Format DVD and book training
Price £495
Distributor Open Mind Learning
Contact www.openmind-learning.co.uk
Last year, careers counsellor and executive coach Carole Pemberton published Coaching to Solutions, a book that has become known as an honest and eloquent guide to giving effective coaching skills to managers.
I reviewed the book last year, and was impressed by its practical advice. Pemberton used it to present a solution-focused approach to coaching, and it demonstrates pragmatic tools for facilitating conversations to meaningful outcomes.
She has now taken the ideas in that book one step further and compiled a training package that aims to develop managers who coach as they manage. Those who read this book will learn how to employ the Fast (focused, action-oriented, solution-building and timely) coaching approach that shows the benefits of a focused, action-orientated, solution-building model with timelines.
The DVD features 12 work-based scenarios that bring to life the principles outlined in the book, including ‘Goals before purpose’ and ‘Purpose before goals’. In the DVD, you see an experienced manager (played by Ewen MacIntosh from The Office) coach a variety of managers.
Each of the managers needs to overcome a blind spot, such as lack of confidence or impatience. When we see him coach Jane, a nervous middle manager, we can see how he helps her find her inner voice and identify her own goals.
Pemberton wrote the script for the DVD and should be praised for her light and intelligent handling of questioning techniques and approaches. She is most adept at showing how a good coach can peel back limiting thoughts and prejudices to help coachees find their own solutions. The accompanying training package is simple. Participants are subtly encouraged to knuckle down to activities, such as listening at multiple levels and identifying motives behind the language.
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Aimed at the increasing number of coaching line managers identified in the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s 2007 Learning and Development Survey, this could be a high-impact investment.
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