The HeART of Laser-Focused Coaching: A Revolutionary Approach to Masterful Coaching (Personal and Professional Growth)

I highly recommend "The HeART of Laser-Focused Coaching" by Marion Franklin, and can say it has transformed my approach to coaching. This insightful book has not only helped me frame how to coach more effectively but has also encouraged me to explore the deeper meanings behind the issues my clients bring to our discussions. One of the key takeaways for me was the emphasis on cultivating a deep listening practice. Marion illustrates through examples how active listening can reveal underlying concerns and motivations, allowing for more impactful coaching conversations. Additionally, her frameworks for setting clear intentions have helped me see how to guide my clients toward actionable goals while remaining open to the unexpected insights that can typically arise during sessions. Marion Franklin’s thought leadership shines through every page. Her profound expertise and generous sharing of knowledge have been invaluable to me as I navigate the complexities of coaching. The exercises and reflective questions she includes have prompted me to consider my own coaching style and how I can better serve my clients. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their coaching skills. Thank you, Marion Franklin, for your remarkable contribution to the coaching community!

If creatures from outer space came upon this world and were handed a ‘Guide to Humans’ it would be this book. Since it would be nice for the world's population to have this kind of crucial knowledge, I implore as many people as possible to purchase this book for themselves or anyone they wish to enlighten to practical and pragmatic, yet wholly transformative information. For those professionals out there coaching clients, this book should be mandatory. An example of one of my favorite techniques in this book: The power of the short-format conversation. Most all emotions, confusion, and decision paralysis can be solved in very short order with the right listener. I’ve experienced major clarity in 30, 20, even 10 minutes with this specific body of work. Can you imagine this kind of power in your life? Acquiring this laser super power to sort through people’s irrelevant stories in order to mine life-changing golden nuggets is a skill worth more than $19.95 and the invested time spent reading this book. Apply her techniques - such as curiously questioning *why* someone is telling you a story vs the *what* of it, or, finding the profound underpinning of beliefs that show up in seemingly insignificant comments and details in conversation - to clients, to coworkers, friends, and family and watch your life simplify and find power. Author Marion Franklin spares us the 'expert, guru' talk usually associated with 'coaching’. She plows through the nonsense of prescriptive advice-giving. Her approach to tearing off clients' blinders is gentle, wrought with genuine tough love, and mastery. She suffers no fools amongst the brain synapses that keep people stuck, and isn't afraid to wield her power of insight and spot-on line of questioning to help someone breakthrough to their goals. She teaches us precisely how to do this. A pioneer not only in laser coaching, Marion Franklin is held in high esteem by insiders, pillars of this industry, and amongst founders of early coaching methodology and standards. Relevant, effective, and untainted by the ebbs and flows of this industry's trends, she espouses the original essence of 1-on-1 guided self-inquiry. She offers access to a new level of awareness and simple techniques for moving people (and ourselves!) beyond challenges and into achieving goals. She shares with us her greatest hits: tried & true, timeless, and as universal as being human. Simple and essential is the work graciously given to us by the author, a true Master. And what important work it is.

I bought the paperback from other online shop two years ago then the Kindle version. As a professional coach (PCC), I have been consistently practicing the Laser-focused Coaching approach for two years now. I've noticed that my coaching has gone much deeper than it was two years ago, and I have a much better idea of what is really going on in a coaching session. The Laser-focused coaching is universally effective, whether you're a new coach or an experienced coach, whatever niche you're in. It helps you as a coach to get to the root of your client's problem, without being trapped by their stories or situations. The 22 themes are truly valuable. I really appreciate Marion Franklin's generosity and wisdom in sharing them in the book. It came from her 28 years of coaching and teaching. Indeed, the client stories change but the themes never do. Understanding the themes and working on my own themes allow me to recognize my clients' themes and form a powerful question. Another great thing about this book is that Marion offers a lot of coaching conversation examples based on real coaching to illustrate every concept and technique. It not only helps me quickly understand the content, but only serves as useful reference for practice. I don't think other coaching books have such a great amount of real-life examples. Also, there are two full coaching conversation scripts in the book, together with Marion's thinking as she coached the clients. It's really valuable to know what's on an extraordinary MCC's mind while she coaches people. If your goal as a coach is to help your clients create permanent shift in their lives, this is a must buy!

