Coaching Books

This book was okay, it wasn't anything spectacular. I had been doing pilates for about a year when I bought it because I wanted to try something new but this book really didn't challenge me all that much. I suggest Siler's Pilates Body instead which doesn't use a ball but is basically the best book on Pilates I have ever read.

Pilates on the Ball: A Comprehensive Book and DVD Workout

I take Pilates from an excellent instructor 2x/wk. I supplement it with the exercises on the DVD that accompany the book. The instruction is very precise. There is consideration of back and neck injuries.

As a Pilates instructor, I always like reading more about other people's experience in Pilates, deepen my knowledge and enlarge my repertoire. This book has helped me do so.

For those just getting into Pilates, this book is an invaluable training tool. This manual will teach you all the basic exercises.

I really love this book and DVD. The book is considerate of people with all levels of fitness. The book begins with an introduction to Pilates and working with an exercise ball. She moves into a bit of history of Joseph Pilates and Breathing Exercises. Each chapter begins with a short story about a client she has worked with, a person she has met or herself. After several chapters with descriptions and pictures of exercises, she has several workout programs like a restorative program for people that have injuries, a basic ball workout and even an intermediate ball workout. Recommended for all!
Chapter Titles: Postural Exercises, Abdominal Exercises, Extensions, Pilates on the Ball Arm and Footwork, Restoration and Rebuilding, Stretching, Stress Management and Cardiovascular Exercises

A great book, even if you're not a Duke fan! A perfect choice for busy people because it can be read a few minutes a day (or in one sitting if you're so inclined). Each short chapter describes a word which is important to success, not just on the basketball court, but in any endeavor. What elevates the book above the ordinary are the real-life situations and examples Coach K uses to illustrate each point. Makes a great choice as a gift with a personal touch for high school or college graduates.

Beyond Basketball is a collaborative effort by 2008 USA Basketball and current Duke University Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and one of his three daughters, Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola. The National Bestseller is Coach Kzyzewski's third book and first after his successful "Leading with the Heart: Coach K's Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life (2001).

In 171 pages, Coach K shares his personal experiences and learning's as a coach, husband, father, friend, teacher, and leader through forty solitary words--Adaptability, Adversity, Balance, Belief, Care, Challenges, Collective Responsibility, Commitment, Communication, Courage, Crisis Management, Culture, Dependability, Empathy, Enthusiasm, Excellence, Failure, Family, Friendship, Fundamentals, Giving Back, Guidance, Imagination, Integrity, Learning, Love, Motivation, Next Play, Ownership, Passion, Poise, Pressure, Pride, Respect, Selflessness, Standards, Talent, Trust, Will, and Work.

Overall, the beauty of this book is that Coach Krzyzewski invites his readers to embark on a journey to write their own book using these forty words as a baseline. Coach K adds that by writing one's own personal experiences and learning's through these and other solitary words, these words would then hold a special meaning to that person.

So don't delay. Read Coach K, and start one today!

Coach Krzyzewski and his Daughter write a wonderfully inspiring book that is so true. Write-on Krzyzewski's!

Coach K scores a 3 pointer with this book. Words indeed have power to lift up or to tear down. The coach lifts us up to new levels with his short chapters on important words to anyone who aspires to greatness. This is a well written and inspirational book that encourages us all to look at the words that shape a well lived life.

Coach K is a great leader and coach, he thinks beyond the apparent and tries to reach to the need, which many leaders do not ever seek to see. His insight is valuable.

While reading, Great Soccer Drills : The Baffled Parent's Guide by Thomas Fleck, I partiticipated as an assistant Soccer Coach on my son's team. I was familiar with his coach from a prior experience and knew this particular coach was difficult to communicate with. Shortly after beginning the practice season I was able to use Mr. Flecks book to identify some troubling aspects of our bi-weekly soccer practices. Our youth soccer league had endorsed the sort of "small sided" games illustrated in the book, however the teams coach would insist on using complicated drills for an older age group. The result was a group of young boys overwhelmed by the complicated drills who would then be subjected to repeated "stomach crunches" for not listening or following the drills. By reading the book, I was able to see that this situation bordered on abuse and I withdrew my child from that particular practice and team situation. My whole family is greatful for the thoughtful and "child centered" approach to coaching youth soccer presented in this very informative guide.

