The Auto Club Group
Coaching for Performance
Book

Coaching for Performance

Growing Human Potential and Purpose

John Whitmore
Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2009
First Edition: 1992
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Editorial Rating

8

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Recommendation

Coaches don’t work only on football and soccer fields, baseball diamonds, or basketball courts. Today, coaches assist clients in every possible area of endeavor, from business and other professions to numerous life skills. If you can do it, a coach can help you do it better. Sir John Whitmore is a respected guru in this emerging field. He also is a bigger-than-life figure who was once a professional racecar driver on a championship team. Whitmore’s popular, authoritative book, now in its fourth edition, is a classic contribution in the field of performance coaching. getAbstract recommends it as a tremendous resource on the philosophy and methodology of coaching.

Summary

The Basics of Performance Coaching

In sports and other areas, a coach helps individuals fulfill their potential so they can perform at their best. Coaching focuses on learning, not teaching, and covers “planning, problem solving, reviewing” and “skill development.” Just as a baby discovers how to walk independently, a coaching subject (called a “coachee”) learns to grow and achieve through self-actualization. Coaches are not necessarily experts in any particular field of business, but they must be experts in coaching itself, including its customs and methods.

A professional coach sets out to maximize each subject’s sense of personal potential to create a path to improved performance. A coach helps people learn to believe in themselves without reservation. Coaches don’t instruct as much as they treat people with humane concern to help them make the most of their innate capabilities. When managers coach their subordinates, they must adopt a different, more nurturing “communication style” than the usual in-the-office approach. Most managers wield authority somewhere on the spectrum between “dictators” and “persuaders,” but coaching works on a different scale. When acting...

About the Author

John Whitmore is a legendary coach. His classic book on coaching has sold more than half a million copies in 22 languages. Whitmore started out as a professional racecar driver. His racing team won numerous prestigious championships in the 1960s.

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