Testimonials
Coaching is an art: it takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice or unleash a solution. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can make a difference in how we lead and guides us through the tricky part - how to take this new information and turn it into a daily practice.
Brené Brown, author of Rising Strong and Daring GreatlyMichael's intelligence, wit, articulateness and dedication to the craft of coaching shine forth in this brilliant how-to manual for anyone called to assist others. Even after four decades of my own experience in this arena, The Coaching Habit has provided me some great take-away's! Great work - thanks!
David Allen , Chairman, David Allen Company & author of Getting Things DoneMichael Bungay Stanier distills the essentials of coaching to seven core questions. And if you master his simple yet profound technique, you’ll get a two-fer. You’ll provide more effective support to your employees and co-workers. And you may find that you become the ultimate coach for yourself.
Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell is Human and DriveWhat can you do to become a better leader? Michael asks and answers this question by offering aspiring leaders 7 thoughtful questions that will change their leadership habits. This book is full of practical, useful, and interesting questions, ideas, and tools that will guide any leader trying to be better.
Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor of Business, University of MichiganThe Coaching Habit is a practical, nuts and bolts toolkit for leaders. It's also sneaky-sophisticated. Michael has packed some incredibly powerful research and leadership theory into what on the surface looks like a "color by numbers" leadership guidebook. It's easy to read (I finished it on a 2-hour flight and had time to spare) but jammed with ready to implement takeaways. Even as a leadership author who runs a successful leadership consulting practice and I found several new tools I can use right away. The book is beautifully designed and easy to digest. Solid gold and highly recommended.
Phillip Wilson, author of The Approachability Playbook, and Founder of Approachable Leadership
As traditional performance reviews give way to ongoing coaching and feedback, The Coaching Habit offers the “secret decoder ring” to help new and experienced leaders apply the practice day to day.
Sooky Lee, VP HR, ADP
The Coaching Habit is like GPS for the busy leader. It is full of practical shortcuts. Well written and to the point, it poignantly causes introspection and provides simple tangible tools for coaching a team to become effective and relevant in the fast paced business world.
Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, VP Human Resources, Air Canada
Michael succinctly articulates the research behind the art of respectful inquiry and its role in fostering an authentic partnership between colleagues who are committed to doing meaningful work together. A thoroughly enjoyable read that immediately inspired me to adopt new habits.
Dana Woods, CEO, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
Michael has done a rare thing in the business book world- he has combined broad research and clever insights with simple, humorous and practical tips that can be applied right away. This book offers a powerful reframing of coaching that has the potential to really amplify the impact leaders can have. I devoured it in one sitting.
Greer Hozack, VP HR & Communications, AstraZeneca Canada
The difference between an effective question and an ineffective question is often the difference between success and failure. This book not only gives us the right questions to ask, it also tells us why they are the right questions to ask. Managers who put into practice what Michael shares in this book will create positive change in their teams and in their own leadership trajectory.
Tony Bingham, President & CEO, ATD (formerly ASTD)
Not only does Michael provide seven simple yet powerful questions you can start using right away at any time, he also provides the coaching you need to help ensure you actually start to build the habit to use them.
Jude Fairweather, Head of Customer & Marketing Integration, Aviva
Within just the first few chapters of The Coaching Habit, you realize that if you just got into the habit of asking the questions, instead of solving the problems, your day and your world as a manager will become increasingly less stressful and much more open.
Jennifer Welty, Head of Talent Management and Leadership Development, BNP Paribas
Overloaded, time-pressed leaders will find that by employing these simple, yet insightful questions into their routines, they will encourage and empower their employees which will, in turn, lighten their own load – a manager’s dream come true!
Michele Matchett, VP Talent Development Consultant, BNY Mellon
The Coaching Habit is like an elegant bento box of appetizing and accessible tools that work. Best of all, these essential questions are backed by science and fueled by Michael’s insatiable curiosity.
Julie Staudenmier, Executive Director, Leadership & Organization Development, Boehringer Ingelheim, U.S.A.
The Coaching Habit is to managers what Jim Collins’ Good to Great is to business: a study of what makes the lasting and transformative impact. A true must read for anyone wanting to be an effective manager and maximize their team’s contribution.
Ellie Gates, Sr. Director, Talent Development, Box
This book is a game changer for people serious about coaching and offers 100% instant gratification. It’s loaded with tactics for coaches that can be applied in the now.You are not just reading it; you’re experiencing it; the ultimate guide to developing true high value coaching skills.
Sinéad Condon, Head of Global Performance Enablement, CA Technologies
Michael Bungay Stanier offers focused questions and practical tips that make it easy to develop a daily coaching habit, and do what many of us need to do more of……which is “tell less” and “ask more” to get better results.
