Self as Coach, Self as Leader: Developing the Best in You to Develop the Best in Others

Pam McLean has provided the 'next generation' of critical insight into the field of coaching, never needed more than now in our current world. This is big work in our ever changing world and invites us all to become 'twice born leaders and coaches.' Her new book, 'Self as Coach, Self as Leader' takes the history, theory and development of Leadership/ Executive Coaching to a profound place of mindful attention to the 'self' in the process. What a wonderful culmination of the history of the field and understanding of self introduced in her previous book, the 'Revised Handbook of Coaching,' enhanced in this current book, the detailed self-awareness and depth and how that plays out in the role as Leader/Coach. Watching Pam from the early days of the formation of the Hudson Institute with her late husband Frederic, taking the organization and the field to a new level when he was diagnosed with Alzheimers, (here lies the first lesson of twice born leadership), providing direction and vision for the next phase of the organization, developing the first Coaching Supervision program, and continuing to grow and expand herself as a twice and thrice born leader, she models for us and stays true to her passionate commitment to a much needed contribution the coaching field. Her unselfish and dedicated work, brilliance and thoughtful knowledge of theory and approaches, is again extended through this work. I think that Pam's insightful, wealth of knowledge and experience, and addition of her own examples of her personal journey, describes the coach commitment to ongoing development and deep insight into one's self when entering and developing in this profession. This is a book for those that are passionate about coaching and see it as a calling, for leaders that love to lead, and for those that want to grow in their own self-awareness and understanding of their impact on others. As a coach, a leader, a developer of coaches, this should be part of the library and recommended reading for all coaching schools. Thank you Pam for your wisdom, sharing your vulnerable self, and your Leadership in the field for many, many years. Understanding the 'self' as the key 'tool' in coaching, simple, yet profound.

Having had the opportunity to study under Dr. McLean, I am familiar with her Self As Coach model and eagerly anticipated her newest book to see how she expanded upon it. I was not disappointed. As a hobby cook, I find myself drawing an analogy to the simple adage that "a cook's best tools are clean hands." This book makes the point that a coach and/or leader's best tool is the development of one's self through exploring what she terms "the inner landscape." Through sharing the work of many thought leaders, research findings, and her own personal as well as vast professional experiences, Pam skillfully moves us through the deeper implications of the Self As Coach, Self As Leader model. With practical suggested applications and reflective questions she invites readers to courageously take the journey of self discovery and growth. Like most challenges, it is simple, not easy. However, should you chose to integrate what this book offers it is almost a certainty that as coach, leader, human being, your ability to relate and connect will deepen. In the end, it's what counts most. A note of gratitude to Pam for this valuable work.

Since I am doing more team leadership coaching these days, a colleague suggested Pamela McLean's new book, "Self as Coach, Self as Leader: Developing the Best in You to Develop the Best in Others." Especially in this VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous), "the price of counterproductive leadership behavior is unimaginably costly and even the best of leaders face challenges that are daunting. The coaches equipped to successfully work with leaders in these changing times need nimbleness, understanding of complexities, ease with ambiguities, and deep familiarity with their own internal landscape." And while the intended audience is for full-time coaches, I found the information to be equally useful for any team leader. After all, they coach their team as well! McLean's premise is that today's coaches need to know themselves in order to be great coaches. Team leaders also need to know themselves in order to be great leaders as well. I started my journey of self-awareness with a business coach back in the mid-90's when I first started my business. I then did a bunch of training with the Landmark Forum. Since then, most of my self-discovery has been through discussions with mentors, friends and my post-divorce therapist. :-) Some books have been helpful, but this book far surpasses my expectations! McLean is an authority in coaching and has distilled her myriad years of practice into several models along with practical self-reflection exercises. Normally, I just buzz through a book and then come back (maybe) to do a few of the exercises. This book is different. After each chapter, I wanted to stop, reflect, do the exercises and then chat about it with my husband, Joe. I love the way the author takes a case and "applies heat" giving three different scenario/responses. Of course, you may intellectually gravitate toward the best answer, yet emotionally, you may respond differently.It's an intellectually and emotionally stimulating book - I highly recommend it if you want to increase your self-awareness and ability to coach and lead others.

