101 Coaching Strategies and Techniques

101 Coaching Strategies and Techniques

Gladeana McMahon and Anne Archer (eds), (2010) Routledge: London.

This book aims at support practicing coaches by providing to hand practical strategies exercises and techniques. Those put forwarded are drawn on from various disciplines of education, psychology and from business. It is broken into a number of sections, which the authors believe support the range of issues that commonly present to coaches as they work with individuals, teams and organisations. These include:

Each section then has a number of dedicated (between 5 and 20) short chapters detailing different ways to deal with each section.
For example in Section F ‘Problem solving and creativity’, the chapters that address include :
– Finding your niche
– Job decision making
– Letting them draw their own conclusions
– Mind mapping for insight and problem solving based on the work of ~Tony Buzan
– Well formed outcomes.

Each chapter is presented in the same format. A purpose for each exercise is provided. This clearly identifies different aims or coaching goals and then goes on to provide a description and a process which provide a step-by-step directions. Finally each chapter ends with the pitfalls of the exercise being discussed. An extensive recommended reading list is also provided for further reference. The great value of this book is that it is drawn from the best practices of 22 individual coaches who are from a variety of backgrounds but the common bond is that they are practicing successful coaches.

Maeve Bent
PSG Executive and Life Coaching Diploma Student