Peter Shaw & Robin Linnecar
Chichester: Capstone Publishing Ltd, 2007.
240 pages. Paperback. £14.99.
ISBN: 978-1-8411-2741-5
Reviewed by Simon Duff
There are numerous books on coaching and where I think this one differs from many is that it appears to be aimed at the individual or business who is considering whether coaching is potentially useful for them. It took a while to grasp this point, but having done so it has partly resolved my biggest concern with the book, which is that there is very little evidence for anything and very few primary sources if one wants to read further. Interestingly this coincided with a discussion on the coaching forum where someone asked if there was any literature that tested various coaching models and someone else replied, why would you want to test the models? Presumably so that there is an evidence base to show the when, where, who, and how of their effectiveness not just so that coaches can select the best tools but so that clients can make informed decisions.
The reason my concern is only partly resolved is that it seems that the authors are making the assumption that those who might consider bringing coaching into their organisation are either uninterested or unable to understand where their ideas about effective engagement might come from, other than from anecdotes - i.e. that informed decisions are not important. Is this true? If this is intended to be a kind of selfhelp book then probably, yes, but is that appropriate for people considering a commitment of time and money to coaching?
Despite this concern, Business Coaching is an engaging read and does, in my opinion, provide an overview of the kinds of issues that a potential client might have. This does a great service to the potential client, putting them in a position of strength in negotiating the coaching contract, as can be seen from the material covered; the impact of coaching, coaching in context, what makes a good coach, what a client gets out of engaging with coaching, different formats for coaching, and then expanding out to the international perspective. In each section there are true nuggets - my favourite is the section on the relevance of strategic leadership frameworks for coaching where I was introduced to the idea of Bike-ish and Frog-ish thinking.
The greatest strength of this book, in my opinion, is how it raises questions in the reader’s mind. Intentional or not, I can see how coaches reading this material may begin to question the assumptions that both they and their future clients make about the coaching process. One example is at the start of Chapter 4 where an individual describes what she wants from a coach. This made me consider the question as to who is in the best position to judge what is needed - is it the case that if a client knows what they want then they know enough about the situation that they may not need a coach at all? Or, is their view of what a coach should be bringing a further example of the issues that a coach would need to address? Whether reading this material would have the same effect on a potential client is not so clear.
Having re-read my review it is apparent that Business Coaching is generally an interesting and thought-provoking book, aimed at the client rather than the coach. It helps to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their needs and how they can use coaching to achieve their goals and this, combined with a suitable coach, is a positive state of affairs.