One of my measures of a great book is how much thinking it prompts. This usually shows up as notes I write in the margins, sections I highlight or underline, and a sense of being glued to the book for longer than a chapter or two. Although I've read an extensive library of leadership, business, professional development, and coaching books over the years, I can count on one hand the number of books I've read more than once. I have no doubt this will be one of them. It is eloquently written, dense with useful content, and rich in the diversity of concepts and expertise it draws upon. Due to the above, it is not a book I will loan out, but I will continue to highly recommend and gift copies to others. As I've been talking about it so much, friends from various walks of life are asking how they get a copy. The content is applicable to life and professional experiences well beyond coaching and leadership. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

As my page of notes reflects, I found a lot of wonderful insights in this book. We often talk, as coaches and leaders, about continuing to learn and invest in ourselves and in others. Self as Coach, Self as Leader takes readers through a practical and thoughtful discussion of how to be more present, empathetic and courageous with our clients and maintain agile boundaries and a useful range of feelings. We can talk about wanting to develop these attributes but doing so can be elusive. McLean’s book provides great explanations on why these attributes make a difference and examples of how to develop them with a firmer footing, for example, by using “conscious complaining” to access feelings that we’re not in touch with. McLean, a master coach and leader herself, often uses her own life's experiences as illustrations and provides vignettes of how coaches approach the same situation differently as a further way to drive home her points. These, plus her illustrations and tables full of good examples help deepen the impact this book for coaches and for the leaders they coach.

Nearly finished with my read of Pam McLean’s new book self AS COACH self AS LEADER. For Hudson coaches, it a good refresher/reminder and bears re-reading from time to time, given the utility of the resources both in the book (all those lovely self-questions) and the access to the worksheets available online. I say this because it appears to me that at different times in our lives, some aspects of self will likely call out more than the others. And for all my non-Hudson coach colleagues and friends, who, over the years have said something like ‘I have always been curious about the Hudson Institute…’, here is a chance for a healthy-sized appetizer about it’s approach and intent, including those self questions and online resources. I believe that this book would be of real interest to anyone, coach or not, leader or not, how is interested in some customizable structure around taking a little deeper look at and getting a little better acquainted with self.

Self As Coach – Self As Leader is a useful and practical guide for every leader today and for every leadership coach who supports them. It provides valuable insights to help leaders and coaches better understand themselves, and to reflect on the importance of themselves as the single most important instrument in interacting with others. McLean refers to the quotes “Who you are is how you coach” and “Who you are is how you lead.” She demonstrates this through her own authenticity by weaving together threads of informative theory along with practical stories and examples. In today’s VUCA world, every leader is called upon to navigate uncertainty. As coaches we are compelled to support leaders to help them be the best they can be. I have spent nearly 30 years as a leader and the past 10 years as a coach and consultant. McLean’s book has already had a significant impact on my coaching and consulting practice, and it has proven to be an extremely valuable resource to the leaders I support. I recommend it wholeheartedly. Tom Fumarelli, MBA, CPA, PCC Executive Coach and Leadership Consultant

Pam McLean’s book is a must read for leaders at all levels of the organization and for leadership and organizational development coaches and mentors. Having been an executive leader myself, I wish this was written a decade ago ... Her work takes us deeper as leader and coach and unpacks the essential meta-skills, those higher level skills that impact the ‘how’ of our work. She makes it accessible through the right mixture of theoretical context, story telling, and coaching cases around common challenges leaders and coaches face every day. McLean writes “The ability to create the conditions to explore what’s below the surface provides the possibility for deeper change to occur: change that transforms us as leaders and allows us to do our best work.” This is a personal capabilities acceleration tool for leaders and coaches who want to be at their best in today’s workplace.

This book might be useful for beginners, but there is not really much ground covered for experienced coaches.

Pamela McLean brings research and practice together, then shares her personal insights to demonstrate how all coaches and leaders can grow by working on themselves, their inner landscape, whatever their level of experience. Her style of writing invites us to dig deeper, not just skim across the surface of apparently familiar concepts. The 6 dimensions that Pamela presents are each a powerful lens through which to explore how we show up. Really practical, this book is for anyone who works with other people - highly recommended

I highly recommend this book. Dr. Pamela McLean's ability to combine theoretical models with practical examples and personal experiences makes her work powerful. It inspires coaches like mo to keep honing our skills and propels us forward in expanding our range. Excellent.

Pam shares all her wisdom again and we earn a lot for our personal and professional lives.

This is a surprising book in that it is deceptively easy to read while asking the reader to do some heavy lifting. Pamela's voice is warm, personal and inviting. She brings the reader through a process of self-examination to help them become a better coach, a better leader or simply a better version of themselves. The concepts were already familiar to me, but Pam re-introduced them in a way that made them freshly accessible. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.