The Primer Coach: An Introduction to the World of Leadership & Aspirational Coaching

The Primer Coach is the first of three books to build basic professional coaching competencies in emerging leaders and coaches. The Primer Coach, which serves as the text for the OLC Primer Coaching Institute, covers the four basic coaching skills of Maximizing Effective Listening, Posing Shift Causing Questions, The Art of Targeting Language and Giving Motivating Acknowledgements. Books two and three further coaching skills to embed coaching best practices and advanced techniques. At the conclusion of the trilogy, students will be prepared to engage the International Coach Federations (ICF) Associate, Professional and Master Certified Coach (ACC, PCC & MCC) designations and ICF Coach Credentialing Examination.

The Primer Coach is the introduction to the world of coaching and is intended to provide the basic skills toward coaching competency. Often one comes to the world of coaching with the mind-set of a sports coach who helps a student learn/improve a skill in a sport. In that mind-set, the coach is expected to impart knowledge of the sport and shape the behavior of the student to perform the movements necessary to improve ability. The bottom line is, the coach imparts a skill along with a knowledge of the game being played. Coaching is not about imparting a physical skill but rather facilitating (mining a mental capacity) movement in a direction that accomplishes the objectives and goals of the client (coachee). It cannot be overstated, "in the world of formal ICF coaching the direction and objective of movement in the coaching session is solely the choice of the coachee." This book and Institute are about training coaches to walk along-side "Leaders (Coachees) in Motion" to clear the way for continued movement without the interjection of the coach's personal preferences or biases. The Primer also is intended as a labor of love to servant leaders and organizations who want to grow people and make organizations places of targeted leader development and intentional strategic movement. It is a handbook, intended to be studied along the journey of becoming a professional leader-coach and developer of the human spirit. The Primer Coach reflects 12 years of coaching study with thousands of hours of coaching experience. OLC has trained over a thousand coaches and mentored 100's toward certification with the International Coach Federation (ICF). That said, OLC has become a learning community for growing coaches and a place to continue to move from being a "good" coach to becoming a "great" one. Our style is a conglomeration of insights and techniques learned indirectly from the founders such as Thomas Leonard and Laura Whitworth, Coach U and many continuous learning opportunities over the years. What becomes obvious over time and study; coaching is a subjective discipline and while there are Core Competencies, the methods/techniques to accomplish them are as varied as the proverbial rainbow. The writer therefore request that readers approach this work from the perspective of a "suggested approach" honoring the Core Competencies of the ICF. As one reads the book its personal nature will be noticed. That is intended for relationship building and to express a human touch in the common experience of life. At the end of the day, it is hoped the reader will walk away having learned the foundational skills of coaching and able to wonder in the "wilderness of not knowing" to find his/her own paths to self-awareness and "great coaching.