Book Critique:

Co-Active Coaching
written by L. Whitworth, K. Kimsey-House, H. Kimsey-House and P. Sandahl

Julie K Berndt
February 2011

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Co-active Coaching is written by Laura Whitworth, Karen Kimsey-House, Henry Kimsey-House and
Peter Sandahl. The book was first published in 2007 and is now in its second edition. This critique
concentrates on the second edition which was reprinted by Davis-Black an imprint of Nicholas Brealey
Publishing in 2009 (ISBN 978-089106198-4). The book is defined as sitting in the genre of Self-
actualization (Psychology), Mentoring and Motivation and the back cover claims that the book is ‘The
Book that Helped Define the Field of Professional Coaching’.

The Preface provides the first introduction to the written element of the book. From a personal
perspective the Preface left me disappointed and with a number of unanswered questions.
Unfortunately they were not questions I felt would be answered within the main context of varying
elements of the remainder of the book and this proved to be the case. For example: ‘It is the demand
and desire for coaching that is pulling the profession ever more deeply into the world’ (pg. xiii), I felt
this comment needed to be substantiated – why is coaching more in demand? We can all make
assumptions but for a book to command credibility, for me statements need to be supported with
facts. There is a further reference to ‘The Expanding World of Coaching’ on pg. 181, it does present a
brief and broad perspective of all the areas coaching is now reaching. However I would have liked
more detail as this might have been an area whereby I could have started to think further about any
specialism I may want to take up or concentrate on in a particular area of coaching ie. business.

There are numerous claims as to how coaching continues to grow and develop in all areas from
teaching to businesses now using coaching, ‘We see teachers using coaching skills and a coaching
style when these are called for. ...... and health care workers using coaching skills and a coach
approach.’(pg. xiv). However, from my perspective there is insufficient supporting evidence as to why,
what the benefits are and the results that make this demand continue to grow. I am looking at this
from the view point of someone who knows very little about coaching and is looking at this book for
the first time as their main introduction to the subject area. Looking at the Preface from another angle
it may have been intentional by design of the authors not to be too explanatory at this point but to
entice the novice and reader to want to read further on. I also found the figures quoted disappointing;
on one hand in that the numbers appear to be quite small considering the worldwide demand for
these skills, however, on the other hand it is welcoming news as it indicates a market place still very
much in growth therefore offering opportunities to people wanting to develop skills in order to become
professional and valued Coaches.

It is not until the Introduction that the true aim of the book became apparent, ‘We look at the nature of
a co-active coaching conversation and at what makes this so different from other conversations.’ (pg.
xx). I then had the expectation that by the end of the book I would gain a far better understanding of
not only a coaching conversation but also what made co-active coaching in particular so outstanding.

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There are three main teaching elements of the book, Part I focuses on the Co-Active Coaching
Fundamentals, Part II the Co-Active Coaching Contexts and Part III Co-Active Coaching Principles
and Practices. These sections then lead immediately into the Coach’s Toolkit, which provides a large
number of forms, models and exercises. The contents then culminate in various Appendices including
‘Ethics and the Professional Coach’, a glossary and information about the authors. My initial thoughts
were that as ‘Ethics and the Professional Coach’ is such a major element of the coaching relationship
that this section should have been contained within the teaching elements and much closer to the
beginning of the book. However, on further analysis and understanding of the book structure and a
review of the Ethics I agree it would not make sense to include in one of the learning modules. In line
with its importance it needs to be clearly identified in a section of its own, along with other reference
points such as the toolkit. I did not fully appreciate this until I had worked through the book. The
separation of this topic ensured the importance of the topic was not lost in the teaching elements of
the content contained within each of the defined parts of the earlier chapters.

I really liked the way the book was structured and felt the ease of contents and sections should prove
to make the book a useful and efficient resource in enabling me to quickly identify and pinpoint a
particular section that I may wish to re-visit now or at any other particular time in the future.

I also liked and appreciated the tone of the book as I found it very informative and easy to follow whilst
not being overly heavy or complicated. It came across in a very engaging manner that made me feel
like it was a one to one training session.

