Book review "Coaching for Performance - Sir John Whitmore" Claudia Marchis -2017

Book review

Coaching for performance. Practice and the Principles of coaching and

leadership

Claudia Marchis - 2017

1. Introduction

Coaching for performance appeared for the first time in 1992 and is one of the books on
reference of European coaching.
This is a beginner's book, a work on which one can build. It is one of the first books for
Anyone who decided to learn as much as possible about coaching.

I appreciated the structure, the way it managed to synthesize the essence of coaching and to
underline the connections between coaching and motivation, goals, or team development. Especially since
it is not a hard book to read, it’s not a manual. And Whitmore has a distinctive style, as such it
I really enjoyed reading it.

Now in its fourth edition, revised and expanded, 'Coaching for Performance' defines and clarifies
What is coaching, what can it be used for, when and how much can it be utilized, who can use it?
use and who does not. Also, delve into the principles of coaching, clarify the process and
the practice of coaching. The chapters dedicated to the relationship between coaching and leadership, the concept

of leadership, the significance of emotional intelligence, transpersonal psychology added in

this edition brings great value to the book.

2. Sir John Whitmore, the author

Born in 1937, Sir Whitmore was a professional race car driver and businessman. He studied
Eton College (United Kingdom), Sandhurst Royal Military Academy (United Kingdom) and
Cirencester Agricultural College (Great Britain). "After I gave up racing cars,
I entered into business: a farm, a Ford dealership, and a company in the industrial sector. However, in 1968 I

Page 1 of 6
Book Review "Coaching for Performance – Sir John Whitmore" Claudia Marchis -2017

I gave up on these businesses and decided to take psychology courses in California," he says.
Sir Whitmore.
After completing his psychological studies, the British man decided it was time to start coaching.
Coaching made me rethink everything I had accomplished up to that point, both in sports and in
business. I came to the conclusion that there are things that can help you improve your work
Sir Whitmore asserts. What do car races and coaching have in common? The Briton, who owns
Performance Consultants International, which offers consulting services, leadership
and coaching, he believes that in order to do both things you must be passionate and dedicated.
Sir John Whitmore was included in the top 10 coaches in Great Britain by
the daily The Independent.

3. "Performance Coaching"

Part One

We understand from the very beginning that the key elements, the goals of coaching, and what it needs to be
stimulate awareness and responsibility.

Awareness consists of knowing what is happening around you, the stimulation of awareness being
the act of sharpening the acuity of our receptors in relation to the informational input, connecting us
often the senses, but also demanding our mind at the same time.

Responsibility - When we truly accept, says Whitmore, when we choose or we

we take responsibility for our thoughts and for our actions, our commitment to
The report with this grows and along with it the performance.

Those that generate awareness and responsibility the best are questions, questions.
efficient, open.

Sir John Whitmore proposes the GROW MODEL and the sequence of questions, this being a
acronym for the following directions:

G–GOAL - Establishing goals for a specific session, both short-term and long-term.
lung

R–REALITY–Verification of reality in order to explore the current reality

Page 2 of 6
Book review 'Coaching for Performance – Sir John Whitmore' Claudia Marchis -2017

O–OPTIONS–Options and alternative strategies in relation to the course of action

W–WILL, WAY FORWARD–What needs to be done, when, by whom and the will to carry things through
the fulfillment. What will you do?

GROW - Setting Goals

I perform a task better when I WANT to than when I HAVE to do it.
"WANT" is for me, "MUST" is for others. Self-motivation is a matter of
choice. A FINAL GOAL is rarely an action completely under the personal control of a
people.
A PERFORMANCE-RELATED GOAL is within our reach and provides us with a means to
measure progress. Generally, teams set their goals based on what has been achieved.
before and not based on what can be achieved in the future. Goals formed by setting
the ideal long-term solution, followed by determining the realistic steps towards that ideal, are in
generally more inspiring, more creative, and more motivating.
The established goal/objective is important to be:
SMART
Specific

Measurable

Accepted

Realist

Temporal

PURE
Positive statement

Unanimously understood

Relevant

Ethics

CLEAR
Competitive / Provocative

Page 3 of 6
Book Review: "Coaching for Performance - Sir John Whitmore" Claudia Marchis -2017

Legal

Ecological

Adequate

Regulated / Registered

We have a tendency to achieve the thing we focus on. If we are afraid of failure,
we are focused on failure and that is exactly what we get.

