The Art of Self-Coaching

Book excerpt: Executive coaching has grown enormously in popularity over the last twenty years, and in the process the field has shifted from serving as a corrective measure for underperformers to helping high-potentials develop fully and allowing stars to continue to up their game. The Art of Self-Coaching is not intended to replace the experience of working one-on-one with a professional coach, but rather to augment the coaching process for active clients, to serve as a resource after a coaching engagement is concluded, and to provide a structured approach to managing one's professional growth and development to the large number of people who lack the opportunity to work directly with a coach. The book starts with a set of principles and practices that comprise the process of self-coaching. It then addresses the topic through a series of chapters aimed at different aspects of personal and professional development: Beginnings, Change, Emotion, Happiness, Resilience, Vulnerability, Unhappiness, Vice, Success, and Endings. Drawing upon recent research in neuroscience, social psychology and other disciplines, The Art of Self-Coaching will help readers better understand and leverage their strengths, address their weaknesses and areas for improvement, and provide a set of tools and conceptual frameworks to guide their ongoing development as people and as professionals.