10 Steps to Successful Coaching

Coaching is a hot buzzword in today’s hectic business world, and coaching skills are fast becoming essential for anyone who wants to help develop others in the workplace. If you are intrigued by the potential of coaching and want to learn more about promoting growth and learning on the job, you can use 10 Steps to Successful Coaching as a primer to learn and apply basic coaching skills, or to initiate a formal employee coaching program in your organization.

The 10 Steps include self-preparation for the coaching process, advice about choosing someone to coach, and a thorough outline of the coaching process to guide you from beginning to end. You’ll also find a diverse array of tools to help you along the way.

With this book as your roadmap, you can be thoroughly prepared for the role of coach—ready to listen, encourage, and challenge others to greater achievement. Those you coach will enjoy greater job satisfaction and confidence, and your organization will benefit from this cost-effective way of developing employees and improving productivity. And you, the coach, will witness growth in your working relationships and gain a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

About the Author

Sophie Oberstein is the founder of Full Experience Coaching, a leadership and personal coaching practice. She coaches individuals across the country who are seeking increased effectiveness and satisfaction at work, and those exploring their power to bring fulfillment and joy to their lives. She also offers in-person and teleconference-based workshops on coaching and facilitation of training.

Before becoming a coach, she served as the employee development manager for the City of Redwood City, California, responsible for the development and performance improvement of more than 650 city employees, from gardeners to librarians to accountants and police officers.

Oberstein founded and managed Targeted Training Solutions, a consulting firm that delivered engaging and effective customized training for global organizations, including AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, Dow Jones, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Merck Pharmaceuticals, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and SunGard Recovery Systems. Oberstein also has been a training manager for Citibank’s retail bank in the New York marketplace.

Oberstein holds a master’s degree in human resources management and postgraduate certification in training and development. Her certification as a professional co-active coach (CPCC) is from the Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California. She also is ACC certified by the International Coach Federation. She has been an instructor in the master’s of business administration program at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; in the training certificate program at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, New Jersey; and in the human resources program at Menlo College in Atherton, California.

She has published numerous articles in professional journals, including “The 3-5-3 Approach to Creative Training Design” (Infoline, September 1996), and a strategic HR audit in the Jossey-Bass 1999 Annual. Her first book, Beyond Free Coffee & Donuts: Marketing Training and Development (2003), is available from ASTD Press.

Oberstein is a past president of ASTD’s Greater Philadelphia chapter.