This book is just what you need if you know nothing about soccer and are going to be coaching young children. I coach 7 & 8 year olds, the drills are easy to understand and execute.

If you are just looking for something to get yourself through a couple months of soccer than the first book is more useful.

We did use a couple of these drills. If the season went longer I think we would have used more of them.

My husband and I have been youth soccer coaches for years, and have a stack of books and drills. Recently, I purchased this book and it has both energized our soccer program, and made coaching really fun. Kids eat up these games! No more lines... no more boring drills... no more complicated set-ups. We can choose a couple games, add a scrimmage, and have a ready-made, fun, purposeful practice. Great work, Tom Fleck and Ron Quinn!

If you are a parent who has been drafted into coaching your child's rec league soccer team, this book is a lifesaver. I have been a rec league coach and assistant coach on and off for 7 years, and have been an assistant coach in travel/select leagues. Prior to reading this book, I was a "form-two-lines-and-dribble/pass-around-the-cones" kinda guy. Practices consisted of small-sided games and various "drills" (ie. standing in line). Planning practices was always a chore, and sometimes the practices themselves, according to my son and other players, were downright boring. I wasn't as bad as "Coach Calisthenics" (you know the guy -- "line up around the center circle and let's do jumping jacks..."), but oh how I pity my pre-enlightenment players.

In an "off" year I took the "F" license coaching course from the US Soccer Federation and the book was given to us at the end of the class. Since then, I've bought a copy for each coach I've worked with and have used it at almost every practice to date. Now the kids are having fun AND learning at the same time, whether they are aware of that or not.

No need to explain what's in it, as the "why" of buying it is what matters. I highly recommend this book to all coaches, but particularly those at the rec level. In fact, rec leagues should provide this to ALL of their coach-volunteers, as it will make practices infintely more fun and might even help raise the performance bar of American soccer players in the long run.

A thoroughly enjoyable and motivating read. This is a remarkable collection of exclusive interviews with the best American sports coaches of the last 40 years. The author has packed a voluminous amount of wisdom, inspiration and facts into what amounts to a road map to a good life. "How to Succeed in the Game of Life" is a brilliant compilation of advice that offers inspiration at every turn.

Game of Life is an insightful book on the thoughts of many of the world's best known coaches. It provides a biography on each of the 34 coaches (which I recommend reading first to gain a better appreciation of the field and achievements of each coach) and asks them a number of questions that can relate to both on the field and life in general. I have gathered a number of relavant quotes that I will use both personally and professionally. A highly recommended read for sporting buffs and managers.

After buying a copy of this book for both myself and my father I was thoroughly impressed. The book was both an easy read yet very informative. I gave a copy of the book to my father, who is not one to read a book, and he was so taken back by how interesting he felt the content was. He picked up the book in the morning and had it finished by mid afternoon. He must have called me 15 times to tell me how inspiring he felt it was and how he was amazed at "all the tricks it taught an old dog"...He thought he had heard all there was to hear about inspirational quotes. We were both pleasantly surprised with how well written the book was. Both my dad and I would highly recommend this book with two thumbs up.

Having read only excerpts, I was shocked to read that Tony Dungy was hired as head coach by the Indianapolis Colts in 2002 by owner Robert Irsay. Irsay had been dead for five years (longer than that mentally). Hopefully the rest of the book does not contain such shoddy information.

This book went through various questions about succeeding in life and listed all the responses from each coach. It was interesting but somewhat repetitive in that many said basically the same thing. I enjoyed reading this book because it had a lot of good advice from a lot of successful coaches. The advice I remember most is to work harder than anyone else, never quit, always be honest, do your best, failure is opportunity for a comeback, and be passionate about what you do. All of them agreed that making a lot of money does not mean you are successful, but money can be a by-product of being successful. The last chapter included short summaries about each coach. My favorite chapter was the one of their favorite quotes.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in philosophy, or who is looking for some advice or inspiration about success.

Karen Arelttaz Zemek, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

As a father and an elementary school principal, I find that the techniques in "Behavior Coaching" are practical and effective. Not only do the authors give the what and how of what a parent needs to say to their child to create positive behavior change, but the authors also paint a bigger picture of building a relationship with your child based on love, moral values, and clear communication. I got a few extra copies for our parenting library at school.

