Coaching: The Secret Code to Uncommon Leadership----A Must Read for Leaders and those Aspiring to be

Great book and guide that open the doors to coaching for and from leaders. Great read, lively and full of real life illustration and very smart. I appreciate dearly the Learning codes that the author has put to conclude each chapter, makes it easy to get back to for pearls of wisdom!

As the title suggests the book is about the importance of coaching for better leadership and the word secret because this method has not been discovered yet, and if discovered not implemented yet.The book is divided into three parts:-Part A: What is coaching and why must leaders transform into coaches?-Part B: The how of coaching: A practical guide-Part C: Applying the fundamentals of coaching to leadership skills in specific situationsThat shows that the book is a complete package from understanding the need, to putting efforts in its directions and finally it's implementation.The three parts are further divided into 4-5 subtopics each making it a book with total 13 chapters. Each chapter unique in its own way.The chapters have been explained precisely yet with necessary elaborations. Giving examples for each theory. Also the author hasn't limited herself to just written explanation and has used pictorial representation generously by repressing thoughts through diagrams, charts,and pictures. Apart from these there is a section of 'The Learning Code' at the end of each chapter which gives gist or the key takeaway points from the chapter.The author has done thorough research on the subject and has backed her statements with various studies, survey reports or quotes from famous personalities. Also she's used the examples which are already present around us and whom we can easily relate to. She has demonstrated clearly what lack of coaching in leadership can lead to and what positive impact is presence can show.I absolutely loved the book and recommend it to everyone.

“Coaching isn't easy. It's hard work and it requires effort and, most importantly, courage.” ~ Ruchira ChaudharyA great leader is also a team player. This book describes this facet in great detail and how leadership today is about asking - not telling others what to do. The book also examines how coaching helps leaders maintain a fine balance between managing and guiding, and between appraising & supporting their teammates. The coaching we’re talking about — the kind that creates a true learning organization, is ongoing & executed by those inside the organization. Author brilliantly explains how to become an effective leader coach.This book also highlights specifically what happens when coaches get to work with the 4C’s Model (Capability, Confidence, Clarity, Consciousness). Why is the 4C’s model good for leadership? I took a lil more time (almost 3 months) to read this book and it was worth it. Believe me, this is a rare book that stands boldly at the intersection of leadership & coaching. The book is thoroughly referenced, with 30 pages of resources.Nandan Nilekani describes, “A timely read for anyone wishing to transition from being a manager to a leader or from being a good leader to a great one.” The book is broadly divided into 3 parts. Exploring some of the key ingredients of impactful leadership, Coaching offers tips and tricks, backed by research and incisive insights, on how to become an effective leader-coach.You cannot be a good leader or manager without being a good coach, she affirms. Language is simple & easy to understand. Ruchira offers a comprehensive view to the starters, young managers & new perspectives for those who are already familiar with this topic. The book is a great informative read for everyone. Especially for those who Aspire to become extraordinary leaders. If you have not read this yet you must read it.

