The Business Coach: A Game Plan for the New Work Environment »

JAMES S. DOYLE is President of Customer, Inc., a management consulting firm specializing in organizational development, HR practices, and business coaching. Doyle was formerly the manager of Employee Development for Cargill and an executive with Pillsbury.

IMAGINE a workplace that fosters collaboration, trust, and empowering relationships with others. Where supervisors listen, nurture, develop talent, and facilitate learning in an environment of mutual respect, trust, and accountability. And where, as a result, employees become self aware, self correcting, and truly motivated, thus helping their company ward off competition and stay on top of its game. Sound too good to be true? It's not—it's a description of a company that practices "coaching". Businesses today are becoming less invested in the old top-down management approach and instead are employing this proven leadership style, building world-class team spirit, cohesion, and optimum performance, and enjoying new levels of success.

In this book, author James S. Doyle demonstrates how to apply the coach concept to the game of business and establish a successful coaching relationship with any employee, within any organization. More than just tips and techniques, The Business Coach is a highly practical guide that leads the reader through a step-by-step process of growth and mastery. The coaching relationship, according to Doyle, grows from the "inside-out." It is not a role that can be picked up and put on like a uniform. It requires a shift in thinking and behavior, as well as a true commitment to "being" a coach, not just the desire to act like one. This book provides the necessary mind set, skills, and attributes needed to allow this internal transformation.

Drawing on his personal experiences coaching in one of the largest multinational companies in the world and leading business coaching seminars, Doyle explains why everyone in business needs a coach, and why thecoaching relationship is so effective. Using practical examples and real-world business scenarios, Doyle teaches the strategies, methods and language used by the business coach to create a high-performing team. He reveals how coaches develop people on purpose, looking for the possibilities in each employee that they may not see for themselves and involving them in the process of planning, creating, and problem solving.

Many executives will agree that the toughest job a manager has is confronting poor performance and encouraging behavior change. Doyle shows how becoming a business coach can combat this, adding to the tools managers already possess as the reader learns how coaches support peak performance and advocate successful behavior. Doyle teaches how to avoid a false start at fostering a coaching environment at work, by working with the reader to build coaching competencies and create a climate where successful business coaching can take place. He also includes application exercises and self-assessment tools for practice and awareness raising, permitting the translation of creative ideas into the real world of business at a sensible pace.

For anyone who is ready to become a true business coach, willing to get in shape by going through the learning process and determined to "walk the talk," as Doyle would say, The Business Coach is the game plan to follow.

"Executives seeking to do for their organization what championship coaches do for their teams would benefit from The Business Coach." —Jim Collins, coauthor, Built to Last

"The Business Coach provides managers with the skills they need to develop their people." —Whitney MacMillan, Chairman Emeritus, Cargill, Inc.

"The Business Coach is an invaluable book for all those who wish to be more effective as leaders and mentors." —David McNally, author, Even Eagles Need a Push and The Eagle's Secret

"Jim Doyle educates your entire management team on the principles of becoming a business coach." —Robin Peterson, Executive Vice President Coldwell Banker Burnet Home Services

"Today's managers need coaching tools to guide their teams. The Business Coach gives you those tools." —Rhonda Kirkwood, Vice President, North American Sales, Cleaver-Brooks

"The Business Coach teaches you the 'inside-out' of becoming a coach, so you can take your employees, your business, and yourself to the next level of success." —Judy Anderson, Golf & Business Coach, Business Golf Unlimited

"The Business Coach will equip you with the playbook for success." —Ken Melrose, CEO & Chairman, The Toro Company; author, Making the Grass Greener on Your Side: A CEO's Journey to Leading by Serving