Customer Reviews
Excellent - By: , 10 Aug 2005 
Immensely readable, this book presents a very interesting discussion of the "art" of coaching from numerous different angles. Downey stresses that coaching is an "art" & explores the principles of, & issues in, business coaching from a variety of viewpoints. This makes the book a great introduction for the beginner, but also a brilliant refresher for experienced coaches to dip into & reinvigorate ideas & principles. Be warned though, this is not a coaching manual. There is no attempt to theorise, no coverage of psychological aspects & little structured coverage of tools & techniques (though there are some inspiring ideas). If you want tools & techniques there are a number of books available (I like "Performance Coaching" by Angus McLeod). However, to establish first principles & set the scene for coachingin a very inspiring & readable manner I highly recommend this.
Excellent analysis of coaching and its ethos - By: Budge Burgess, 10 May 2005 An intelligent & thought-provoking exploration of the role of the coach, specifically the business coach, & an excellent read for anyone workingin the newly emerging coaching profession. Introduced by Tim Gallwey (whose "Inner Game" precipitated a sea-changein sports coaching & helped trigger the emergence of life & business coaching - Downey's book makes regular reference to Gallwey.
Downey begins by pointing out that coaching is largely unregulated, has no core professional status or training/qualification requirements, & is, effectively, validated only by the person receiving the coaching. Coaching is results driven - it is predicated on empowering the client (or 'player'). The role of the coach is to encourage you to believein yourself, to understand the complexities that are self, to help you discover the skills & momentum you need to transform self-belief into action, & then to motivate you towards achievement.
Downey writes of the need to bring humanity back to the workplace - & his book is largely directed at those workingin business coaching. It's a very humanistic, compassionate approach - the role of the coach is not to mould automatons who will go to work unquestioningly, but to help people find their creative side, explore their imagination, recognise their intelligence, skills, passions, etc. The workplace benefits because the workers are fulfilled & achieve a balanced lifestyle which brings a fresh vitality to their work.
Gallwey's "Inner Game" identified the problem - what comes between you performing at your best & achieving your potential is that inner echo of doubt, that indecision refrain which repeats & repeatsin your inner ear, "I can't", "I'll fail", "I'll miss", "they'll laugh at me", "what if ...", "what if ...", "what if ... ?" You have your own inner chorus of doubt & negative commentary. Gallwey argues that you have to switch this off & achieve "relaxed concentration" - often now described as "flow".
Downey sees the relevance of this to business coaching - if you are already plagued by this inner chorus of doubt & negativity, the sort of thing which prevents the player hitting the ball true, or taking the catch, or whatever, how much more battered must you feel if that chorus is orchestrated & conducted by a manager or work colleagues who routinely put you down? Downey's is a humanistic approach to coaching which emphasises listening, communication, creating a safe world where coach & client can achieve their own "flow" of understanding. Downey's vision of coaching is one of liberation & self-growth, is an exercisein the intimate trust & inspiration of rapport.
For Downey, effective coaching delivers fulfilment & achievement ... achievement which is sustainable. It doesn't just equip the individual to do the job better, it equips them with a confidence & self-assertiveness which they can transfer to their everyday life.
Coaching is an art - the art of interaction, of working togetherin harmony. Downey explores the practicalities - listening skills, the GROW model, the intricacies of business coaching - but it is his emphasis on creativity which I find most impressive & most stimulating. Creativity is at the core of the human condition - too many people learn not to be creative because it's safer to be the same. Too many learn to doubt their creative ability or potential. Too many learn to keep secret skills of innovation, problem solving, or imagination. It's safer to conform, it's safer not to take risks, it's best not to give others an excuse to laugh or condemn.
Downey emphasises the need to empower the individual, to extend to the client the liberation of being allowed to think, to imagine, to adventure, to take control.
It's a well-written book - it doesn't tell you how to go about becoming a coach, it doesn't provide you with a how-to guide to 'doing' coaching, but if you workin coaching, or psychology, counselling, social work, even medicine or teaching, it gives an invaluable perspective which will enable you to reassess your skills (and attitudes), & give greater depth to your practice. An excellent book, highly accessible, & deserving of a wide audience.
A Must Read - By: , 22 Dec 2003 Myles Downey is a great coach. Here is a compelling account of his maxims - that work wellin practice - set out with great clarity. If you want coachingin your arsenal, this is a must read.
Will Hutton, CEO of the Work Foundation & author of The World We're In
Wonderful book - By: , 22 Dec 2003 Effective Coaching is one of the few books that genuinely captures both the power & simplicity of non-directive coaching. It is a wonderful place for anyone wanting to learn to coach effectively as well as a return to basics for those coaches who may have gotten miredin complexity.
Good Intro - By: , 10 Apr 2002 
Having trailed along on the business sidelines for a number of years, coaching is suddenly enjoying a major surge of popularity. But what's it all about? Tennisin the Boardroom? Golf swings by the water cooler?
Myles Downey's book, despite its relative brevity, makes an excellent job of introducing some of the key considerations involvedin training or hiring business coaches. At 135 pages (including the Introduction) you obviously aren't going to get an in-depth explanation of what coaching can do for you and/or your company. What I think you WILL get is a pretty good feeling for whether coaching can be of benefit to you.
If that makes the book sound a bit airy-fairy, I apologise. Mr Downey also does an excellent job of laying the groundwork for becoming an "effective coach" - if that's what you're after. There's actually plenty of very practical tips, including useful models, such as the "Spectrum of Coaching Skills" & the GROW (or TO GROW) outline of any coaching session.
One of the highlights of the book as far, as I was concerned, was the inclusion of snippets of dialogue (ranging from a few lines to several pagesin length) used to actually demonstrate how to handle various elements of the coaching function.
The one element of the book I felt a little uneasy about was Mr Downey's hypothesis that a manager can also function as coach to one of his/her subordinates. As Mr Downey himself points out, facts & thoughts might emerge during a coaching session that could potentially be somewhat damaging when it comes to appraisal time. There seems to be an assumption that a "good" manager could somehow separate the two functions & ignorein 'manager mode' the things s/he has learnt whilstin 'coaching mode'.
I'd suggest that this is a piece of impractical idealism, which places an unrealistic & unfair burden upon the manager.
Rather than sweeping such considerations under the rug, it seems to me that coaching is likely to remain a fad until issues such as this have been fully addressed & resolved.
