Discover what's new in this classic work that helped define the field of coaching.

With the first edition of Co-Active Coaching, Laura Whitworth and her pioneering co-authors set the stage for what has become a cultural and business phenomenon, and helped launch the professional practice of coaching. Their flexible Co-Active Coaching model has stood the test of time as a transformative communication process that co-workers and teammates, managers, teachers, and students can use to build strong and collaborative relationships.

In this new edition, the authors reflect today's reality of how coaching has moved beyond its initial focus on life skills to become an integral part of an organization's toolkit for developing leaders. Already used as the definitive resource in dozens of corporate and professional development programs, Co-Active Coaching has been updated to include the latest terminology and a variety of fresh coaching examples drawn from the authors' firsthand experiences with thousands of international coaching trainees and clients. The power-packed Coach's Toolkit has been expanded to include more than 35 exercises, questionnaires, checklists, and reproducible forms. And a CD containing sample audio coaching sessions, and printable forms from the Toolkit, have been added to make these proven principles and techniques practical.

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Part I is "Coaching Fundamentals." Here they outline the model which places the client squarely in the center. The model focuses on the coach using his or her skills to focus on the client's fulfillment, balance, and process. The intake session is discussed here sufficiently to create the context of the later coaching sessions.

Part II is "Co-Active Coaching Skills." The authors detail in this section five skills key to the coach's success: listening, use of intuition, exploration of curiosity, action and learning, and self-management. There are activities to practice each skill at the end of each chapter--anyone wanting to coach should not skip these exercises, which are carefully designed to get to the heart of the skill described.

Part III is "Co-Active Coaching Processes." This section explains "the three core principles of coaching:" fulfillment, balance, and process. Especially helpful here is Chapter 11, "Tips and Traps," a valuable addition that warns and prepares the coach for things that may not go quite right....

The last section is "The Coach's Toolkit," and this alone is worth the price of the book. It includes Action Plans, Client Activities and Worksheets, Intake Checklists--everything a coach needs to begin a successful coaching program. A wise coach will undertake the exercises and worksheets for himself or herself, and thus will better understand what the client is asked to do.

125 of 129 found the following review helpful:

Whole-person coaching...a powerful approach.Feb 28, 1999

Co-coaching is distinctive in that it involves both the coach and the client; it is also referred to as personal/professional coaching because it addresses the whole person (the whole of their life).

Many books we have reviewed on this subject, while of value within the workplace, do not strive to address the multidimensional nature of the individual. In contrast, the approach presented here is distinctly holistic.

The authors' offer a model plus a set of skills and techniques. The book is filled with specifics and excellent insights, and gives extensive guidance about how to be highly effective in coaching. About 75 pages are devoted to "The Coach's Toolkit," consisting of forms, checklists, exercises, resources and a glossary. This book offers a potentially powerful approach to coaching. It is, in our view, requisite reading for anyone involved in, or considering, coaching. Highly recommended.

84 of 87 found the following review helpful:

excellent resource!Mar 25, 1999

As a professor of Organizational Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, I've seen a lot of interest expressed by psychologists in the process of personal and executive coaching. Conventional training in psychology is not necessarily a very good preparation for this work. Rather, what is needed is the sort of empathetic and careful relationship building, informed by but not restricted to psychological approaches, that comes through in this book. I heartily recommend it to all who are interested in developing a greater sensitivity to the coaching process!

63 of 68 found the following review helpful:

Model + Skills + Techniques = SuccessSep 03, 2001
By Susan G. Dunn "The EQ Coach"
While I am already coaching, this book was very helpful to me. There are as many ways of coaching as there are coaches, and this delineates one succinct method to follow in a relatively new, unregulated, and confusing field. The numerous pages of "tools" are worth the money alone. Wish I hadn't spent what I spent on a CD to get other versions. The skills and techniques affirm what I've been doing already, but push me onward with conviction, adding layers to my understanding of how to be most effective. It's the clearest description of coaching I've come across and I recommend it highly. It's well written, authoritative and highly useable.

25 of 25 found the following review helpful:

A supplement, not a substitute for live coaching training.Nov 19, 2003
By Michael Chiodi "author, The Art of Building People"
This book is a good summary of the "Co-Active Coaching Training" program conducted by the Coaching Training Institute. Unfortunately, it doesn't (or can't possibly) act as a substitute for the program. The training itself is based heavily on experiential learning that can't be delivered in a book. The book is useful as a reference, especially for those fortunate enough to have gone through the CTI program, and also for those thinking about signing up for the program. It might be difficult to use the model or some of the tools without the patience to figure out the jargon, but none the less, there is valuable information. One example is the "powerful questions" reference section that will benefit anyone trying to coach effectively.

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