Unleashed!: The Leader as Coach

Gregg Thompson and Susanne Biro hit pay dirt with a great read for those that want to unlock the secret of coaching - Unleash the Talent in those you lead. It's in them. Know it and believe in them and great things will happen. After coaching executives for over 24 years and having read everything I could find on the profession of coaching I would place this book in the top 3 books about coaching on my shelf!

"Unleashed!: Expecting Greatness And Other Secrets Of coaching for Exceptional Performance" is the collaborative work of business leader, operations manager, executive coach, facilitator, management consultant, and president of Bluepoint Leadership Development Inc., Gregg Thompson and Susanne Biro (Director of Coaching at Bluepoint Leadership Development). Thompson and Biro draw upon their years of experience and expertise to provide business managers and human resource directors with step-by-step, easy-to-apply instructions, tips and techniques for getting the most out of the people for whom they are responsible. Readers will learn what 'High Performance Coach' is and isn't; how to identify the qualities that comprise an effective Leader Coach; what is required in the role of coach and how to recognize coaching strengths; come to a more comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the coaching process; identify their own 'self development work and personal growth curve'; understand current challenges to leadership; detect and create opportunities to coach subordinates, staff, and personnel; and effectively participate in the personal growth of others while developing high performance coaching skills. Very strongly recommended reading for anyone charged with the responsibility of training and leading others, "Unleashed!" is superbly organized, articulate, and as close to participating in a Bluepoint Leadership Development seminar/workshop without actually being enrolled in one.

There is a powerful, timeless concept in this book - it's the chapter on the expectation/performance connection: "People live up, or down to our expectations of them". How easy it is for us to forget this truth and how quickly we can sabotage relationships with the people who report to us or our colleagues by not paying attention to the fact that, whether we voice our thoughts or not, people have a way of sensing how we judge them or assess them. As the author says, people innately know how we rate them. And to enter a coaching relationship with someone, we need to suspend our judgments otherwise coaching is not effective. Among the many practical tools and concepts in this book are: 1. The 60 Big Coaching Questions (I was stopped in my tracks by questions such as: "which working relationships are affirming and which are degrading?") 2. The 10 Big Intuitional Perspectives (many books on coaching talk about the importance of "messaging" but few actually provide a tool such as the 10 big perspective that often show up in a coaching conversation). 3. The 10 Big Acknowledgments. 4. "Try This". This is a series of useful quick tips. I found myself leafing through the book to read each one quickly, in succession. 5. The concept of "walking away empty". 6. "Nixing the Sounding Board". (I found this novel - traditionally, we think of coaches as individuals that we can use to safely "vent" about our situation - the author uses a contrarian approach to this which is refreshing and powerful in making sure that the coaching conversation time is not wasted in this unproductive activity). There are also references to many useful books. For example, I re-discovered Eric Berne's Transactional Analysis model of conversation - very powerful for any situation in which we interact with others. I also found useful the many thought provoking questions such as: "Consider yourself a brand. What would the marketplace say about who you are?" Overall, this book is clearly laid out, easy to read and helpful not only for coaching others but also for self-coaching and self-development.

The insights in this book for developing and unleashing a person's special talents are invaluable not only for the workplace but also for parents, teachers and others involved in coaching people. The concept of developing a talent in others that is different from the coaches special gift and which will hopefully surpass the coach is refreshing and can be expected to result in "Exceptional Performance". Our schools and our workplace trainers need to read and apply these principles if they desire to improve.

I grew after only reading the introduction of this book! I am a facilitator/corporate trainer and started reading Unleashed! for research, but found that it helped ME - not only as a mother (read the introduction and see), but as a facilitator, employee, wife, and friend. Gregg and Susanne write in a way that pull you in and make it real/tangible/understandable. Watch out world, this book has created a coach in me and I have already begun to build my legacy!