Comparing “The Coaching Habit” to peer reviewed articles
Comparing the book to articles on coaching at workplace/leadership communication. The book is only 100 something pages.
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to analyze a popular press book on leadership using academic (peer-reviewed) literature. You may find that the literature agrees with your author’s arguments/conclusions, disagrees with your author’s arguments/conclusions, or partially agrees/disagrees with your author’s arguments/conclusions. Any of these is fine. The point of the paper is the comparison. You do not have to find something to dislike about your book (although all books can probably use improvement). You may choose your author’s conclusion over the literature if you have a solid rationale/reason. The same is true if you choose the literature over your author’s conclusion. Again, the point of the paper is the comparison between the arguments made/conclusions drawn by the author(s) of your popular press book and the academic literature. You will want to center your analysis on a main argument (your idea) and try to have no more than three main points to support that idea.
At its most basic, your analysis is focused on the author’s argument(s) in light of academic
research (i.e. peer-reviewed or recognized scholarly sources). You will compare/contrast what
you author has to say with what academic research says about the same topic (e.g., they may
agree, disagree, or agree & disagree with the author’s argument(s)). As you consider your analysis
remember that an analysis is not only negative. You may want to include elements of the author’s
arguments that support or extend the academic research you locate. While you may utilize materials
from class in your analysis, you must incorporate at least six additional peer-reviewed/academic
sources from your own research. In this type of analysis, you should not report on each source and its
relation to the author’s argument individually—rather you are building broader arguments that might
utilize several sources. And do not be afraid to use more than six sources!
As you think about your overall argument, you might begin by considering the following questions:
• What is the author’s overall argument?
• How does the author use other arguments to support this argument?
• How do the author’s arguments compare/fit with other authors you have read?
• What arguments, examples, evidence, etc. does the author use well?
• What’s missing, if anything, from the author’s argument?
Here is some basic stuff about the book:
The Seven Essential Questions:
The Kickstart Question – “What’s on your mind?”
This is a great opening question that allows the other person to bring up what’s important to them. It sets the stage for a productive conversation by immediately focusing on their agenda.
The AWE Question (And What Else?) – “What else?”
After the initial response to the Kickstart Question, asking “What else?” encourages deeper exploration. Often, the first answer isn’t the whole story, and this question helps uncover more layers of the issue.
The Focus Question – “What’s the real challenge here for you?”
This question helps to clarify and get to the heart of the matter. It shifts the conversation from surface-level details to the underlying issue that needs addressing.
The Foundation Question – “What do you want?”
This question helps to define the desired outcome or goal. It brings clarity to what the person is working towards, which is crucial for guiding the conversation towards actionable steps.
The Lazy Question – “How can I help you with that?”
The “lazy” part of this question refers to the idea that as a coach, you don’t need to come up with solutions yourself. Instead, you empower the other person to think about how you can support them in reaching their goal.
The Strategic Question – “If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?”
This question encourages thinking about trade-offs and priorities. It helps the person consider the consequences and focus on what’s truly important.
The Learning Question – “What was most useful for you?”
After a conversation or a coaching session, this question helps to reflect on what was valuable and what can be applied moving forward. It promotes continuous learning and improvement.
Habit Formation:
The New Habit Formula:
“When [trigger], I will [behavior].”
The book suggests identifying a specific trigger, such as a common event or situation, that will remind you to engage in the new behavior (in this case, asking coaching questions).
Anchoring to an Existing Habit:
Stanier recommends linking the new habit to an existing one to make it more automatic. For example, if you always start team meetings with a certain phrase, you could add one of the coaching questions to this routine.
Impact on Leadership:
The book emphasizes that adopting a coach-like approach can transform leadership styles from directive to empowering.
Leaders who ask questions and listen actively create a culture of collaboration, innovation, and personal development within their teams.
Examples:
Kickstart Question: “Hey, what’s on your mind today?”
AWE Question: “That sounds like a big project. What else do we need to consider?”
Focus Question: “Of all the challenges we’ve discussed, which one feels most important to tackle right now?”
Foundation Question: “What do you ultimately want to achieve with this initiative?”
Lazy Question: “How can I support you best as you work on this?”
Strategic Question: “By committing to this strategy, what other priorities might need to take a backseat?”
Learning Question: “After our discussion, what stood out to you as the most useful insight?”
These questions are designed to guide conversations, encourage self-reflection, and empower individuals to take ownership of their challenges and solutions. They form the backbone of the coaching habit advocated in the book. The focus is to stop the “advice monster”.
Here are some articles I found:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15234223231193359
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/TPM-11-2021-0085/full/html
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EJTD-07-2020-0122/full/html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889490623000765?via%3Dihub
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocn.16951
https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=30deb7f7-9b4a-472d-b7e6-71cb44f73216%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHNzbyZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=162057632&db=bth
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17521882.2013.824015
https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=483b1460-586a-4ae9-b97e-b033b48d7faf%40redis