Behavior Coaching is a great book. My husband and I took turns reading this book over Spring Break. We were on vacation with our three kids and they were fighting non-stop. It was a good opportunity for us to try out the techniques in Behavior Coaching.

Just changing the way we spoke to our kids was hugely helpful. Within a few days, our kids seemed to calm down and start to get along better. This is our fourth family vacation in the same spot, and the first time we left for home relaxed and rejuvenated. School started up again last week and my husband and I have been using Behavior Coaching to zero in and change the habits of our youngest son. He had been diagnosed with ADHD at the beginning of the school year and has been getting in trouble for interrupting the teacher several times every day.

I got a note home yesterday saying that my son has made a dramatic change and is much more focused now. Behavior Coaching is my new favorite book.

"Dr. Scott Hall and Matt Pasquinilli have written a concise and complete account of how they get children to improve behavior at home and school and how you can get the same results with your own children." - I read this review in a local parenting magazine and so I had to have this book. I ordered it from Amazon at the beginning of February and immediatly put it to work on my eight year old son.

When my son began school, he had trouble focusing and staying on task. He never had a "behavior problem" according to the teachers, he just never paid attention. I had a lot of the same issues as a child, and I feared that my son would have the same horrible experience with school that I had.

We saw doctors and psychologists, tried herbs and diet modification, even did kid yoga. It all helped - a little. Behavior Coaching was the first technique that we used where my husband and I had to change how we were talking to my son. Now we are his "coaches" and he is making us prouder than ever.

My son't teacher said that when he comes to school lately that he is so much more focused that she is starting to see that he is gifted. What a joy and relief. Last year we were talking about keeping him back, now we are talking about putting him in the gifted program.

I never liked spanking and time outs don't work for someone who is not paying attention in school. Behavior Coaching gave us the words to use with our son and now we never punish, just acknowledge and recognize him for his success. Behavior Coaching is all about the conversation that we needed to have with our son. Don't get me wrong though, these are very short talks that pack a powerful punch.

I recommend Behavior Coaching to parents of children with behavior problems or with focus problems. There is alos a lot of great information on morals and virtues in Behavior Coaching. For Christian parents like us, this section was well received. Although no mention of religion can be found in the book, it is obvious that Dr. Scott Hall and Matt Pasquinilli believe in kindness, love, respect, and morality.

Thanks to the authors of Behavior Coaching for giving us a tool that works and for being concerned with issues of character.

I am a 3rd grade teacher and mother of two 1st graders. I bought Behavior Coaching after hearing how effective the techniques were with a colleague's children. I knew I didn't have much time to read a lengthy book, but desperately needed help. I pride myself on gathering as much information as possible when faced with challenging situations. However, parenting and teaching seem to present constant challenges and surprises. I had read several books prior to buying Behavior Coaching. Most all had good advice, but were too heavy with research and/or the examples or were not relevant to my situations. I needed quick, specific ways to handle most challenges at home and school. Behavior Coaching does just that. The authors bypass all the fluff found in many books and give just what is needed. The 9 steps to behavior modification are easy to follow and apply. They take the quessing out of wondering how to use the points they give. I read the book in one night and gained a better understanding on behavior and how to work with it than any other book on the subject. The authors also provide solid information of character and its importance of reinforcing that with your children. The journal pages were also helpful for keeping track of my own situations. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in improving the behavior of children in any environment.

I like practical books. Behavior Coaching is practical and straightforward. There are strategies for improving behavior. There are also instructions on how to teach Character.

I found this book very helpful and everything I learned from it worked well with my son.

Good job!

This is a follow-up to Bird's book Drive. It takes up at the end of his playing career and focuses on his post-playing career. He goes into the Olympic experience and the back pain that ended his career long before his skills had eroded.

He goes into detail about his figurehead jobs with the Boston Celtics and what ultimately led him to leave and eventually take up the head coaching job with the Indiana Pacers. Most of the book revolves around his first year coaching: he dispels myths and propaganda about his coaching and his life and h explains how he selected his coaches and his coaching philosophy, and his team.

The book was just a very enjoyable read.

Bird Watching (by Larry Bird)
Reviewer: Known as one the of the best basketball players to have ever stepped foot onto a NBA court, Larry Bird's book will teach you many things about himself as well as the game. Larry brings the reader into some of his most personal things that he has never shared with anyone. He gives you a first class view on all of his experiences of playing professional basketball in the NBA. He shows you the downsides, positives, but most of all the victories. You'll find out first hand all of the injuries Larry has encountered that until now he has kept as a secret.

