Coaching A to Z: The Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Words

by Haesun Moon

Your indispensable guide for coaching mastery.Language is a powerful tool that can unite, engage, and move people to action. It’s all in what you choose to say, and how you say it.In this practical, accessible guide to having more powerful conversations, leading evidence-based coaching expert Haesun Moon offers a set of powerful words or phrases—one for every letter of the alphabet—to help you move others toward greater purpose and accomplishment. Based on her extensive research with the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School, Moon shows you how to apply each of these concepts to transform the way you relate to others and empower them to strive for and achieve better outcomes. Each entry includes an inspiring real-life example, and reflection questions to help you put it into action in your own life and in the lives of people around you.Whether you’re a leader in business, education, healthcare, the public or non-profit sector—or even in your family—the ability to coach others and support them in achieving their goals is an integral skill one of the most important skills you can master. A guide to return to again and again, Coaching A-Z is an indispensable tool for anyone seeking to master the art of coaching and leadership.

Genres: Nonfiction, Leadership, Business, Psychology

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 8, 2022

Reviews

[❀ Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coaching A to Z is a terrific book full of practical tips and questions for leaders and coaches to help others find their full potential. It is aligned with solution focused brief therapy and I enjoyed the book so much that I signed up for a Foundations of Brief Coaching course with this author.

[Tiffanie22 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the great privilege of hearing Haesun speak at a Leadership Conference in November 2022. I met her briefly afterward so she could sign my copy of her book. My peers and I then had a private coaching session with her. Each encounter was inspiring. I listened to this on my way to and from work but will also be reading her book and working through the reflections to help cement her wisdom in my mind for practice. Haesun uses stories to illustrate the power of words and encourages you, as the listener, to get curious about your conversation partner and ask questions that help them see their strengths and their progress so far. If you want to have better conversations with people around you, I encourage you to pick this up.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a coach however I’d recommend this to anyone who manages people or if you have older children. It’s a quick accessible read and will definitely make you think about how to better approach and having more meaningful conversations.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful, insightful, and enjoyable to read!

Already - What have you done so far?
Yet - Assume positive progress.
Good enough - How did you get to be a 6? What would be good enough?
Useful - The fact the problems are in the past means hope (!). What is the learning?
Instead - What would you like instead? What's important about that?

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

How Words Can Work Magic

Dr. Moon is an extraordinary gifted storyteller. There's more wisdom per sentence in this book than any book I've read in the last few years. She shows how powerful it is to move from asking "What's the matter?* to asking "What matters?"
Her style is simple, lyrical, captivating.
Even non-coaches will love this book. It offers an appreciative perspective for approaching conversations as well as very specific questions and responses to use in practice. Now to open up the possibilities!
Thank you, Dr moon!

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

After watching a webinar with the author and hearing her on a podcast in the past few years, I had high expectations for this book. However, it doesn't fully live up to the expertise I've witnessed in her. Each letter of the alphabet has a word which inspires that "meditation". They each start with a memory or incident from the author's life, then switch to a coaching scenario, then end with reflection questions. The premise and structure strong frameworks, but the content doesn't always deliver. The memories are cute and touching and come across as odes to her family more than illustrations of coaching (or, the connections are left unsaid and not very apparent). The coaching scenarios are too brief and incomplete to be instructive: often they're suggestive of a innovative or contrary approach to coaching but the follow-through explanation is absent; like cliff hanger movie trailer, but without access to the full length feature. The reflection questions are not always fully related to the anecdote or the coaching and are certainly not meant to be helpful to coaches in their practice directly.
Overall, my impression is that too much content was edited out of the book. I would have preferred more words and less gimmick.

[Aggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole book could be summarised in a couple of sentences: you should think positive and you should think about the progress you have made. The idea might be interesting (the title of each chapter is a word beginning with a different letter of the alphabet) but results in chapters which seem a little forced (because there must be twenty-something chapters) and repetitive. I was not much convinced by the reflection points, which encouraged the reader to think of ten things that .... 6 ways in which... etc. I do not think that it helps really to reflect on someone's life. But perhaps I am just sceptical of the whole idea of coaching.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of specific and realistic ideas that can be used in a variety of settings. I am going to make a list of various questions I can use and keep the list close at hand to use during meetings and conversations.

[Kaylene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great insights and practical tips here. It does get a bit repetitive and I didn’t always understand how the story, concept, and reflection guide for each letter were related. However, the focus on conversations as the crux of coaching (and relationships) was great.

[Debra Hammett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great one to keep nearby and pick up to read any chapter at any time.
The stories are great refreshers and lessons for why we coach and how to do it better.

[WR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple but powerful book about how words can transform communication. And I think not necessarily limited to coaching.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a useful little book! I will be thinking of this one for quite a while!

[Kim]

Delightful book full of amazing ways to craft coaching conversations using "ordinary" yet extraordinary words. Highly recommend

[Anu Sant · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rating. Very simply written and yet very reflective. Can be used by all not only coaches to build meaningful connections and conversations ❤️

[Katie Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, short and sweet, helpful coaching tips. A fun book club read for work. I enjoyed her personal experiences intertwined.

[Azraa Akherwaray · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Haesun Moon recaps crucial advice for coaches, but also presents new perspectives, like her Dialogic Orientation Quadrant [which is much less intimidating than it sounds!]. Throughout the chapters, Moon shows genuine care for her clients and encourages all coaches to practise compassion.
However, I would’ve preferred two changes:
1. More examples of [fictitious] coaching conversations instead of so many personal anecdotes.
2. Example questions to apply in practice instead of the reflection questions [which I personally didn’t find useful].