We recently read The 4 Greatest Coaching Conversations by Jerry Connor and Karim Hirani in the EMCC UK Book Club. Our Book Club reviewers have sent this review of the book.

The aim of The 4 Greatest Coaching Conversations is to bring clarity anout how to coach different mindsets on an individual and organisational level. Although it is aimed primarily at line managers, I think the book will particularly benefit practitioner level coaches, as well as being a useful reference for senior practitioners. The techniques captured by Jerry Connor and Karim Hirani are drawn from the work of BTS and a pool of 100,000 conversations which they analysed in order to define optimised  approaches to coaching specific mindsets. They grouped their findings into four conversations:

> Be   > Inspire   > Relate   > Think

The book is well structured and easy to navigate. Part one details the four conversations; part two looks at the organisational mindset, while part three explores mindset change in more detail. In each section there is a clear structural outline, in terms of how the chapter progresses. For example, part one is divided into four chapters, one on each conversation. The chapter begins with an outline, detailing how we can identify the conversation and apply techniques to support coachees to do their very best work.

The book references many useful and credible sources. A read through the references offers a number of useful texts and articles, ranging from Covey to Assagioli. It offers useful simplifications of some theories. For example, the simplified model of psychosynthesis may help some of us to grasp difficult concepts. It has helpful summaries at the end of each chapter, and offers exercises for the reader to self-coach in order to familiarise themselves with the techniques put forward. It is very practical in nature, with example transcripts of coaching conversations which apply the principles.

The 4 Greatest Coaching Conversations is a book we would recommend to have on your shelf as a tool to dip in and out of as the need arises. It would fall into the category of a useful refresher and provide helpful text to consult when reflecting on practice where a particular mindset shows up. A few video clips and a workbook to accompany this read would really enhance the experience. This addition would give us a chance to observe practice and start to work with some of the more challenging concepts outlined.