Coaching for Performance Fifth Edition: The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership UPDATED 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

by John Whitmore

The results of the survey state which of four performance stages the organization is operating in and the immediate next focus to improve performance. And in fact the survey does not only apply to organizations – it can be taken by a team or even a curious individual. You can take the survey at www.coachingperformance.com.

The answer must be both. Imposing democracy and demanding cooperation are unacceptable contradictions.

If you redesign the company structure too radically or too quickly, you are liable to get too far ahead of your people.

If you impose a redesign on your people, they are likely to object, even if it is intended to be entirely for their benefit. Executives and senior leaders must, from the very beginning, set an example and model the ideal attitudes and behaviors authentically and well. People cannot be forced to change, they need the opportunity to choose how to change. You must help people develop themselves and, through coaching, experiment with some of the attitudes and behaviors you expect in the new organization. Without a collective vision with which people are engaged, change cannot succeed, but without vision at the top it will not even start. You must be prepared to make changes acros...

Leaders of the future should be obliged to embark on their own journey of personal development to earn the title of leader,

So leaders for the future need to have values and vision and to be authentic and agile and internally aligned. Add awareness and responsibility to the mix, self-belief, and a good measure of emotional intelligence, and it’s a powerful recipe. All these ingredients are organic, home grown, and carbon neutral, for nothing is imported. In fact, they are already just where you are and waiting to be harvested.

The Inner Game, however, reflects a transpersonal psychology which emphasizes the principle of will, intention, or responsibility.

It is on this philosophy of awareness and responsibility that coaching is built.

invite the coachee to reframe life as a developmental journey, to see the creative potential within each problem, to view obstacles as stepping stones, and to imagine that we all have a purpose in life, with challenges and obstacles to overcome in order to fulfill that purpose. The coach’s questions will seek coachees’ recognition of the positive potential in the issue and the actions they choose to take.

Wisdom lies beyond knowledge and is deeper. It provides foresight, it is often paradoxical, and it offers a different order of security that a person emerging from the crisis is then able to experience.