Norm Sabapathy, EVP People, Cadillac Fairview
The secret weapon of every great leader is the support of a great team. The secret to building a great team is coaching. The secret to being a great coach? This book.
Tony Stubblebine, CEO & Founder of Coach.me
It is a rare to find a book that provides tactics and strategies that can quickly and effectively be put into practice. The Coaching Habit was just this book – as soon as I read each of the 7 Questions, I applied them in my team coaching conversations; the impact was immediate and visible. The Coaching Habit strikes a strong balance between simplicity, humor, the humility of a manager, while being embedded in research.
Soni Basi, Ph.D., VP, Global Talent,The Estée Lauder Companies
Building habits usually takes time and willpower which are both hard to come by. Just by asking targeted questions that are clearly spelled out, you’ll really up your game for your team and colleagues. It’s that practical and relatable for managers at any level.
Kate Brown, Executive Director, Global Talent, The Estée Lauder Companies
If you are looking for ways to better lead your team and increase engagement, read this book! Michael cuts through the theoretical rhetoric and nonsense to get to the meat of effectiveness.This read is worth your investment in time!
Tim Rahschulte, Ph.D., Chief Learning Officer, Evanta
Amongst a plethora of books, studies and op-ed pieces about the importance of coaching, it’s easy to understand why students and practitioners of the craft feel confused or overwhelmed. Michael has expertly cut through this confusion with his new book in a manner that is simple to understand, realistic in its intention, and ultimately effective to apply. I thoroughly recommend this book to you.
Stuart Crabb, Director Learning & Development, Facebook
Sure, anyone can read all the best books and take courses on coaching; it would take a lifetime and half of it would send us in the wrong direction. Instead, Michael has taken virtually all the learning available on coaching, pushed it through a funnel, mixed in his experience working with leaders, and out the bottom the gold nuggets found in this book pop out.
Suanne Nielsen, Chief Talent Officer & Corporate Secretary, Foresters
This book cuts through the increasingly duplicative resources on coaching to provide a unique method for changing the way we lead our teams. Not having enough time to properly engage in meaningful, developmental dialogue is no longer an excuse.
Brian P. Ash, Director of Talent Management, Fragomen Worldwide
I have seen hundreds of people go from skepticism to amazement when they realize that it really is this easy to truly provide helpful coaching to others in an incredibly short period of time. Try what Michael is teaching you with your whole heart and you will never be the same … and nor will those you coach.
Michael J. Leckie
Managing Vice President, Executive Programs, Gartner
The Coaching Habit is like reading a recipe – the directions are very simple and precise. This book helps the reader re-frame all of the theory they already know and have since forgotten on coaching into a seven simple steps that allow the leader to be authentic – vs. over rehearsed and practiced.
Ann Marie Sidman, Vice President, Learning and Organizational Development, Gen Re
The Coaching Habit succeeds where most of the other books and training on the subject fails. Based on helping thousands of leaders significantly improve their abilities, this book provides a quite simple yet very effective approach anyone can quickly pick up and apply.
Kevin D. Wilde, former VP, Chief Learning Officer, General Mills
I have to admit, at times I am very skeptical of books about coaching and feel most are too theoretical and don’t add any value But Michael Bungay Stanier nails it with his seven core questions and with his exercises to build the right habitual behaviour. I also found it very helpful for my own development as a manager, coach and leader.
Sam Sebastian, Managing Director, Google Canada
A wonderful, inspiring and refreshing book on coaching! The combination of highly pragmatic, really useful suggestions and innovative ideas and approaches makes it not only very accessible but very very useful too! I will be recommending this book to all our coaches – I loved it!
Sally Bonneywell, VP Coaching, GSK
A simple and effective technique for coaching via seven core questions. Not only does this result in more effective support for employees, it translates into a coveted coaching culture positively impacting the entire organization. This is a must read for leaders at all levels.
Andrea Brown, Director of Strategy and Transformation, Hatch
With his new book The Coaching Habit, Michael provides easy step-by-step instructions on how to use coaching to increase your leadership footprint. I have seen Michael present on this topic and now I’m thrilled to have this “go to” book as my own personal leadership docent.
Marie Crea, Director Human Resources, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ
Many books on coaching are inspiring, but useless, for the busy manager. This is not one of those books. Michael is able to translate and package the latest thinking into ideas, advice, tools and habits that fit with the real world we live and work in.
