In this article I will share my thoughts about The Little Book of Coaching written by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula. Ken Blanchard is the author of The One Minute Manager so I expect a similar concept, but now on the interesting topic of coaching, leadership, emotional intelligence and personal development.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Book structure – The Little Book of Coaching
Before I would like to enter and provide deeper details, let’s start with the overview of the book structure. This gives a view into the approach of how to motivate people to be winners (based upon the little book of coaching).
| # | Description | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Introduction | 01 |
| 02 | C.O.A.C.H. to Win | 04 |
| 03 | Step 01 – Conviction Driven | 08 |
| 04 | Step 02 – Overlearning | 32 |
| 05 | Step 03 – Audible Ready | 52 |
| 06 | Step 04 – Consistency | 64 |
| 07 | Step 05 – Honesty Based | 84 |
| 08 | One Final Word | 113 |
The book structure is slightly different than for example the The One Minute Manager and The One Minute Sales Person who are build around a simple game plan or “goal setting workflow”. In this little book the key element is the acronym COACH, where each character of the word equals a step in the process of motivating people to be winners (according to Blanchard and Shula).
C.O.A.C.H. to Win
The acronym C.O.A.C.H. is the backbone of this book, and covering the five secrets of coaching according to Blanchard and Shula. Ken Blanchard has taught business coaching, while Don Shula has practiced coaching in his extensive NHL career (player and coach).
- Conviction-Driven: Never compromise your beliefs
- Overlearning: Practice until it’s perfect
- Audible-ready: Know when to change
- Consistency: Respond predictably to performance
- Honesty-based: Walk your talk
So having these two perspectives combined in one easy to read book is highly valuable. This is also how the book chapters are build. Sharing practical examples and expert views from Blanchard and Shula in in each of the steps.
“Everybody is a coach in some aspect of their lives, and that means, you too.” so let’s get into some more details of each step of the COACH acronym.
Step 01 – Conviction Driven
Effective Leaders stand for something
Good to see some recognizable elements but also areas to investigate deeper like beliefs (under water portion of the iceberg in DISC van A tot Z – Peter Haenraets & Hans van Elewout or Management Drives App – Individual Profile Remo Knops). Beliefs, motives, values and conviction are at the core, and thus shaping behavior and actions.
The book structure is characterized by a summarizing sentence on the left page, and a one-page explanation from either Ken Blanchard or Don Shula. A couple of example summarizing sentences are:
- Beliefs and convictions provide the boundaries and direction that people want and need in order to perform well;
- Character is the sum total of what you believe and how you act;
- One who has mastered the art of living simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. ~ James Michener;
Step 02 – Overlearning
Effective Leaders help their teams achieve practice perfection
There is no easy walk to excellence. Brendon Burchard calls this excellence as mastery, where the habits and moreover the consistency in building and maintaining these habits is the path to mastery. There is no easy to mastery. Daily training and daily practice will shape excellence in sports and professional life. A couple of example summarizing sentences are:
- It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs. ~ Vance Havner;
- Perfection only happens when the mechanics are automatic;
- Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect;
Step 03 – Audible Ready
Effective leaders, and the people and teams they coach, are ready to change when the situation demands it.
If I reflect on my professional life, the most impactful managers were the managers who were excellent at being audible ready. Planning ahead, strategizing for multiple scenarios and what if … is at the foundation of becoming audible ready.
A couple of example summarizing sentences are:
- If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight. If not, retreat and reevaluate;
- Adaption is not allowing yourself to give in to circumstances, it is allowing those circumstances to give you success;
- Be prepared with a plan and then expect the unexpected and be ready to change the plan;
Effective coaches are continually out there scanning for data and advice that will make their decisions more intelligent. And without a plan, there is no flexibility of choosing different routes (there is only falling forward and the view of the day).
