The Advanced Coaching Pocketbook
Lynne Walley
Management Pocketbooks
978 19066 1088 3
5 stars out of 5
The author’s new model, ‘SPACE’,* gives coaches a clear and comprehensive way to consider and reflect on their personal presence, their overall practice, and with their clients.
The SPACE model is thorough and insightful, standing for: S = Concept of Self as a coach; P = the Physicality in which we coach; A = the Attention we give to our coachees; C = the Coaching styles we use, and E = the Ethics and values systems we employ as coaches.
The model is a powerful metaphor and useful mnemonic to coaches who want to grow their coaching practice.
By exploring each stage of the model, the reader will gain self-awareness in a way that is inviting yet challenging. The book has a solid foundation in theory, is thoroughly referenced, and the knowledge is held lightly. As readers we are invited to consider our approach through the author’s questions and personal perspectives rather than being told “this is how you should do it”.
Walley offers options for how we might approach our practice, acknowledging the individuality of coach and clients.
I’m delighted to endorse this book as both accessible and relevant for experienced coaches wanting to reflect on their presence in the coaching space.
- Alison Hodge is a coaching supervisor who works with executive coaches www.alisonhodge.com
*Not to be confused with the SPACE model used in CBC
Accelerating Performance: How Organizations Can Mobilize, Execute, and Transform with Agility
Colin Price and Sharon Toye
John Wiley & Sons
978 11191 4749 7
5 stars out of 5
It was Colin Price’s previous book, Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage (2011; with Keller), which opened my eyes to the importance of the ‘soft stuff’ and how an organisation has to be healthy to perform well over a sustained period.
Accelerating Performance builds on that, exploring what leaders need to accelerate faster than the competition.
But while leaders might ‘get’ this intellectually, many find it tough to move from knowing they need to change, to actually doing so. As coaches, we must respond effectively when a leader asks why change is required (and what form it might take). This book provides a forensic analysis of the ‘why’ as well as a formula for the ‘what’: META: Mobilize, Execute and Transform with Agility = Acceleration.
However, there’s far more here than empirical analysis. The leadership chapter contains insights into ways to stimulate conversations that can act as a catalyst for change. This provides a powerful tool to help senior executives appreciate the impact of changes they make personally.
This book offers invaluable ammunition as we seek to support organisations and individuals to optimise their performance.
- Liz Rochester is an executive team coach