The most recommended coaching books

I love this book because the title tells you all you need to know, and the short chapters packed with stories and practical advice show you what to do about it. Goldsmith’s direct yet gentle style shines through, and you can see why he’s considered one of the best coaches in the world.

The most helpful thing for me is that he gives you examples of things to say, for example, when asking for feedback. One thing to be aware of is that the language is a bit dated, especially around gender, and many of the behaviors may speak more to men than women. Marshall addresses this in a book co-written with Sally Helgesen called How Women Rise, which I’m reading right now.

A graphic novel about girls’ basketball after the passing of Title IX? Sign me up!

This book takes readers into the early 1970s as Judy, Cindy, and Lisa join their school’s first-ever girls’ basketball team. Tavares is best known for his beautiful picture books, but here he crafts a completely winning story that’s as much about basketball as it is a slice of life in the seventies. Current middle schoolers will be blown away by the differences between then and now, both on and off the court.

I gobbled this book up in less than an hour, but I keep coming back to it again and again because there’s just that much to appreciate with the combination of the visual elements and the text. 

If you’re a Shohei Ohtani fan, you may also be a Los Angeles Angels fan, which means you are probably interested in Joe Maddon.

This book is not just Maddon’s ranting against the way baseball has changed over his 40-plus years in the sport, it also includes third-person narrative from Verducci, who interviewed other managers to get their perspective. For example, Astros manager A.J. Hinch detailed his pitching decisions in the 2019 World Series. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

Moon realizes that certain words are particularly helpful and powerful in making conversations better (all conversations, not just coaching ones). It’s one short word per letter (“Difference”, “Might”, and “Yet” are three of my favourites), and this feels like a collection of twenty-six precise tools that can help any type of discussion more elegant, more curious, more filled with potential and more useful.

If you are a coach or student of NLP, add this book to your library. Dilts notes that, in the past, coaching has been focused mainly on improving behavior performance through careful observation and feedback. More recently personal, executive, and life coaching has evolved to provide support on a number of different levels. Each level has a different focus and requires a different approach and set of tools. Dilts clearly explains how your coaching style must adapt to each level (environment (caretaker or guide), behaviors (coach), capabilities (teacher), beliefs and values (mentor), identity (sponsor), and spirituality (awakener)), and provides a suggested set of tools and techniques.

This is the handbook to working parenthood that I wish someone had handed me when I accepted a new job at 38 weeks pregnant with my first child. Dowling offers plenty of wisdom in this book – from how to manage the transitions that come with working parenthood (going on and returning from parental leave, changing jobs, welcoming a second child) to how to set up your daily routine for success. But what I really appreciate is how tactical this book is. Working parenthood – especially the early years – is a full-contact sport. You want someone to cut to the chase and just give you the user manual. This is it.

I first found Jessica Mccabe’s YouTube channel (How to ADHD) when I was researching for my own book and was drawn to how well-researched yet funny and relatable her content was about the topic. I had hoped her book would offer the same energy, and it truly did not disappoint. Especially listening to it on audible, she was brutally honest and authentic in sharing her experience of being diagnosed with ADHD as a female and how it impacted her in most areas of her life.

Her practical answers to many of the ADHD life problems (a result of executive functioning woes) provided so many wonderful ideas for my own life as well as ways to support clients I work with. I love the community she is creating of ADHD “brains,” and I would highly recommend her book to complement her wildly successful YouTube channel.

The public tends to put more credibility when they see a doctor approve childbirth information. The Bradley Method is a proven and universal method that encourages and teaches natural childbirth – and, includes the father of the baby. While I believe that giving birth should be initiated and orchestrated by the baby, the mother and father are primary participants in the event. 

The Bradley Method helps couples prepare for a drug-free childbirth, discusses natural solutions for challenges during pregnancy, and focuses on bonding between mother, baby and father. This book is one of the most respectful books for couples planning to give birth.

There are literally thousands of life-coaching books on the market right now, but I found this particular title in a charity shop many years ago.

It gets to the point, offering concise solutions to combat irrational thinking. I love a psychological ‘life dictionary’ and although it was published in 1993, I believe that the given solutions would be much the same if it were re-written today. 

Another important antecedent to How to Be Everything, this book offers a serious focus on career, work, and revenue streams. Lobesnstine, a career and life coach, makes the argument that a need for variety and love for finding new challenges are not liabilities, but assets. If you’re ready to get down to business, this might be the read for you.