Resources
Resources
Phil’s take on what he has enjoyed in his transition to coach and what he believes will help you?
On Change
Herminia Ibarra, Working Identity
Comment: Experiment before concluding, what the modern world has forgotten to – if you are thinking of major change, you must read this book.
Seth Godin, The Practice
Comment: The book I am telling everybody about, it is a call to arms on creating impact and the importance of practical action and process in building the launchpad. It sits perfectly alongside “Working Identity” and most will find it inspiring and wise.
Boyatzis, Smith and Van Oosten, Helping People Change
Comment: The science behind the use of encouragement and vision in getting to where you want to be (or indeed keeping what you have); also a clear indicator to me as to how many businesses need to reassess on how employees are appraised.
On Stories
Jim Loehr, The Power of Story
Comment: We are often trapped in the story we tell about ourselves. We can tell a new story. Coaching helps us understand the stories we tell ourselves. It helps us maintain the story, or, if required. change the plot.
On Teams
Sacred Hoops, Phil Jackson
Comment:
I reread this after watching The Last Dance (also full of coaching and development gems, such as Michael Jordan’s emotional but important statement right at the end about whether his teammates liked him: “Winning has a price, and leadership has a price”) The Last Dance
I first read Sacred Hoops in 1999 when I was living in New York – just after Jordan had retired. It was the first ever coaching book I had read. When I then coached football for 10 years it was always at the back of my mind. When I have worked in and led teams, it has always been hovering, watching what I do. I defy any aspiring leader not to find wisdom in the words and stories of possibly sport’s greatest coach.
On bringing coaching skills to Leadership
Herminia Ibarra and Anne Scoular, The Leader As Coach
Comment: This is the next frontier, simply envisioned, hard to dispute.
On Purpose
Simon Sinek, How Great Leaders Inspire Action
Comment: A TED talk I watched a decade ago, a tremendous influence on me as a leader and still resonates now as a coach of leaders. Find the Why.
On Systemic Coaching
Peter Hawkins, Systematic Coaching: Delivering Value Beyond The Individual And Beyond The Team
Comment: Hawkins presents a great case for coaching to take account of the environment of the coachee, and in particular the stakeholders in the coaches business, something particularly relevant to my experience within private equity.
From the world of fiction
Hemmingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Comment: I have often thought of it as a young man and perhaps I thought I was the boy. Now I am very much the old man. The story is a masterpiece of simple storytelling. I have thought of it often as I coach people through self-awareness and change.
Julia Donaldson, A Squash and a Squeeze
Comment: A children’s book on being careful what you wish for that was recommended to me by a coach (thanks Keith!) – all good coaching starts with a focus on awareness.