Gregor Thain, Vice President, Global Leadership & Learning, IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)
The Coaching Habit inspired me to “tame my advice monster” when coaching employees and focus more on finding out what’s on their mind. It also changed my mind about formal coaching and inspired me to be alert to informal coaching opportunities with employees every day and in every situation… it’s like it gave me more hours in my day!
Barbara Wright-Avlitis, former Global Head of Leadership Development, ING Group
I was a bit skeptical of what this book could offer that would make it more insightful and impactful than many others. Two words: simplicity and curiosity. Michael has delivered engaging content that distills coaching into simple (not easy) key components that are sticky and actionable while igniting our innate passion to be curious.
Erin Gordon, Executive Director HR, Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
The Coaching Habit is a treasure trove of practical wisdom that takes a timeless pursuit – to turn every manager into a coach – and breaks it down into a simple set of everyday habits. If you are ready to take your leadership to the next level, you need this book.
Jessica Amortegui, Sr. Director Learning & Development, Logitech
The brilliance of The Coaching Habit is its deep insights presented with elegant simplicity. It provides a toolkit of questions that is easily adopted for more meaningful conversation both in one’s professional and personal relationships.
Sofia Theodorou, SVP HR, LoyaltyOne
This engaging and compelling book on coaching is a must read for busy managers and leaders who want a powerful and easy approach for unlocking anyone’s potential, anytime and anywhere. It works. Using 7 core simple questions I got started right away and saw immediate results.
Joanne Thomsen, VP Talent, MaRS Discovery District
So much has been written on coaching, but this book brings it all home to roost. An easy read that offers simple applications to everyday coaching situations.
Lynne B. Gervais, Associate Vice-Principal (Human Resources), McGill University
There are some books you keep going back to for guidance, so sound and compelling is the advice. For me, Michael’s Do More Great Work is one, and now The Coaching Habit will be another. In his usual straight-up and engaging fashion, Michael clearly lays out how to recognize and stop doing those things that get in the way of your coaching and leading more effectively.
Hazel Claxton, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, Morneau Shepell
I’ve read several books on the subject but none have so clearly identified the ineffective habits most managers have when coaching their staff. Michael looks at the impact of these common mistakes and provides ways to build new habits that produce more impactful results.
Leigh Ann Lanyo, Director HR, National Ballet of Canada
The magic of leadership occurs in daily conversations. Michael Bungay Stanier gives managers an extremely simple, yet powerful tool (just seven questions!)to help them coach their teams to greatness, each and every day.
Andrew Coller, Head of Leadership Development, Nestle
The difference between The Coaching Habit and the myriad of other coaching skills books I have read is its practicality and simple business logic. It’s about how to practically and positively impact not only performance but, even more importantly, the development of our people. This book was like a breath of fresh air for my own attitude towards coaching employees.
Barbara Wright-Avlitis, former Global Head of Leadership Development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Amongst the myriad of disappointing business books on coaching, The Coaching Habit stands out for its pragmatic and simple approach. It is a fantastic “how to” guide for both new and experienced manager who want to reap the benefits of proper coaching- to free up their time, improve performance and become more efficient.
Phil Wylie, Director of Talent Management, Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants
The Coaching Habit is a simple, practical, and memorable guide to building your coaching muscle. Michael provides the recipes for coaching success and inspires you to “build your new habit” after each chapter. This book is a fun, easy read for anyone that wants to increase their coaching skills.
Marcia Mendes-d’Abreu, SVP HR , Ontario Teachers Pension Plan
Even if you incorporate “only” 2-3 questions that you’ll learn in The Coaching Habit, you will find yourself much more equipped to lead people towards personal and team success.
Steve Safier, President, Health and Wellness Solutions, Panasonic North America
Great managers need to be first and foremost great coaches, yet coaching is a broadly used but often misunderstood concept. The Coaching Habit does a great job in stripping off the non-essential and helping managers focus on practical coaching behaviors in a way that they can start getting it by doing it.
Paulo Pisano, SVP Talent, Pearson plc
I have followed Michael’s work for many years and this is another excellent example of how to keep things nice and simple. We have certainly embraced a coaching culture at Pret and it is books like this that help it stick.
Ian Watson, Group Head of Pret Academy, Pret A Manger
The Coaching Habit is more than just a book; it is a class, a workshop and will be an excellent reference book. Michael Bungay Stanier gives you all the tools you need to be a great coach and, in turn, a better team member and leader.
Amy Bendell, Sr. Manager of Learning, Progressive
Every year countless business books are read, shelved and forgotten changing nothing. The Coaching Habit is not a book for the shelf. It is not to be read but practiced. Bungay Stanier’s seven essential questions practiced with curiosity will allow you to accomplish more with and through others.