I am ambivalent about this book. Overall, it is a great coaching book and one that I will re-read again to better grasp the concepts and the mindset of getting to the heart of the matter. Getting to the heart of the matter is much better than applying coaching "prescriptions": lists of questions or techniques that make coaching mechanistic and do not solve the deeper-rooted problem or block of the client. But I also had problems with the book. Some passages I had to read again and again. It can be that I was distracted but I at times I found sentences slippery, imprecise or just too general or obvious. Maybe it is because I am just not on the same wave-length with the author. To repeat again -- the intention and the ideas in the book are strong. I was impressed by a demonstration in an early chapter how Laser Coaching or Deep coaching and conventional one differ. Within minutes the former leads to discovering something new and important about the client and the latter just beats around the bush with questions like "How do you want the ideal outcome to look like?" quickly solving the wrong issue. So, my advice to you is to get a sample and see for yourself if the book if for you. I will definitely re-read it some time in the future.

Marion's book is one of the greatest gifts to the coaching community, an invaluable resource, that if read and applied, WILL take you to a higher level of coaching and deeper level of being with clients. If you slow down and master the principles in Marion's book you'll be more effective at getting to the heart of the matter in a coaching conversation, quickly, helping to facilitate greater transformation in your clients. This book will fill in the many gaps that coach training schools often seem to leave students with, teaching you the core principles and fundamentals of GOOD, solid coaching. You'll learn how to truly listen to your clients, what to listen for, and from that place ask simple, powerful questions that create shifts in the client. You'll learn to see the big picture in midst of the conversation, how to flow with the client, and get straight to the heart of the issue/challenge that the client is facing. Marion's book goes FAR beyond what coach training schools teach to truly elevate your coaching to the highest level. You'll also have the opportunity to get in the mind of a master coach during a coaching session, as Marion presents two full coaching conversations in the book, as well as her thought process of why she did what she did, said what she said, asked what she asked. That, in itself, is extremely valuable. Bottomline: If you want to be a mediocre coach, there are plenty of other books out there for you. If you want to be a MASTERFUL coach, get THIS book, diligently study it, apply it, and you'll soon find yourself head and shoulders above your peers.

I am a current coaching student and have looked at and/or read many coaching books from a wide variety of areas, evidenced based to different schools of thought. This book is BY FAR the best coaching book I've read out of all of that. It not only distills down the essence of coaching, but then breaks it down for optimal learning. So you're not reading a bunch of theory, or reading a self help focused book and trying to figure out how to not apply it to yourself but as a coach. There are so many gems in this book and it really teaches you how to "laser in" to whatever is really bothering your client, or their true barrier to reaching whatever goals they may have. It goes way beyond just instilling habits as many have written about; in fact, I have personally discovered that habits, while they can be effective, they are more often just another tool in our toolbox and more often it is a secondary strategy, not the first. Marion's book really teaches you how to first figure out what the barriers truly are, and then reach a shift in thinking. Once that shift has happened, then you can deploy your tools to reinforce, like habits or all the other things you can find in other sources and books. This book really is a gem and highly recommend it for beginning to expert coaches - there is also a course on Marion's site and I encourage you to take it, which teaches the book's concepts. I'm going through it now and it really brings the book's contents to life.

The author is a master coach with years of experience. I highly recommend this book if you want to get coaching right the first time. I also highly recommend her audiobook, the author’s tone makes the information penetrable.

In my opinion, this book should be required reading for all coaches, HR managers and team leaders in any field. It covers important foundational topics like how to improve listening and questioning skills then goes into detail about the elements of a masterful coaching conversation. Through various examples, Marion shines the light on how all the pieces fit together to achieve amazing insight and transformational outcomes for our clients. One of my favorite things about this book and Marion’s style of teaching is her straightforward practical approach. There is no fluff here. Every point and example in this book is like a little golden nugget. You will not just get value from your first reading. As you really dig into the material and start putting it into practice, I believe you will find many layers of wisdom packed into each idea and technique. . The included index also makes this book the perfect resource to grab for quick answers to your coaching questions, so you will want to keep it close at hand. In full disclosure, it has been my privilege to have Marion Franklin at my side as my coach and mentor for almost a decade. The HeART of Laser-Focused Coaching encapsulates what she has taught for many years in her full coach training program. It truly reflects her dedication to excellence and her deep desire to help coaches at every level improve their skills and increase their confidence. Whether you are a complete novice or a coach with many years experience, I believe you will find this book to be immensely valuable.