The Naked Coach: Business Coaching Made Simple

315 Pages·2007·0.97 MB·English

by  David Taylor

the naked coach
business coaching
made simple
david taylor

the naked coach
business coaching
made simple
david taylor
Copyright © David Taylor 2007
First published 2007 by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taylor, David, 1945 Sept. 18-
The naked coach : business coaching made simple / by David Taylor.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-84112-756-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Executive coaching. 2. Achievement motivation. I. Title.
HD30.4.T39 2007
658.4’07124--dc22
2007008844
ISBN 978-184112-756-9
Anniversary Logo Design: Richard J. Pacifi co
Set in ITC Garamond by Sparks (www.sparks.co.uk)
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
This book is printed on acid-free paper responsibly manufactured from sustainable forestry in
which at least two trees are planted for each one used for paper production. Substantial discounts
on bulk quantities of Capstone Books are available to corporations, professional associations and
other organizations. For details telephone John Wiley & Sons on ([phone], fax (+44) 1243
770571 or email [email protected]
This one’s for you, for your teams and for your organization
That’s the ‘Who’
The ‘Where’ is wherever you are right now, whatever your
experience and whatever your background
The ‘What’ is business coaching, and this is not a book that
spends 100 pages defi ning it – business coaching is quite
simply:
Any and every intervention that enables
people, teams and organizations to be their very best
The ‘When’ is now – right now, check the time as you read this
– that’s when this book is set
As for the ‘Why’, it’s exceedingly simple – because you can,
and because, for those whose lives you touch, for your teams
and organization, and for yourself, you must
Which leaves us only with the ‘How’ …
And to misquote Hamlet –
‘Herein, lies the rub …’
Inspired by Inside Man, screenplay by Russell Gewirtz
Roy McAvoy:
‘This is everything, ain’t it, this is the choice it
comes down to, this is our immortality.’
His Caddy:
‘You don’t need to be thinking immortality,
you need to think: “Hit the seven iron.”’
From the fi lm, Tin Cup
(Dis) Claimer
This is a work of fact. Any similarities to actual persons,
in real organizations, is entirely and deliberately intentional.

THE JOURNEY OF …
Prepare … ix
One: Coaching from a Different Perspective – Yours 1
1 You, Here, Now 3
2 The Obvious Secret 25
3 The Deal, the Decision and the Day-to-Day 37
4 Hit or Myth? 45
Two: Self-Coaching – Applying The Formula to You 63
1 Know Where You Want to Go 65
2 Know Where You Are Now 71
3 Know What You Have to Do,
to Get to Where You Want to Go 95
4 Do it! 107
Three: Your Coaching Relationships 113
1 Finding a Coach for Yourself 115
2 You as Coach 121
3 Coaching Upwards (Including CEOs) 131
4 One Team, One Vision 139
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vi ■ The Naked Coach
Four: Be a Truly Authentic Organization 161
1 The Future – Not What it Used to Be 163
2 The Next Business Age – An Agenda of Hope 175
3 Ten Challenges – A Thousand Choices 179
4 The Perspectives 189
Five: Coaching the World 207
1 Life’s Most Persistent Question 209
2 The 21 Days 217
3 It Starts … 219
4 The Answer’s Yes – What’s the Question? 247
Six: Fulfi lling the Promise of Your First Few Seconds 267
Hazel’s Journey 269
Index 297
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PREPARE …
This is your book, not mine. Read it as you choose, think whatever
you think, write all over it and, above all, please do something as a
result of what you read.
I have suggested six ‘journeys’. However, the way I have struc-
tured this book does not matter. What matters is that you are spending
your time and energy in reading it – make that time and investment
pay by taking action to help yourself, those whose lives you touch,
your team, a project at your organization.
This is your own, personal action journal.
That’s ‘action’ journal. Not ‘thought,’ not ‘debate’ not ‘discussion’
journal.
This book is not written to be thought-provoking – it is written
to be action-provoking.
And to help make that happen, it contains over 250 specifi c ac-
tions that you can take – the best of the very best.
If you heat a piece of metal in London, it will expand. If you then
take that same piece to Cairo, Moscow, New York, and Auckland, it
will also expand. It will always ‘work’.
And so will the actions in this book. Do not misunderstand me; I
am not an academic, I am not a guru, I am just an ordinary guy who
has had the great fortune to work with hundreds of organizations and
thousands of leaders, and experienced what works, what does not
– when, why and how.
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