The 5 best coaching books to help you transform lives

Calling all coaches and soon-to-be coaches! What’s the one way you can uplevel your skills and become a knowledge leader in your field? It’s learning and consuming information.

We’ve compiled a list of five of the best coaching books you can find right now. Each read is packed with valuable prompts, advice, wisdom, and straightforward information.

The Coaching Habit

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." ― Michael Stanier

Michael breaks down the ins and outs of coaching, revealing how to unlock other people’s potential with a few key skills. He's trained over 10,000 managers worldwide and even spoke on the TEDx stage. In his book, you can expect to:

• Get right to the important stuff in every conversation
• Save time and energy with strategic questions
• Uncover interpersonal challenges easily by knowing what to look for
• Build a collection of success stories from those you help

Readers comment that The Coaching Habit conveys ideas that are simple and effective. They love how he identifies and breaks down the seven most critical coaching questions. His detailed explanation of them will revolutionize how you manage your team and clients, and engage with others.

Trillion Dollar Coach

“Strive to win, but always win right, with commitment, teamwork, and integrity.” ― Eric Schmidt

Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle pooled their first-hand knowledge of Bill Campbell and wrote Trillion Dollar Coach in honor of his success. He was legendary in Silicon Valley, having taken part in the growth of Google, Apple, and Intuit. In this book, you'll learn:

• Campbell's guiding principles and practices
• Applicable stories from the trenches
• His blueprint for leaders who want to move their teams and companies forward faster

Those who are familiar with Campbell’s achievements, or just interested in the tech world, will love reading this coaching book. It was written to offer solid advice and to summarize the lessons gained from one of the Valley's greatest.

Coaching Questions

“Questions have the power to change lives.” – Tony Stoltzfus

According to Tony, the single most important skill in the coaching industry is knowing how to ask powerful questions. He’s been in the field since 1999 and has provided over 30,000 hours of coaching to leaders. This book will reveal:

• A massive toolkit of models and strategies you can implement right away
• The most common mistakes coaches make when asking questions (and how to fix them)
• The 4-part life purpose framework
• A schedule of exercises for you and your clients to learn from

People love Tony’s coaching book because his questions are superior to most of what you find online. The content is also readable, functional, and friendly. One reviewer commented that the intro prompts are so good they use them in their own practice on a daily basis. This book is a must-have in any coach’s library.

Coaching for Performance

“If leaders manage by the principles of coaching, they get the job done to a higher standard and develop their people simultaneously.” – John Whitmore

Whitmore shines a light on what it truly takes to achieve high performance in this coaching book. He paved the way in the realm of performance coaching by training leaders since the 1980s. Inside the pages of this book, you'll discover:

• Whitmore's targeted GROW model
• Business-focused examples to apply in corporate settings
• Dialogue samples to learn from
• A glossary of must-know industry terminology
• And how to break down the actual ROI of coaching sessions

Readers rave about the framework of this book, calling it the perfect guide to go from novice to expert. The illustrative examples throughout the book provide a visual element for the reader, and the real-life models deliver practical sustenance to the text.

Co-Active Coaching

“From day one, coaching focuses on the coachee. People participate in or seek out coaching because they want things to be different.” – Karen and Henry Kimsey-House

This 4th edition book gives leaders, managers, and business professionals practical guidance for embracing coaching as a core competency. Their co-active model has been around for quite a while, helping others transform their communication and collaboration skills. Between the covers, you can find:

• A guide to the latest coaching terms and language
• Actionable examples drawn from real-life, first-hand experiences
• Tips for applying a co-active approach to both professional and personal relationships

If you’re looking for a bird’s eye view of the power of coaching, grab this book. It provides an excellent overview of what it takes to become a successful coach while emphasizing the value of the relationship between you and your coaches.

Great coaching is an art

Ready to uplevel your coaching skills and bring more value to the people you serve? Becoming successful in this field won’t happen overnight but it's a doable goal for any ambitious person ready to learn!

Add these books to your library so that you'll have the best knowledge, practices, and techniques to help your people succeed.