Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth

Boyatzis, Richard; Smith, Melvin L.; Van Oosten, Ellen

ISBN 10: 1633696561 / ISBN 13: 9781633696563

Published by Harvard Business Review Press, 2019

Pages are clean with no markings. May show minor signs of wear or cosmetic defects marks, cuts, bends, or scuffs on the cover, spine, pages, or dust jacket. May have remainder marks on edges. Seller Inventory # DBV.1633696561.VG

Synopsis:

You're trying to help--but is it working?

Helping others is a good thing. Often, as a leader, manager, doctor, teacher, or coach, it's central to your job. But even the most well-intentioned efforts to help others can be undermined by a simple truth: We almost always focus on trying to "fix" people, correcting problems or filling the gaps between where they are and where we think they should be. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well, if at all, to inspire sustained learning or positive change.

There's a better way. In this powerful, practical book, emotional intelligence expert Richard Boyatzis and Weatherhead School of Management colleagues Melvin Smith and Ellen Van Oosten present a clear and hopeful message. The way to help someone learn and change, they say, cannot be focused primarily on fixing problems, but instead must connect to that person's positive vision of themselves or an inspiring dream or goal they've long held. This is what great coaches do--they know that people draw energy from their visions and dreams, and that same energy sustains their efforts to change, even through difficult times. In contrast, problem-centered approaches trigger physiological responses that make a person defensive and less open to new ideas.

The authors use rich and moving real-life stories, as well as decades of original research, to show how this distinctively positive mode of coaching―what they call "coaching with compassion"--opens people up to thinking creatively and helps them to learn and grow in meaningful and sustainable ways.

Filled with probing questions and exercises that encourage self-reflection, Helping People Change will forever alter the way all of us think about and practice what we do when we try to help.

About the Author:

Richard Boyatzis is a Distinguished University Professor at Case Western Reserve University and an adjunct professor at the international ESADE Business School. He is coauthor of Primal Leadership, Resonant Leadership, and Becoming a Resonant Leader (Harvard Business Review Press).

Melvin Smith is a professor and the Faculty Director of Executive Education at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Ellen Van Oosten is an associate professor at the Weatherhead School of Management and Director of the Coaching Research Lab, which she founded with Richard Boyatzis and Melvin Smith in 2014.

Visit the authors at:
Richard Boyatzis: weatherhead.case.edu/faculty/richard-boyatzis, linkedin.com/in/richard-boyatzis-401822a/, twitter.com/rboyatzis?lang=en
Melvin Smith: weatherhead.case.edu/faculty/melvin-smith, linkedin.com/in/melvinlsmithphd/
Ellen Van Oosten: weatherhead.case.edu/faculty/ellen-van-oosten, linkedin.com/in/ellenbrooksvanoosten/

Bibliographic Details

Title: Helping People Change: Coaching with ...
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Publication Date: 2019
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: very_good