Product Description
The field of executive coaching is growing at an astonishing rate. Corporations are increasingly turning to coaching as an intervention, as it offers leaders and managers both on-the-job learning and built-in follow-up. But how can you make the best use of coaching within your organization? Executive Coaching for Results helps this critical leadership development method come of age. This is not a “how-to-coach book”–there are already plenty of those–but rather a… More >>
Executive Coaching for Results: The Definitive Guide to Developing Organizational Leaders
#1 by E. Britton on June 9th, 2010
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Executive Coaching for Results: The Definitive Guide to Developing Organizational Leaders
This book must already be considered a foundation text for executive coaching’s role and practice. The field is defined and framed in the context of the business world and related professional services. Despite its scholarly underpinnings, the book is eminently accessible to any reader and provides immediately useful and practical guidance to the coach, coachee, coaching organization and client company.
The roles of corporate culture, leadership support for coaching, and the more traditional human resource functions in the coaching initiative are explored. `How to’ sections on organizing, managing, conducting and evaluating coaching projects provide state-of-the-art standards of practice. The book looks at strategies to develop the coaching profession and ends with a futuristic look at what may lie ahead for the profession.
Every serious practitioner will make a thorough study of this publication.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Anne Painter on June 9th, 2010
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I am very happy to recommend this book both as a previous corporate client of leadership development and now as an executive coach and leadership developer. It provides a much needed overview of executive coaching as a leadership and organizational development tool for both clients and coaches. I am impressed with the research and examples – the practical tools and checklists are of special value. Personally I have picked out some `golden nuggets’ to enhance my own practice and enrich the interactions I have with clients before, during and after coaching engagements. Chapters I especially like are on culture, the toolbox and measuring impact. In the current challenging business environment it reinforces why executive coaching is especially needed to support and develop leaders. Congratulations to Brian Underhill and his co-authors for writing such a comprehensive resource.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Colleen Cassidy on June 9th, 2010
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This book has all of your coaching questions answered in one book. It disects the industry flawlessly and is a great read for anyone involved with this line of work. Whether you are interested in pursuing a coaching career, currently a coach, work in an HR related field, or looking to hire a coach- this is the book for you. I am currently in a PhD program for Organizational Psychology, so I am continuously referencing this research.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Robert Witherspoon on June 9th, 2010
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As an executive coach who’s passionate about helping leaders to learn, to grow and to change, I recently had the pleasure of reading Executive Coaching for Results, and like it a lot.
Using a combination of research methods, Brian Underhill and his colleagues bring fresh data on current coaching practice and their own insights from coaching in organizations to shed light on the state of the art of executive coaching. Consider, for example, their analysis of key selection criteria for selecting executive coaches, as seen by both the sponsoring organizations and the leaders actually receiving coaching.
* Organizations saw “business experience” and “match with our culture” as critical factors in choosing a coach. Of lesser import was “experience in our industry,” “advanced degree” and “cost.”
* Leaders overwhelmingly selected “business experience” and “ability to establish rapport” (read personal chemistry) as their top criteria in coach selection. “Advanced degree” and “certification” were minimally important, and “cost” came in last place.
The authors add: “In interviews, leaders also identified “soft” traits in coaches [that were key selection factors], such as having a sincere desire and commitment to help, having adaptability and the right chemistry, being a good listener, becoming a trusted advisor, and having the ability to challenge back.”
Significantly, neither organizations or leaders being coached seem concerned about coaching models and approaches.
In sum, Executive Coaching for Results is a fine contribution to the coaching field, and the first to clearly illuminate many current organizational practices.
P.S. I started coaching execs in organizations before it was cool. Some years back I wrote another “first” on executive coaching with Randy White, published by the Center for Creative Leadership. To learn more, Google on Four Essential Ways That Coaching Can Help Executives (1997) at amazon.com, which includes a brief book description and customer review.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Jeremy Solomons on June 9th, 2010
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As an executive coach and leadership trainer, I see the need for coaching more and more
as a way of attracting, developing and retaining leaders in a very competitive
environment.
This book ably helps remove a lot of the hype and myths around this growing but
fragmented field and it provides a very practical road-map for how to implement a
successful coaching program.
I would have liked to have seen more on the global aspect of coaching but
perhaps that could be the topic of the authors’ next book!
Rating: 5 / 5