Author: Peter Shaw
Price: £14.99
From: Capstone (a Wiley company)
Contact: www.wileyeurope.com
ISBN: 1841126985
I would place this book in the first division of works about leadership and coaching. Author Peter Shaw is an executive coach and former senior civil servant with an impressive client list.
He was also a former visiting professor at Durham University, and his intellect shines through. Quotations from the Bible resonate with relevance as Shaw takes the reader on a journey of self-awareness through his chapter headings of Vision, Values, Value added and Vitality. These are the four Vs that Shaw uses himself in his underlying approach to coaching.
At last, here is a book which is able to hold up fair trade, climate change and the work of the G8 summit as examples of values, and is brave enough to look at what happens when values are undermined or run into conflict.
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This is an enriching book, but it is by no means a dusty academic tome. Questions at the end of each chapter help the reader to reflect on what has been learned. The two annexes look at the relevance of the four Vs from the point of view of an individual going for a promotion, and a team looking for its next steps.
Anyone could feel confident in recommending this book to a manager or chief executive, or using it for a team discussion. To have so much wisdom packed into a £14.99 paperback is a real gift.