Through this book Larry will share with you information of his hometown, French Lick, Indiana. You'll learn about his family, about his fathers' death and the way up to his mothers' death. Larry talks about more than just his parents he introduces you to his wife, Dinah and his two children, Conner and Mariah.

Larry will walk you through his entire career. All the way from his high school career, where one of his favorite coaches, Jim Jones coached him. Jim Jones was the coach who really taught Larry all of the fundamentals of the game. Larry didn't seem to have that many coaches that he didn't care for. Larry is also a very hard worker, he really appreciated it when coaches made him run hard. He believed that every basketball player should be conditioned to play the game. Then later on in his career when he ends up becoming a coach he incorporates all of the coaching skills that he has gathered from his previous coaches and uses them on his players. He brings you through some of his most exciting journeys and some of his most famous friends and players.

Just about everything in this book flows together. Larry explains everything that you know about him and a lot of things that you have no idea of. The only thing that I disliked about the book is that none of it was put in order from the beginning of his life to the end of his career, it seemed to jump around a lot. Another big thing was that each chapter was long in itself, but it seemed to talk about the same thing and just ramble on and on. For example one of Larry's biggest problems was his back and he talked about it for a whole chapter then he talked about it more in a few different chapters. Although there some very good and interesting chapters in the book that taught me many things about Larry Bird.

Overall I thought the book was very good, but somewhat long for me, but if you read often then it will be just fine. I would recommend this to anyone who has a great liking of either Larry Bird or basketball. You also need to have a pretty good understanding of basketball to be able to understand some of the topics Larry teaches you.

Bird Watching, an autobiography by Larry Bird, is a story for any lover of sports. Bird Watching is a detailed account of the life of Larry Bird, from his NBA career with the Boston Celtics to his coaching position with the Indiana Pacers. After reading the first page of the book, the reader realizes there is more to this NBA legend than meets the eye.
Unlike most professional basketball players, Larry Bird never regretted the day he left the NBA and even says that the day he retired was "one of the happiest days of [his] life." Faced with chronic back problems and an irregular heart, Bird was happy to see the day when he no longer had to endure the pain of playing the sport he loved more than anything. Coming from the man himself, the story describes Bird's life in a detailed and personal manner. From beginning to end, the reader easily notices the uniqueness of this man's character and not only sees, but feels the impact this incredible man left on so many fellow players, fans, and loved ones.
I thought this was a great book, especially for a sports fan. I felt that for a sport's book, it was particularly well written. The author's style allows the reader to get a personal glimpse of the life of Larry Bird and causes the reader to feel as if they knew this NBA legend. Because of the story's subject, the author employs very few literary devices. However, the author uses many similes in describing Bird's injuries, allowing the reader to appreciate Bird's choice in leaving the NBA. The book lacks an overall dominant theme, but simply wishes to convey the story of one of the greatest and most unique basketball players of all time.

This book explores the post playing days of arguably the best forward to ever play the game of basketball. Bird recaps his days of playing in the olympics, his time in the front office of the Celtics, and his coaching days of the Pacers. I have been a huge Bird fan since I was a kid, yet I never knew much about him, except for what I saw on the court. This book gave me a lot of insight into Bird's dynamic work ethic as both player and coach and showed how he was able to use his winning attitude to take the Pacers from 39 wins to 58 wins in one season as well as to the infamous clash with Jordan and the Bulls in the 98 Eastern Conference Finals. Bird also reveals his thoughts about the NBA today. If you want to know about the legend that is Larry Bird, you should read this book.

Larry Bird has always been Straight&to the Put.from His Playing days with His Classic Battles with Magic Johnson to His Coaching Career&His Overall View on the NBA&it's players.I enjoyed the Book.Larry Bird is a Very Tough Minded Cat.

This book is very informative and helpful to those making the transition to Half and Ironman distance tri's. I would have given this book a five star if I didn't already have Gale Bernhardt's training plans for multisport athletes. All the info in Going long is in Gale's book. They obviously consulted one another when writing their respective books. I recommend Gale's book if you plan on doing different distance Tri's. Joe's book is more specific to the Ironman distance athlete. Good luck and always ride with a tailwind.

