I have just finished the audiobook “Challenging Coaching” by John Blakey and Ian Day. listening to the book felt like coming home, as my work goes beyond traditional coaching and I resonated with the psychological aspects presented.
This book breaks the mould of traditional coaching approaches to challenge coaches and their clients to achieve courageous goals that sustainably transform bottom-line performance. Challenging Coaching is a real-world, timely, and provocative book which provides a wake-up call to move beyond the limitations of traditional coaching.
Based on the author’s extensive experience working at board and management levels, they suggest that for too long coaching approaches have shied away from adopting a more challenging stance a stance that can provoke greater performance and unlock deeper potential in business leaders and their teams. Long-held coaching principles such as being non-directive, building rapport, and holding to the individual’s agenda are put under the spotlight by the authors questioning their relevance to a 21st-century business environment where the needs of the wider organization must take precedence over the particular wants of any specific executive.
The authors detail their unique FACTS coaching model, which provides a practical and pragmatic approach focusing on Feedback, Accountability, Courageous goals, Tension, and Systems thinking. Using this model enables the reader to enter the zone of uncomfortable debate that sustainably transforms individual and bottom-line performance.
The authors explore FACTS coaching in theory and in practice using case studies, example dialogues, and practical exercises so that the reader will be able to successfully challenge others using respectful yet direct techniques. This is an original and thought-provoking book that dares the reader to go beyond traditional coaching and face the FACTS.