I found the fact that the majority of chapters contained a coaching dialogue between the Coach and
Client; brought together and provided realistic scenarios which for me highlighted and contextualised
the topic being discussed. I found this extremely useful and it assisted in cementing my
understanding of the points made. The exercises at the end of chapters were also extremely useful,
and enabled me to gauge and ensure my understanding of how I had grasped the points made in any
particular chapter. The only issue I found with the exercises was that there was no indication that the
work you produced in earlier chapters would be built upon – therefore if you had not completed a
particular exercise you could very well struggle as you read through the book with other practical
exercises.

Working through the book there is a clear path with each section building upon the last. I also felt
there were extremely important themes within the book such as the roles and responsibilities of the
Client and that of the Coach. However, there were some statements I found difficult to accept based
upon the ‘professional’ relationship of the Client and Coach; for example ‘The coach is there to
encourage and support, provide companionship around the rocks,’ (pg. 9). This statement of
companionship does not sit comfortably with my current understanding of the role of a coach. It is
possibly just the choice of word used ‘companionship’ that I personally find a little too comfortable for
the relationship. I felt more at ease with the discussion around the coach holding the client’s agenda

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and what the process looks like. I particularly liked the analogy on pg. 156 where life is described as
a flowing river with steady and serene parts and is then hit by rapids. This aligned with my
understanding of helping your client move forward via a flowing process.

The book does provide an extremely comprehensive review of the aspects of coaching from listening,
the relationship, how to challenge and also be supportive and remind clients of the positives already in
place now and that have occurred in the past. However, whilst many skills and themes are discussed
and linked throughout the book I also felt there were a number of contradictions for example in
Chapter 6, there is a section on Authenticity. This appears to state that it is acceptable to
authenticate yourself and when not playing the role of ‘professional coach’ you create more trust.
Whilst I appreciate there is a balance between yourself and professionalism unless you get the
balance correct and reveal too much of yourself you run the risk of becoming friends or indeed not
getting on. This can then result in destroying the professional relationship and loses the focus of why
you were approached in the first place. I don’t believe the section is entirely clear and can be
misleading contradicting earlier areas on the clear role of the coach and the client.

The many coaching skills explored within the book will, I believe provide an extremely useful resource
to refer to and refine on an ongoing basis as I develop on my own path to becoming a coach. I
particularly appreciated the clarity around the topic of listening in Chapter 3. It clearly defined and
demonstrated the varying levels of listening by supplying clear and reliable examples.

A key phrase that describes a fundamental skill that I particularly like and will remember with ease as
it describes the action in a very pleasing manner is ‘Dancing in the moment’. This is a very good
adjective which indicates how a coach is constantly choosing based upon responses from their client
and must always be thinking of the next direction and route to take.

Within the same Chapter there is a topic of ‘Aliveness’ this provides a element of realism and puts you
at ease with the reassurance that as a novice not every conversation will be polished and smart. It
stresses that if this were the case it would remove the element of being alive and flowing. This is a
good contrast to the point above concerning ‘companionship’ which for me pushes the professional
side of coaching too far the other way.

The inside sleeve of the book indicates it has been written by Laura Whitworth and her co-authors in
order to build on their original Co-Active Coaching model to update their work – I would have liked to
understand further what the new developments were in order to fully appreciate if coaching skills
continue to develop and at what pace.

The book comes complete with a CD which it is stated has real-life audio coaching. The CD also
contains printable forms from the toolkit contained within the book. I found the CD that accompanies

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the book extremely beneficial and enlightening as it gave me an interactive learning tool that enabled
me to listen on the move. Listening to the live conversations on the CD provided a more realistic
element and added an extra dimension other than just reading flat text. The toolkit will also give me
readymade material to use or develop to my own needs.

In conclusion, did the book deliver in its aim of demonstrating how co-active coaching is a different
form of conversation? For me it met its aim in portraying what co-active coaching is, however it did
not show me how this is different or more specialised than coaching in general. This may become
clearer as I develop and review other books on the topic – but until that point I have to take it on its
own merits and my own logic or limited knowledge to date of coaching. As already indicated I found
that there were a number of good analogies and phrases that I will remember and take forward but
there were also a number of contradictory aspects. However, if the book leads to discussion and
further investigation then this is not a bad thing in my mind. Overall I believe moving forward the
book will prove to be an extremely useful and interesting resource that I will go back to time and time
again in order to review the perspective on certain elements of co-active coaching - if only to compare
and determine which elements will suit my own style best.

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