Going Long: Training for Ironman-Distance Triathlons (Ultrafit Multisport Training Series)
is a superb book for any athlete (beginner or pro)! Specially I liked the chapter about the mental training for the Ironman competition. I only can recommend it! Happy training!

Is agood book to reed and ,you can extract many positive advise,good review on diet.

The problem when you start training for a long endurance event like the Ironman is that every second athlete has his or her own opinion and way of training. This confused me a lot.

I decided to seek some professional help and use this book to train for my first Ironman and I can honestly say this book is remarkable. The level of detail is intense, so you have to be patient and read some sections several times to really grasp and remember all the advice given in the chapters, i.e. nutrition, discipline-specific training techniques, etc.

You also need to apply the knowledge with some common sense, because it has been written with advice for every athlete from novice to elite. So make sure you know where you fall on the scale and what you want to achieve and use the advice that is applicable to you.

But, in general, I found the training principles in this book to be accurate and now that I have completed an Ironman I can say that they work. Lately I have discovered that many of the Ironman athletes I meet also used this book to train from.

So you can buy and use it with confidence. Good luck!

I have a few books for Tri and i found this very good source for those who would like to try IM or any races that equivalent to it. For beginners, start with other Tri books and when you're planning to prep-up for 50+ miles tri races, use this book as a guide.
I'm no expert but i did a few tri-races and this is my ultimate guide...i even sleep with it.

In the last ten years since I started coaching managers and leaders, I have read almost everything out there on the subject. This book stands out! The distinctions Hargrove makes about coaching provide clarity, while being very useable and transferable to others. He also writes in a very readable style, and balances profundity and humor to get his points across. Some points that I found especially useful were:

How to generate a powerful coaching relationship by clarifying what each person needs to bring to the party. I found this extremely helpful in re-igniting an ebbing coaching relationship.

Hargrove writes that a leader needs to "be the source" of their impossible future or what it is that they want to create. He shows how to coach someone to do this.

Thinking drives behavior. Hargrove provides clarity and examples on how to coach people in a more profound and deeper way than the usual tips and techniques that novice coaches give.

Hargrove also writes about getting feedback for the coaching client by doing interviews rather than using the typical 360 degree feedback forms. He says, "If more than one person calls you a horse, saddle up!"

I recommend this book to coaches, managers and leaders who want to up the level of their game.

The author integrates coaching with systems thinking and the learning organization popularized by Peter Senge's book "The Fifth Discipline". This revised edition shows the Hargrove's approach is still fresh and surprisingly unique, given all the recent books published on coaching.

One unique contribution is Hargrove's model of triple-loop learning. It is a model of reflection. The first loop is reflecting on the outcome of actions for incremental improvement. The second loop is reflecting on assumptions that led to the decisions about those actions. The third loop is self-reflection on the core identity of the decision maker. This acknowledges that who we are influences our assumptions about the world and thus our actions. This type of reflection has become the core of quality coaching.

Other particularly helpful sections are the chapters on stretch goals and breakthrough thinking. Pushing for breakthroughs, rather than incremental change, requires the use of stretch goals. Hargrove tells us how to coach through the process of setting stretch goals. He says you first must decide what would be a breakthrough, then dig inside for motivation by examining why it is important to achieve and what's in it for me? Finally, learning and acting differently is essential to reaching stretch goals.

Hargrove's combination of systems thinking and learning organization principles with coaching is a real winner. Other books might be more thorough on the "how to" of coaching but his theory and tools for transformational change are excellent and unique.

Are people still being fooled by this same hash and rehash of Werner Erhard's "est," which is going by a new name "The Landmark Forum?" Hargrove's work looks to have been lifted wholesale from the Landmark Education so-called "Curiculum For Living." One wonders if he pays royalties for the use of Werner's, what he himself liked to refer to as, technology. Of course, no one told Werner there were lots of people around who would recognize his use of the word "technology" in this context as having come from one of his inspirations, L. Ron Hubbard and his "Philosophy for Living." And that is what characterizes this book, made all the more obvious by the long list of glowing testimonials, all using thoses tried-and-true estie buzz-words and phrases, the copy-cat, unimaginative litany: transformation, paradigm, empowerment, mastery, extraordinary results, tools for living, taking a stand, blah, blah, and blah. So here is my question. Is Mr. Hargrove shilling for Landmark Education or has he struck out on his own as so many of L. Ron's and now Werner's followers using the same formula and the same ideas? Rick Ross and Steven Hassan's websites have anough background on the "coaching" phenomenon to get you started, if you are curious about the dubious roots of this practice.