Michele Milan, CEO Executive Programs, Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto
If you want to get more out of the next fifteen minutes with your team and be remembered for that interaction, I can highly recommend this book.
Simone Noordegraaf, SVP, Royal Philips
Michael uses a creative combination of humor and cold hard facts to create a compelling case for all of us to build a coaching habit that, if adopted, will build sustainable value for organizations, leaders and, most importantly, those being coached!
Mark Edgar, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, RSA Canada
These very simple, practical questions and approach to coaching will bring each reader to a new level of relationship, understanding and outcomes. The amazing thing is that it’s so easy. The tough part will be deciding which question will be most impactful.
Amanda Zinke, Director of Learning & Development, Talbots
The Coaching Habit shines a spotlight on the hilarious and real habits we all share as leaders (and we thought nobody was noticing…) and most importantly gives us very real questioning tools that help us build new habits to become more curious, effective coaches.
Scott Reid, Director Talent Management and Leadership Development, Softchoice
“Fantastic … and where was this book when I needed it!” are the first thoughts popping into my head after reading The Coaching Habit. I’ve read countless books on leadership and coaching but few brought it all together. I love the concept of keeping it simple and practice, practice, practice which are key to building your coaching habit. Definitely a must read book.
Monique Bateman, SVP, TD Bank Group
Despite what the so-called experts lead you to believe, coaching can in fact be simple and informal. Michael’s brilliant and easy-to-apply book provides such a template. The Coaching Habit is not only effective, it’s a refreshing change.
Dan Pontefract, Chief Envisioner, TELUS Transformation Office and author of Flat Army
The Coaching Habit engages you from start to finish. A simple read that is bold and direct, relatable and real. If you want to read one book on coaching that will resonate with you quickly and that is not overwhelming, choose this one.
Johanne McNally Myers, VP Human Resources, Tim Horton’s
Finally, a book that takes the often esoteric craft of coaching and translates it into practical, straightforward practices and tools. Michael Bungay Stanier is like a magician explaining the secrets of his craft. He breaks the complexities of coaching into a highly learnable set of habits. A must read guidebook for anyone wanting to hone their leadership skills.
Brian Daly, VP and Chief HR Officer, Toronto Star & Star Media Group
If, like me, you don’t have time to read another book about coaching and you don’t feel the ten previously read made any difference, read this one. Armed with Michael Bungay Stanier’s seven questions and his masterclass tips, you’ll find yourself harnessing good habits that will – at last – really allow you to help those around you develop and grow.
Christophe Hennebelle, Vice-président, ressources humaines et gestion du talent, Transat
It’s the essence of practical coaching for busy managers right here. No filler, no abstract theory, no tedious stories. Just everyday, practical tools so you can coach in 10 minutes or less.
Melissa Daimler, Head of Learning & Organizational Development, Twitter
I was already a fan of Michael’s simple and effective approach from the Box of Crayons workshops but the book exceeded my expectations. The content, examples and logic follow an optimal model for quick reinforced learning. It is entertaining and succinct so that even managers who don’t have time to read can really get into this material.
Venita Indewey, Director of OD, University Health Network
Once again, Michael has masterfully created a book that is full of wisdom and at the same time a fun read. Combining current research, engaging stories, and practical tips, The Coaching Habit is for anyone wanting to become a better coach who empowers and develops others.
Michelle Turchin, Director, Human Resources, Wildlife Conservation Society
Finally, a book that demystifies coaching by making it trivially easy to ask the right questions as part of your daily routine. The Coaching Habit created many a-ha! moments for me as I realized how I could slightly shift my approach to solve real, everyday problems AND empower others to do the same.
Julie Clow, author of The Work Revolution: Freedom and Excellence for All
The Coaching Habit is part instruction manual, part koan – a book that will repay multiple visits for its simple-but-powerful guidance, playful provocations, and the shot-in-the-arm message that says, “Yes, you can actually coach someone beautifully, and it won’t hurt.
Tom Lowery, Senior Director, Leadership Development, YMCA of the USA
The Coaching Habit is a straightforward and practical guide offering simple hints & tips to help managers be better coaches. Citing a wide and very diverse range of sources and research, Michael Bungay Stanier offers a common sense approach to coaching.
Katharina Auer, Global Head of Employee & Executive Communications, Zurich Insurance
Most leadership “gurus” seem to exist in some alternate dimension, detached from the way the world actually works. Michael Bungay Stanier, on the other hand, hops right next to you in the trenches and gives you the actionable insights that will make you a leader to be reckoned with.
Sean Blanda, Director and Editor-in-Chief , 99U