GROW - Reality Check

The most important criterion in examining reality is OBJECTIVITY.
OBJECTIVITY is distorted by opinions, judgments, expectations, prejudices, worries, hopes and
Tamer
REALITY looks: data and figures, incidents, actions, obstacles to be overcome, resources
and the available people, etc. To maintain objectivity, a terminology is encouraged
descriptive and not evaluative.
When a subordinate begins to see their manager as more of a support rather than a
threat, he will be much happier to express his problems.
The most commonly used questions at this stage are: what, when, where, who, how much, etc. It is
recommended to avoid the question 'why?' because the client will tend to go into a
defensive position, to justify certain actions or results.

GROW - Options
In order to successfully extract the options, you need to create an environment in which the client (employee) will

feels safe enough to express their thoughts and ideas without any inhibition or fear
of a possible judgment from the coach manager or from others.
The aim pursued is not to find the "correct" answer but to generate as many courses as possible.
alternative to action. To avoid: censorship, preferences, ridicule, contradiction.
Questions:
What if you had a big enough budget?

What would happen if you knew the answer?

What if this obstacle did not exist? What would you do in this case?

Page 4 of 6
Book Review 'Coaching for Performance - Sir John Whitmore' Claudia Marchis -2017

Auto-limitating hypotheses keep you within a certain perimeter. The coach manager invites the employee to
cross beyond these limits through well-targeted questions.
I have a few possible options. Would you like to know them?
Selecting an option sometimes involves a cost-benefit analysis.

GROW - The will to do

The coaching conversation concludes with a DECISION and an ACTION PLAN.
Questions:
What will you do?

When will you do this?

Will this action rise to the proposed height?

What obstacles might you encounter along the way?

Who needs to know about this action?

What support do you need?

When will you obtain the necessary support?

What else do you need to consider?

In PART TWO, Sir John Withmore describes some important terms for practice
coaching, in distinct chapters:

- Performance. True performance consists of exceeding expectations, represents the establishment

the highest standards, standards that invariably exceed the requests and expectations
of others. At the same time, it can be a deed, an accomplishment, a confirmation of a skill.
- Learning and enjoyment. In practice, the distinction between performance, learning, and pleasure.
it reaches to be occluded, and at the limit of this overlap one can experience
culminating.
- Motivation and self-confidence. Self-confidence is the key element of
performance at the workplace. Coaching, trust, openness, respect, praise
Authenticity, the freedom to choose, and success strengthen people's self-confidence.

Page 5 of 6
Book Review 'Coaching for Performance - Sir John Whitmore' Claudia Marchis -2017

- Coaching, the path to meaning and purpose. Meaning is the significance we assign to a
event or retroactive action, in time which the purpose is our intention to
adopts a certain course of action. The meaning is mainly psychological, while the purpose
it is a spiritual concept.
- Feedback and evaluation. Generating high-quality and relevant feedback, coming from
As much as possible from within and not from the experts, it is essential for an improvement.
continues to perform at work, in sports, and in all aspects of life
- Team development. The stages through which a team develops are: inclusion, assertion,
cooperate.
- Guidance of teams.
- Overcoming obstacles in coaching.
- Multiple benefits of coaching.

In PART THREE of the book, "Leadership for Achieving High Performance", added in
The revised and expanded fourth edition discusses the relationship between coaching and leadership.
as well as the concept of leadership as such.

In PART FOUR, "Transformation through the means of transformational coaching"

the author develops the discussion about the significance of emotional intelligence (EQ) and interest
emergent in terms of spiritual intelligence (SQ) in relation to performance and the way in
These are reported in relation to coaching, also introducing tools of psychology.
transpersonal

4. Conclusion

true, what it is used for, when and to what extent it can be used.

The book is a great help and a real support in the development of those who wish to practice.
coaching is one of the basic books that would be very necessary for them to
it is also an important resource for the development of managers and
organizations.

Page 6 of 6