For anyone who is a coach, considering becoming a coach, or curious about coaching, this book is a MUST read! Hargroove clearly distinguishes between a coach and a "Masterful Coach" - one that gets results. It's a different paradigm and different way of being with coaching clients that gets results. He shows that coaching is about serving others from the perspective that they are whole and complete; it's not about fixing or helping them.

I found Hargrove's book inspiring, insightful, and useful. I had read his first book - which was pivotal for me in creating my own coaching business-- and have found that he has taken this work to another level-a very compelling, as well as easy read. The two parts that I found most applicable to my own coaching clients were his step-by-step approach to coaching executives and the part on creating a "laboratory" that fosters collaboration within a group. I was able to bring these principles to a client who was wowed by what we were able to generate for her business. I would recommend this book to any coach, internal and external to a company, as well as to any leader who wants to create an "impossible future."

This book really took me by surprise...I was expected the normal lame guide to technique that briefly explains moves while barely saying anything about when and where to use these moves. However, I was amazed when I began to flip through the pages of this book. The Self-Coached climber not only has amazingly detailed images (in color too) and captions to match, but it also features a very well written and deep text. It doesn't just explain moves so that we have a finite toolbox and think like computers, it explains the theory behind all technique. The theory, which once applied to your own climbing, will cause drastic improvements in your ability.

Buy this book. It is the most essential beta you can own.

When I bought this book, I was a 5.10/5.10+ climber with occasional luck on 5.11-. Now I am comfortably climbing 5.11/5.11+. If you are looking for ways to climb better and smarter, this is the book for you, no matter what your level. The authors thoughtfully break down every aspect of climbing and recommend specific exercises to improve them. Climbing makes more sense to me now, is easier, and most importantly feels amazing. If you want to train in a way that makes you a better and smarter climber, this book is for you.

Brilliant book.

So many ideas for those non-professional climbers (like me) who don't have a coach.
Turning, flagging, drop knees are fully explained. Chapter about Movement initiantion - was like total revelation to me. Plus it has DVD - so you can see how you MUST move.

After reading this book I got really sceared: what if I had not bought it, then I might have spent hundreds of hours of my climbing training deepening bad climbing habbits !

It certainly deserves six stars.

if you have climbed for a couple of months and want to
1) understand better techniques and movements
2) improve your style
3) become more aware while climbing and watching others climb

then this is a good starting point

"The Self-Coached Climber" is an excellent training resource for climbers at just about any level. I bought the book recently and before even finishing reading it, I started seeing improvements in my technique from working on the exercises.

In contrast to other books like "How to Climb 5.12," SCC is highly detailed and specific in its approach to improving fundamentals like balance, center of gravity and movement skills. The book provides excellent exercises for particular skills, and these are illustrated with abundant photos and/or drawings that show how the exercise should be done. Additionally, videos on the accompanying DVD can clarify any confusion with the exercises. Finally, a detailed training plan is presented for developing the stamina, strength and technique needed to move up in the climbing grades.

I think it's worth noting that while this is billed as a "self-coached" training book, some of the exercises can't be done without a partner. In fact, working with an equally-motivated partner through the course of the book would probably be the ideal approach.

I believe "The Self-Coached Climber" is a perfect companion piece to Arno Ilgner's mental training book "The Rock Warrior's Way" for anyone wanting to become a better and more confident climber.

I bought this book for my girlfriend who is a literacy coach. She then asked me to buy three more so she could give them as presents to other coaches. 'Nuff said!

The book is extraordinarily concise, clear, comprehensive to deal with the issue of coaching, a concept difficult to explain. It has guidelines for different levels of preparation and competence. Excellent.
In my case, I am an advertising officer, it served the purpose of helping me in communicating at the best of my skills.

I am a family and life coach, focusing mainly on parents and teens. I found Flaherty's book to have many useful and powerful tools that can be used with any client, including parents, kids, youth, teens, and families. Coaching leaves people feeling more competent and helps them learn how to self-correct. Teaching this to children and youth is powerful and can change the direction of their lives. Helping them feel more competent as a result of learning how to self-correct seems to me to be something that would be invaluable to clients both young and old. Children are like sponges and learn very quickly. They can achieve more balance in their own young lives when they are given the tools in which to do so. Parents can learn to be powerful coaches for their children through being coached themselves.

