Introduction
Here’s a breakdown of my coach reading list for 2017. Most of the books have to do with psychology, neuroscience, and coaching. The books are sorted by the order that I plan to read them.
For each book, I’ve included some comments and the estimated read time–I obtained this using Amazon’s audio book length or the website How Long to Read if the audio book is unavailable. I assumed a conservative audio speed which is equivalent to about a 150 words per minute (wpm) rate since I take meticulous notes. You can adjust the time estimate based on your personal reading speed (the average reading speed is 300 wpm).
As an aside, I’ve found that audiobooks are an awesome way to get more reading done while on a commute or while exercising. In addition, I subscribe to Get Abstract to read book summaries to determine which books I’d like to learn more about.
2017 Reading List
Co-Active Coaching: Changing Business, Transforming Lives
Estimated read time: 7 hours
Co-Active Coaching is a core text in numerous coaching programs and in the Stanford Leadership Fellows Program. It provides a coaching framework that assumes that the goals of coaching are to provide clients with fulfillment, balance, and process.
Where to Draw the Line: How to Set Healthy Boundaries Every Day
Estimated read time: 8 hours
Where to Draw the Line goes into detail on how to set healthy boundaries in different areas of life (eg time, communication, relationships). The author, Anne Katherine, defines a boundary as a “limit that promotes integrity.” That is, a boundary lets the good pass and keeps out the bad.
A Brain-Based Approach to Coaching
Estimated read time: 1 hour
David Rock takes a scientific brain-based approach to coaching. In this article, Rock interviews UCLA neuroscientist Jeffrey Schwartz on how to apply the latest findings in neuroscience to coaching. They discuss why change is hard, basic brain physiology, and how attention can guide self-directed neuroplasticity.
Kurt Lewin’s Change Theory in the Field and in the Classroom: Notes Toward a Model of Managed Learning
Estimated read time: 2 hours
Social psychologist and former MIT Sloan professor Edgar Schein wrote this fascinating paper on Kurt Lewin’s Change Theory. Lewin is widely considered the founder of social psychology and had created a “model of the change process in human systems…based on empirical reality.” I break down this paper in my post What Science Says About How We Change.
Awaken the Giant Within
Estimated read time: 15 hours
Coaching giant Tony Robbins discusses his strategies, techniques, and models. He shares plenty of examples and can get a bit long-winded, but there are lots of useful nuggets if you take the time to find them. Robbins offers his own branded alternative to Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) called Neuro-Associative Conditioning (NAC).
Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Second Edition: Basics and Beyond
Estimated read time: 11 hours
According to Wikipedia, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is “the most widely used evidence-based practice for improving mental health.” This book is widely considered the CBT bible. It was written by Dr. Judith Beck, daughter of the creator of CBT, Dr. Aaron Beck. Beck provides a detailed breakdown of CBT’s principles and how to apply them with patients.
Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help
Estimated read time: 6 hours
Social psychologist and former MIT Sloan professor Edgar Schein offers a framework and techniques for helping professionals. What role should the helper establish in the helping relationship?
Coaching with the Brain in Mind: Foundations for Practice
Estimated read time: 15 hours
Coaches David Rock and Linda Page dive into the neuroscience of coaching. They draw on scientific research and their applications to coaching. Rock and Page provide numerous examples to illustrate their findings.
The Power of Habit
Estimated read time: 3.5 hours (the first 3 chapters are the core of the book)
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg shares the latest scientific findings on habits and how they change. He outlines the three steps of the automatic “habit loop”: the cue, routine, and reward. Duhigg discusses how to break the loop and change our habits.
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Estimated read time: 13 hours
Daniel Goleman helped popularize the concept of emotional intelligence in this book, which was on The New York Times bestseller list. Goleman dives into the psychology and neuroscience of emotions, the brain, and the role of emotions in decision-making. He summarizes the findings of the neuroscientists Antonio Damasio and Joseph LeDoux.
NLP: The Essential Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Estimated read time: 13 hours
NLP is a radically client-centered approach where every individual’s subjective experience is unique–and therefore hard to create studies for. CBT is more generalized and normalizes experiences to make it easier to run studies. CBT followed the tradition of mainline scientific investigation while NLP proceeded as intuitive, empirical art. This book dives into the NLP methodology and how to apply it.
Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model
Estimated read time: 5 hours
The Internal Family Systems Model claims to be “one of the fastest growing approaches to psychotherapy.” It takes a non-pathologizing approach to therapy, which differs from most other therapy schools of thought.
The Art of Self-Coaching
Estimated read time: 5 hours
My coach, Ed Batista, shares the lecture slides for this course he taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Topics include: change, attention, emotion, happiness, resilience, vulnerability, unhappiness, and success.
Interpersonal Dynamics
Estimated read time: 5 hours
My coach, Ed Batista, shares the lecture slides for this course he taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Topics include: communication, self-disclosure and authenticity, feelings and feedback, social identity, group norms and roles, and influence.
Power in the Helping Professions
Estimated read time: 4 hours
Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig teaches those in the helping professions how to be aware of the subtle abuses of authority that may happen during the helping process.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques
Estimated read time: 7 hours
According to Wikipedia, Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), is a “goal-directed collaborative approach to psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of clients’ responses to a series of precisely constructed questions.” This book gives an overview of SFBT, techniques, and applications to coaching and leadership.
Mastery in Coaching: A Complete Psychological Toolkit for Advanced Coaching
Estimated read time: 10 hours
Jonathan Passmore compiles a guide to the psychological underpinnings of coaching. He aggregates leading experts in each field to take a scientific, evidence-based approach to coaching. Topics include: positive psychology coaching, psychodynamic coaching, narrative coaching, gestalt approaches, neurobehavioral modelling, cognitive behavioral coaching, mindful coaching, and motivational interviewing.
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence
Estimated read time: 5 hours
This book aggregates 10 articles by experts in the field of emotional intelligence. Topics include: emotional regulation, resilience, strengths, weaknesses, values, and emotional agility.
Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 3rd Edition
Estimated read time: 13 hours
According to Psychology Today, motivational interviewing is a “counseling method that helps people resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities to find the internal motivation they need to change their behavior.” The book discusses and provides examples of the four processes of motivational interviewing: engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning.
Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
Estimated read time: 9 hours
According to Psychology Today, positive psychology is “the study of happiness…[and] is a field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled.” Martin Seligman, one of the founders of positive psychology, argues that personal strengths and virtues are the key to happiness.
The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want
Estimated read time: 6 hours
Sonja Lyubomirsky offers a comprehensive guide to recent developments in positive psychology and how to apply those findings. It provides workbooks, happiness strategies, exercises, quizzes, and more.
Closing Thoughts
When applicable, I will write posts summarizing my learnings and how they apply to startup executives and managers. Stay tuned!
Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash
