If you have ever wondered about the value of coaching to improve your chances for promotion or to overcome life events that handicap achievement, this book clearly defines the options available and explains what may be confusing differences. A current concise definition for coaching is a “valid personal and professional intervention delivered by coaches.” However, it takes eighteen chapters to cover the differences and nuances. For example, in coaching, the coach and client are equals. Mentoring, however, is marked by the status of participants and is characterized by someone senior in status investing time mentoring a junior. In counseling, issues discussed are from past events; in coaching, training sessions will likely follow to assist with upcoming or recent changes. In-person coaching is typical, but modern methods include telephone or video coaching. Tangible action steps are assigned by the coach to promote and track progress.

The author commends positive psychology coaching as a strategy to deal with promoting the growth necessary to accommodate change. The change could either be threatening or offer great opportunity. The ©AIPC Coach holds the client and/or team members accountable via a worksheet that tracks one or two key performance indicators (KPI) that demonstrate progress. Knowles has divided her exhaustive 326-page book into chapters that clearly spotlight the ABCs of coaching. Chapter 3 helpfully covers the benefits to individuals and business teams/executives. For coaches, Chapter 5 is very useful in its definition of the skills needed and the process to be used (Chapter 7). For organizations as well as students, Chapters 9-18 expertly explain applications where coaching proves of service. The information conveniently located through a large table of contents and index makes this author’s work a helpful reference tool.

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