Because coaching is a relationship that is based on mutual respect, trust, and freedom of expression, it serves to support all clients. We have to remember that clients are in the middle of their lives and that includes kids. They may have developed some undesired behaviors and it will take some patience and caring to help walk them through the steps to change. We as coaches can observe and learn when something is not working for both parents and kids, then share with them the steps they can take toward positive change. I think it is extremely powerful for a child or teen to learn that he or she has the ability to make these changes and to determine the outcomes in their lives.

Flaherty teaches the importance of having a strong foundation that can act as an anchor in our coaching experience with our clients. Coaching is a way of working with people that leaves them more competent and fulfilled so that they are more able to contribute in any area of their life. It also helps clients to learn to self-correct. They know when things are going well and can see when things are not. They can learn to change behaviors that will help them in making the adjustments needed to correct it.

What's true is what works. Coaching is about practical outcomes and is a discipline that requires self-correction, freshness, and innovation. Our coaching has to be adapted to fit individuals who already have their own way of doing things. Language, observation, and assessment occur simultaneously. They never occur without the other. The coach must be very precise, consistent, and grounded in listening and speaking to the client. The coach must also have a general sense of the way the client is in and makes sense of the world.

Flaherty said: "The more profoundly and systematically we understand someone, the more effective and lasting our coaching can be."

I will use the tools in Flaherty's book for years to come. I found it to be very clear and concise and his illustrations and charts useful and practical. I will turn to his book whenever I feel it's time for me to re-assess.

I must say that I was extremely disappointed by this book. Given all of reviews I saw/read before buying the book, I expected a very helpful tome. Instead, this turned out to be one of the driest books I've ever tried to read.

There are much better, and more helpful, books out there on coaching.

Mr. Flaherty's book reveals the wide and disparate meanings we apply to the word "coaching." My primary focus is in the area of managing and coaching professional technology salespeople. I found this book to be uneven and at times even irritating. Too many references to Heidegger and other philosophers, which struck me as irrelevant appeals to authority with little relevance to coaching. I like a good discussion of philosophy, the nature of being, etcetera, but in this context it seemed out of place. At other times, Flaherty's insights were brilliant.

Despite numerous references intended to persuade us of the foundations for the author's positions, Flaherty includes questionable material in this book which he acknowledges will be controversial. The section on body types is, in my view, ludicrous stereotyping. My field is medical technology, and when I read that "ectomorphs are tall, thin, long-limbed, long-necked folks... people of this body type often have complex and highly wrought nervous systems," I cringed. What is a highly wrought nervous system? Where is the scientific evidence to support this? Basing assumptions on people's "body type" is fraught with danger, not the least of which is being dead wrong. More importantly, what in the world does this have to do with coaching, unless perhaps if you are a fitness coach or physical therapist. It might then have some dubious merit, but Flaherty is suggesting that coaches, generally, consider these "factors." On the other hand, coaching awareness of one's physical body and its signals and responses to internal and external influences certainly has merit.

The author also goes out of his way to demean the views of Ferdinand Fournies, whose book Coaching for Improved Work Performance he apparently views as competition to his own. He dismisses Fournies as a behaviorist and suggests his coaching advice belittles those being coached. Yet Flaherty frequently remarks that you must deal with observable behavior. What's more, he acknowledges that "when someone declines coaching," but you are still responsible for their results, "I recommend that you use traditional management procedures," with "clarity about outcomes and the consequences for not reaching those outcomes." In short, he says you should do what Fournies, much more eloquently and sensitively, advocates.

There is a great deal a reader on the subject might gain from Flaherty's book, but I would not recommend it in isolation. After reading it, I was surprised at the numerous glowing and uncritical reviews it received. Read it WITH Fournies' book - the two are not contradictory. But if you are only going to read one book on coaching, read John Whitmore's 3rd edition of Coaching for Performance, a brilliantly straightforward, unpretentious, and exceedingly pragmatic view of how we can help others realize their potential in most relationships. If by chance you are coaching salespeople, also read Managing Major Sales, by Neil Rackham and Richard Ruff.