Kate's Reading

This book is in two halves.

The first half chooses to give background stories, the history of success, if you will. The challenge is there from the very beginning and I found it really got me to reflect.

The second half gives the step by step guide to becoming a Key Person of Influence (KPI). What I like about this is the clarity that it doesn’t happen overnight but if you take the steps as recommended, in the order recommended, you will be successful.
It has caused me to look totally differently at my life and my business. I have listened to it about 5 or 6 times at this stage and then went on to buy the book. I bought it because it is really a workbook, with lots of stories and challenges.

Potential Audience?

This book is written to challenge the status quo of each individual. ‘the world has changed and so must you’. It champions the idea that, as the world is not as it used to be, we must let go of old ideas, old concepts and embrace new ideas. If you want to grow and become known for your skill, talent, knowledge etc. then this is the book for you.

What did I learn from reading this book?

I learned that my best thinking of 5 years’ ago may be my baggage today. I learned I must have the courage to strip back to the core of who I am, what’s important to me, what I would love to be doing. I have always asked people if they have 10 years’ experience or one year’s experience 10 times over. This book really brought that question into sharp relief and I found myself asking that question of myself.

What tool/approach/method will I bring to my coaching practice?

I will bring a different approach to my questioning in my coaching practice. I can look at my clients who resist change or who worry about being overlooked or of new technology or taking a holiday and help them align their thinking and their fears to the results that they are looking for and what’s in the future. I will use questions to encourage them to think dynamically and maybe to redefine the ‘game’, their role, their chosen profession, path in life etc.

I found this book easy to read, with a clear, confident, chatty style. It appears to be well researched and gives experiences from real people who have real challenges.

Potential Audience?

This book was written by a Coach for his clients, to encourage and work with them on their road to high performance. I believe it can be read, enjoyed and become a road map by everyone who wishes to be a high achiever.

Because this book is about people who are already achievers there might be a tendency to think ‘we’ or ‘they’ have it all, have a charmed life and have arrived. I was challenged on a number of levels.

• to look at high performance, asking difficult questions, pushing that bit further
• the difference between repetition (in order to learn new skills) and building on each stage which will challenge both myself and my clients beyond our comfort zones.
• use the 10 steps in ‘Progressive Mastery’ (based on Anders Ericsson’s ‘deliberate practice’).
• how to Sustain Success and continuously remind myself of some of the traps we can fall into. There is nowhere to hide.

What did I learn from reading this book?

I learned three key things from this book:

1. the best way of turning a question asked by a coachee back on themselves. It is ok to challenge.
2. asking the right question to turn what appeared to be a hard issue, into feelings.
3. challenging the tendency to look at what appears to be a ‘charmed’ life, with everything, externally, looking good.

What tool/approach/method will I bring to my coaching practice?

I will encourage my coachees to look at who they have surrounded themselves with and what effect those associations are having on their life and work (whatever their focus is).