{"id":825,"date":"2025-02-14T17:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T17:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icfchennai.com\/blogs\/?p=825"},"modified":"2025-02-27T15:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T15:04:13","slug":"the-coaching-habit-say-less-ask-more-change-the-way-you-lead-forever-by-michael-bungay-stanier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icfchennai.com\/blogs\/the-coaching-habit-say-less-ask-more-change-the-way-you-lead-forever-by-michael-bungay-stanier\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coaching Habit \u2013\u00a0Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever\u2019 \u2013 by Michael Bungay Stanier\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reviewed by\u00a0<\/strong>Raj Dharmaraj (PCC)\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>
Page Two Publications (20 September 2020); Penguin Random House,\u00a0\u00a0244 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love airport bookstores. Occasionally a book catches your eye – you buy it on a whim because the title or cover calls to you. If you\u2019re lucky, you dip into the first page – and the surroundings and buzz recede into the background. You barely hear the boarding announcement, or remember buckling-up, let alone who you sat next to on the flight, Before you know it, the wheels are touching down, jolting you back to the awareness that you\u2019ve landed at your destination – yet our first reaction is \u2018I haven\u2019t finished reading yet\u2019!<\/em> Michael Bungay Stanier\u2019s (MBS\u2019) \u2018The Coaching Habit\u2019<\/em> is one of those serendipitous finds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MBS – ranked among the world\u2019s most influential coaches- brings his inimitable style to this book \u2013written in simple yet engaging fashion and packed with powerful advice, not just for coaches, but for anyone who wants to learn to be \u201ccoach-like\u201d \u2013  be genuinely curious, listen better without jumping to give advice, and to be able to help others realise their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Coaching Habit<\/em> is built around \u20187 Essential Coaching Questions\u2019, that cover almost any developmental conversation. The book is ingeniously structured to introduce the Questions sequentially as individual chapters, following the arc of a typical coaching session. Together they interlink seamlessly \u2013 beginning with helping someone clearly define a challenge or opportunity, through to enabling them to create an actionable path toward a goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each Question is presented as a chapter, prefaced by a \u2018Coaching Masterclass\u2019 section, that contextualizes and provides valuable tips on how one could use these in a discussion. The book is peppered with real-life anecdotes and situations, that bring the \u20187 Questions\u2019 framework to life. True to the title, the book contains an introductory \u2018Habits 101\u2019 chapter, summarizing the latest research on habit and behaviour change, and offering helpful suggestions to enable readers to amend their \u2018default-mode\u2019 approach of being directive or advisory, to a more Socratic coaching style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of my favourite takeaways from the book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n