Max Landsberg, Profile Books, £9.99/£6.47 e-book
Coaches do not exist in isolation, but draw inspiration from a huge range of sources – scientific, sporting and academic among them. Knowing which influences are worth devouring, however, and which should be discarded, is an increasingly complex task. Landsberg’s petite book is best approached as a hotch-potch of ideas that aid a coach’s understanding of the worlds faced by their clients. But along the way, he has inadvertently created an indispensable primer that will interest HR and L&D professionals for whom coaching is merely an abstract concept.
In The Tao of Coaching, Landsberg drew heavily on his former employer, consultancy McKinsey, and it makes an appearance here again, though the chapter on its ‘three horizons’ of corporate vision is among the book’s more lightweight.
Far more challenging are Landsberg’s thoughts on how positive psychology such as hope therapy, or the theory of self-determination, might help make leaders more dynamic. He suggests that the visualisation techniques used in sport could be every bit as effective in the boardroom. And mastery, he says, is better understood with reference to the art world than the One Minute Manager oeuvre: the varied, patient careers of the Old Masters decry the notion that we can learn new skills in an instant.
These are deliberately broad-brush strokes that will leave readers intrigued rather than fulfilled. Landsberg is, fortunately, generous in suggesting sources of further reading and inspiration. In a marketplace cluttered with instant experts, his approach genuinely stands out.