This chapter has many similarities with “You have to move with the cheese” from the book Who moved my cheese ? – Johnson, 1998
Step 04 – Consistency
Effective Leaders are predictable in their response to performance
Consistency is behaving the same way in similar circumstances. A winning coach can’t afford to let the little things go unnoticed, because that often spells the difference between success and failure.
There are four consequences or responses that people can receive after they do something:
- No response
- Negative response – get zapped
- Redirection response
- Positive response
Ken Blanchard emphasizes that managers should use the redirection responses and positive responses more often (and stay away from leaving alone or zapping). Responses and consequences will drive more consistent behavior, as long as the managers are there to notice.
A couple of example summarizing sentences in this section are:
- Consistency is not behaving the same way all the time. It is behaving the same way in similar circumstances;
- Behavior is controlled by the consequence or response it receives;
- You can’t catch your people doing something right, if you are not there to see them doing something right;
- One thing I never wanted to be accused of was not noticing. ~ Don Shula
- If you are going to take the time to do what is urgent, be sure to take time to recognize what is important;
- After you deliver a reprimand, it is important for people to understand that you still value them as human beings;
So in this section you can easily connect with the goal setting, praising and reprimands from The One Minute Manager.
Step 05 – Honesty Based
Effective Leaders have high integrity and are clear and straightforward in their interactions with others
Credibility and leadership go hand in hand. No mater if you are a manager, a sports coach, or a parent. Respect is earned, and clarity in consistent communication (congruence). Say what you do, and doing what you say. is a sentence I always say to my kids, because from my point of view it builds trust.
A couple of example summarizing sentences are:
- It takes a big person to admit a mistake and then go out of his or her way to right the wrong;
- A sense of humor is simply a sense of who you are;
- Popularity is temporary. Respect is timeless;
- I don’t know any other way to lead, but by example. ~Don Shula
- People with humility don’t think less of themselves … they just think about themselves less.
Concluding thoughts and wrap-up
The Little Book of Coaching written by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula is just 115 pages and a book you can read on a Sunday afternoon. There is a lot of valuable information packed into a small book, and the acronym COACH backbone of the book is a well thought out one.
The mixed views from Don Shula, a professional sports coach combined with Ken Blanchard has taught business coaching results in valuable insights. However the mechanics for coaching people is not very different (despite a completely different field of context).
The price point of The Little Book of Coaching written by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula is € 13,00 which is more than fair (and in line with the other one minute books).
You simply cannot go wrong with a book like this. Every manager, parent or coach should have read this little book. Please read the other Blanchard and Johnson book reviews below:
- The One Minute Manager – Blanchard & Johnson, 1983
- Who moved my cheese ? – Johnson, 1998
- The One Minute Sales Person – Johnson & Wilson, 1984
Other valuable review on this website can be found in the categories below:
About Ken Blanchard
“Ken Hartley Blanchard is an American author and management expert. His book The One Minute Manager (co-authored with Spencer Johnson) has sold over 13 million copies and has been translated into 37 languages. He has coauthored over 30 other best-selling books. […] Blanchard is the “chief spiritual officer” of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Marjorie Blanchard, co-founded in 1979 in San Diego, California. Among many accolades, Blanchard has been honored as one of the top 10 Leadership professionals in the international Leadership Gurus survey for 2007 and 2008. The “Leadership Gurus survey” award, by Global Gurus International identifies the top and most influential Leadership professionals in the world by merit and public voting. Blanchard is a Cornell University trustee emeritus and visiting professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He and his wife were named Cornell Entrepreneurs of the Year in 1991.”
About Don Shula
Donald Francis Shula was an American professional football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven seasons as a defensive back in the NFL. For most of his career, Shula was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Shula set numerous records in his 33 seasons as a head coach. He is the all-time leader in victories with 347 when including the postseason. He is first in most games coached, with 526, most consecutive seasons coached, with 33, and Super Bowl losses with four, tied with Bud Grant, Dan Reeves, and Marv Levy. His teams won 15 division titles, six conference title wins, two NFL championships and six Super Bowl appearances.
