Coach the Person, Not the Problem: A Guide to Using Reflective Inquiry

In Coach the Person Not the Problem, Marcia Reynolds offers deeply thoughtful yet straightforward concepts to help improve your coaching. I have read other highly-rated coaching books but they sit on the shelf. This one I use repeatedly for guidance and inspiration, and the result is a smoother coaching experience and more satisfied clients.

This book has fundamentally changed the way I coach. Reynolds is very effective at explaining techniques beyond powerful questions that get great results. Highly recommended!

I’m new to coaching (currently in the midst of ICF training) and found this book really helpful in crystallizing concepts that before had seemed too esoteric. Reynolds has a great writing voice, and I really like how the book was structured and laid out — easy to highlight, make notes, revisit. I especially like the three habits she explained at the end. Highly recommended!

I found this book to be an eye opener into the world of coaching, that offered an insight into what people need from a coach and how to allow people to arrive at their end goals naturally through self-reflection. This approach is refreshing in that it takes the pressure off of the coach to ask their clients the "magical question," and uses the client's own words to help them provide solutions to their own problems for themselves. As a new coach, this was a timely read that I will definitely recommend to others in the field. Thank you!

I wish that I could go backwards and read this book before I had ever started on my coaching journey.This book, I know believe, it the epitome of what coaching stands for. I initially thought coaching was all about giving advise and now I take the perspective of being a thinking partner.This is an absolutely AMAZING book and I highly recommended it to any new coach.

I want to thank you for writing your book," Coach the Person, Not the Problem." After gaining my Master's in Life Coaching | struggled to follow the laid out plan of coaching through many organizations. I felt the problem wasn't the issue but the person's beliefs itself.It wasn't until I read your book that gave me confirmation that I felt I was believing right and coaching according to that belief; the problem is a symptom of something deeper that creates the problem.Thank you again!

Reynolds encourages us to go deep, in order to elevate our coaching skills. She has provided us the key components of crucial coaching practices that have not been explored in such depth previously—a true breakthrough for the field of coaching. Given her 25 years of coaching and developing coaches, she has made these coaching steps actionable with clarifying descriptions and true-life examples. Every segment is packed with nuggets of wisdom and insight to help build skills in reflective inquiry.With decades of both coaching and mentoring in corporate settings, I appreciate her focus that masterful coaches are as always learning and improving. She supports us to overcome some natural tendencies such as not wanting the client to be in discomfort, or adding our own meaning to what they have expressed. She encourages us to believe in our client’s own resourcefulness and potential. The coach’s role is to thoughtfully help open their perspectives in order to clear obstacles and see their own best path forward. This is a wonderful guide for taking coaching skills to the next level; I am most grateful to Reynolds for writing it.

Marcia, I have just completed your book,  Coach the Person, Not the Problem. I always read with a highlighter and an ink pen. I must confess that my copy of your book looks well graffiti-ed as I finished. I had so many great takeaways, especially regarding reflective statements and summarizing. I am just 3 years into my coaching business, and I feel refreshed, challenged (judgment chapter), and encouraged to serve my clients at a higher level.Thank you for investing into me.

Lots of useful insights, well written

I like to read books. So, I bought it to read. I found this book so useful and educative! Although I am not a coach, but as a practising mediator I learned a lot from this book. Very well written. Anyone wanting to be a coach must read this book.

Questo libro è veramente bello

Marcia Reynolds explains clearly what it is that makes coaching such a special form of conversation and such an effective problem solving skill. I find her explanations intelligent, precise, concise and extremely relevant. The best book on coaching so far for me (and I have read quite a few).

What I liked the most about the book is the extremely direct and practical approach Marcia Reynolds has about coaching. She presents a clear rationale (with a lot of short cases) about the process as well as the role of the coach, without making coaching a skill that just a few gurus can practice. Want to become a coach? Want to learn the difference between coaching and mentoring? Start with this book. You won't regret.