Introduction and overview

Being an effective coach and/or mentor is now a critical skill in businesses and organisations and will set you apart as a leader and contribute to your success, credibility and reputation as a people manager. This book is aimed at any manager or executive who wants to incorporate coaching and mentoring into their day-to-day management and leadership.

We have drawn upon our own experience as people managers, leadership coaches and consultants in the field of leadership and people development. In addition to this we will refer to best practice in leadership, management, life and sports coaching all of which can offer assistance to anyone who wants to develop their skills and capabilities in these areas.

In many ways coaching and mentoring are about attitudes as well as skills, competences and capabilities. Some people are naturally skilled in this area, but many more feel they need help to become the best coach and/or mentor they can be. This book will help you to understand what’s necessary to be a good coach and mentor and offers a variety of tips and techniques for success in a variety of coaching scenarios.

In Part 1 we will establish the fundamentals of coaching and mentoring, set out the case for coaching and put them into context as part of your leadership and management toolkit for effectiveness in today’s complex and challenging business world. We will also examine personal approaches and styles of coaching to help you to assess your own approach and to develop a broader range of approaches, and finally we will offer suggestions for getting the most out of a coaching session.

In Part 2 we will explore a range of skills, capabilities and competences that are vital for success as a coach.

In Part 3 we will examine a range of approaches, models and tools that are regularly used when coaching others. We will explain how each process works and when it is appropriate and not appropriate.

In Part 4 we examine a variety of typical coaching scenarios and offer suggestions about the best strategies to adopt in each of the scenarios.

In Part 5 we draw together our final thoughts. We examine the idea of coaching supervision, and offer some tips for excellence and highlight traps to avoid.