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Title | Effective Coaching: Lessons from the Coach’s Coach |
| Author | Myles Downey | |
| Publisher | Texere | |
| ISBN | 978 1 5879 9172 1 | |
| Usefulness | /5 | |
| Myles Downey’s Effective Coaching, published in 2003, is still worth a read. Downey, founder and director of studies for the School of Coaching, has written an easy-to-read, insightful book for aspiring or new coaches. His enthusiasm is apparent throughout and I particularly enjoyed his referencing of Tim Gallwey’s “inner game” – Downey is old school and proud of it. He speaks as easily about the more esoteric elements of coaching as he does about the nitty-gritty of contracting and performance review.
In explaining, among other things, his views on directive and non-directive coaching and examining the spectrum of tools that a coach may employ between the two extremes, he writes with clarity and a light touch and is both accessible and profound. The GROW model is put forward as a possible method for non-directive coaching and example conversations help demonstrate why this approach can work so well. This book is also useful as a reference for the more experienced coach, with chapters such as “Generating understanding/raising awareness” and “Proposing”. As such, it deserves its status as a coaching bible that has stood the test of time in this ever-changing and adapting profession. Volume 4, Issue 2 |
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