As a facilitator for a company that delivers adventure-based outdoor team building seminars, I was looking for a guide to help me make a real difference for my corporate clients; this book provides a structure for coaching that can have a profound and lasting impact.
My personal experience of participating in "transformational learning" seminars delivered by the Landmark Education Corporation, leads me to suggest that the maximum value of this book can be realized not just by reading, but by actually participating in a seminar or training program that gives one access to a trained "transformation coach". It was only after experiencing the distinctions of transformational learning on a personal level that I became effective at coaching others in transformation.
Fully grasping the third loop and its potential impact is not trivial, and the capacity to operate at this level provides a coach, manager, or leader an access to "transformation" of who people are and what they perceive in a given situation. The results can be far beyond the predictable. I personally know of corporate programs based on the principles of this book that have generated millions through productivity gains in a span of a six months.
This is NOT manipulation. Hargrove states in chapter 1, "it requires authentic communication" and again in chapter 4, "Any attempt to manipulate people will likely be detected and backfire."
If you are accountable for producing results through others as a leader, manager, business owner, or little league coach, this book provides powerful material for helping them achieve performance far beyond what is predictable.
For those already on the cutting edge of consulting in the distinctions of being, context, enrollment, and personal and organizational transformation, Hargrove's book offers yet more ways to express these ideas and produce the results that lead to effective action. The book also serves as a valuable text for individuals you wish to develop as coaches.
For those new to these ideas, the book is an excellent introduction to the principles of being vs. doing, committed speaking and listening, integrity (as a distinction), and personal transformation.
How to generate a powerful coaching relationship by clarifying what each person needs to bring to the party. I found this extremely helpful in re-igniting an ebbing coaching relationship.
Hargrove writes that a leader needs to "be the source" of their impossible future or what it is that they want to create. He shows how to coach someone to do this.
Thinking drives behavior. Hargrove provides clarity and examples on how to coach people in a more profound and deeper way than the usual tips and techniques that novice coaches give.
Hargrove also writes about getting feedback for the coaching client by doing interviews rather than using the typical 360 degree feedback forms. He says, "If more than one person calls you a horse, saddle up!"
I recommend this book to coaches, managers and leaders who want to up the level of their game.