This was OK in parts and anyone who has no clue about coaching / business can probably get some value from it as an introduction to the topic.
On the plus side, the breadth of topics and general structure is decent, the text is simple to follow and the tone is upbeat. Based on those things, at one point halfway through I was thinking of a higher score for this.
However, it has flaws that become more apparent the further you go with it. And overall, it doesn’t deliver on its promise as the “ultimate” business coaching book.
First, though the breadth of content is fine, it lacks depth. Was rarely convinced there was genuine expertise behind this. On several of the topics, it felt like they’d done a little bit of research and then cobbled this together from those sources. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing. But without really deep expertise to back their advice up, you get left with some broad and obvious advice. e.g. know your customers, focus on your priorities, take time to reflect and so on. But there’s not much on how you do those things. It’s OK on know-what but has little on know-how.
The book also frequently points you to their YouTube videos and website for more detail. This just feels like cross-selling though and if you do, you’ll get retargeted multiple times by their adverts on social media. It would be worth checking out their videos first before you buy this to get a feel for whether their style is what you’re looking for.
It’s also guilty of having some typos and some loose definitions (e.g. they conflate marketing with communications) and these don’t help build credibility in their message. Plus, there’s a fair dose of woo-woo uplifting motivational passages, which aren’t terrible but aren’t very practical.
It was also quite light on the “business” side of it which made me question the “Ultimate” tag in the title. It has a few examples on the finances of coaching, but these often sound made up.
Overall, the intent behind this is good, and in parts it’s interesting, but its ambition wasn’t backed up by its expertise.
No judgment on their coaching business, but if this was to try and sell you on it, I didn’t walk away feeling convinced. Saying that, they frequently mention how successful that business is, so there must be an audience for this.
This wasn’t the worst and had some value, but there a way more insightful business books out there.