A brilliant book on leadership and coachingThis is a book on uncommon leadership and the secret sauce for that.Leadership is not for everyone. Uncommon leadership is still more demanding.The book sets the context for leadership for the future, and why...Why we need "uncommon" leadership? Look around and see all the problems, and opportunities. The answer to all the problems we face today boils down to leadership. Whether in the corporate, business, politics, academics, health, everywhere we are facing the worst shortage of great leaders. A leader who operates at a higher level of consciousness. A simple way to do this is to be a 'leader-as-coach', the core theme of the book.Alan Lafley of P&G (Drucker), Jack Welch of GE (Ram Charan), Jeff Bezos (Bill Campbell) all had coaches.The image on the cover - how the leader can move from a tangled consciousness to light & untangled, and move up!The Foreword by Biocon Exe Chairperson, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, sets the context by sharing her own leadership style.. 'not about controlling, it is about empowering or helping people find their purpose and setting them on a path to realizing their full potential'. While coaching was always about #FullPotential for me, the definition shared in the book brings together both performance and potential. As the author rightly points out in the preface, 'the biggest challenge leaders have today is not revenue generation or profitability, it is the people'.The book explores not just corporate, but also sports, and cricket. Can we ignore one of the greatest ever, Sachin Tendulkar? As a leader, 'Sachin took things personally, he could never be a relaxed captain. The burden soon started affecting his batting and, eventually his self-belief'. Cricket or elsewhere, winning teams are more than just a collection of supremely talented individuals.'Superchicken model' never worked, as the author clearly clarifies. 'Often superstars had pecked their kin to death', don't we see that in leadership around? Raw talent is not enough, motivation too, and more... like perseverance, passion, motivation, and grit.'Grit being having passion and perseverance towards long-term goals', courtesy Duckworth. Often the leadership is myopic and band-aid. Transactional, not transformational, long term.A sign of good leaders is not how many followers you have, but how many leaders you create - Gandhiji. It is the 'outstanding collaborators who enjoy the long careers because bringing out the best in others is how they found the best in themselves', great read on the Ted talk on the Royal Academic of Dramatic Art.Google Project Oxygen also brings out an important leadership lesson for all, 'My manager is a good coach'. What is coaching? process, maximize performance & potential, non-directive and self-enabling conversationsWhy? The urgency to build uncommon leaders, contemporary leaders, leader as coach.You can not be a good leader without being a coachMost of the mergers and acquisitions fail to integrate fully. Why? The author points out, 'in a strategic corporate marriage, people are typically the biggest casualty'!     The author also lists out what prevents leaders from being coaches: Not real work, though that is the workTimeInterestSelf AssuranceDumping groundHard work, it is! Leadership was always a crown of thorns?Courage.Many leaders rate themselves high on coaching, they think they already are coaching. This also brings me to the need to learn to coach. It is a different skill. It is something that has a good framework, structure. You need to learn.The book also introduces the 4C Model of coaching: Capability, clarity, confidence, and consciousness (awareness), all on a strong foundation of #culture. This is one of the important parts of the book, very thought-provoking. For example, invent the career ladder under capability is something that is lost on many leaders, practicing and aspiring.This book is full of stories, references from some great external resources. They all come together to make the leader think. Ultimately the leader has to make a choice, set an intent, and work towards the Leader as a Coach. A must-read, a good reference to go back to, and start using the insights daily, at work, and in life.Happy leading, coaching... Thanks Ruchira.

I’m a poor reader of books, so I will likely take longer to go through ‘Coaching: The Secret Code to Uncommon Leadership’. But even the little I’ve read so far (Foreword, Preface, Introduction & Portions of Chapter I) have had me gripped. It’s the feeling I had reading fiction in my younger days - hard to put the book down and the desire to read till the last moment of available time.I can see why this is going to be an extremely interesting and rich read. A lot already to ponder about, a lot already that I can relate to from my own moments of career disappointments and moments of elation too. A lot of core beliefs and principles that are being provided a structure and framework around. A series of actions that are getting meaning around.I will try and change the unfriendly reader in me, largely because I’m feeling a sense of excitement and learning from every section, and I haven’t even begun.Thanks Ruchira, for taking the time to write this book. I’m sure you will help many managers and leaders rediscover why they are the way they are and equally help others be the way they ought to be!Good luck for the absolute and assured success of the book - it already has the makings of a superstar blockbuster for me.

One of the most impactful books that I have read on leadership. Full of insights.No longer can the leader drop orders from a place of position, unless they are in the military.This book lucidly illustrates that benefits of coaching are far-reaching. Through coaching, all organizations could enjoy improved performance, team cohesion, increased retention, improved conflict resolution, and increased motivation.I specially loved the part where Ruchira mentions that for coaching to be effective, the skills are to be developed and nurtured throughout an organization.An absolute must-read!