapter places the emphasis on knowledge of the organization and organizational issues, whereas the description in The Guide is much more complete. The earlier book begins with self awareness as the first, and thus most important, characteristic, which I believe is correct.

From the third chapter on, The Toolkit covers material that is missing from the earlier book in considerable depth. While providing a complete compendium of tools, much of the book is conventional wisdom, quite basic, geared to the novice. The book might better be called a 'Primer' and geared to the beginning coach. For the person who comes to the profession with experience, there are other resources that serve better. For example, the book includes a section on meditation which one can learn more about by reading Buddhism. While chapter seven provides some help on self awareness, my study of religious systems and reflection on the messages has been my route to awareness of self. Lack of mention of the role of one's religious system is a shortcoming in this area.

The 'bottom line' for me? I have learned a good deal from The Guide that I have applied directly to my work as coach. I found The Toolkit to be of little extra help. I would strongly recommend the first book to all coaches, new and experienced. Those who are just getting into the game will benefit from both. (Review by Peer Resources Network member, Wayne Stewart.)

• McGraw-Hill Ryerson, (Coaching at Work Toolkit, 2002; Complete Guide,, 2001)
• Peer Resources Bookstore (Order directly from the Peer Resources Bookstore and receive a discount if you are a member of the Peer Resources Network.)
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• BestBookBuys.com

More coaches today are being asked to apply their results-oriented approach to groups, And while many coaches are successful with individual clients, too few have had the 100+ opportunities that these two authors have had in sharpening their work with groups, particularly using coaching to transform individuals into spectacular teams.

With an even greater number of organizations relying on teams to achieve their corporate goals, there is little room for experimentation or trial and error approaches. The authors of this book have provided hands on guidance for coaches by packing the book with specific, usable tools, ideas, assessments, checklists, key questions to ask, activities and case studies. No matter what stage you are in with team development, this book will take you from the murky novice to the accomplished practitioner.

This isn't a book about how to coach individuals within a team, although the authors do provide guidance here; this book is about how to create a coaching culture within a team; how to transform the attitudes and behaviours of the group to help the team achieve a real competitive advantage.

Until I read this book most of my work with teams was based on limited experience and voracious reading of virtually every published team-work tome. I struggled to help teams deal with "meetings where nothing seems to get done," "agreements that occurred with no follow through," "personality conflicts," "team members feeling pressured to take on more than they can handle," and many instances of team members "talking at each other instead of to each other."

Leading High Impact Teams uses anecdotes and stories that I would swear came from transcripts of my team coaching efforts. The toughness of some teams often led me to question my role and caused me to engage in activities that (with hindsight) seemed to conflict with coaching. Fortunately each chapter of this book offers specific help in the form of a coaching role overview, specific activities a coach can use to assist the team, and case stories that show how the ideas and reality are integrated.

As a result of reading this book, my confidence as a team coach has improved considerably. An additional bonus of this book is that the authors use nautical metaphors to help readers navigate through the various concepts and examples. Even the format of the book provides "anchors" in the margins to help readers chart their course. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to go beyond just staying afloat as a team coach. This book will help you navigate by the stars and help your team captain and crew gain exceptional wealth as a result of the journey. (...Read a chapter by chapter synopsis from the authors' website...)

• High Impact Publishing, 2001
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• Jossey-Bass 2001
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• Pfeiffer, Wiley, 2005
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• Teachers21, 2007
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