Book SummaryCoach the Person, Not the Problem, by Marcia Reynolds

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Coach the Person, Not the Problem

In Coach the Person, Not the Problem, Marcia Reynolds seeks to expand people’s understanding of coaching. She argues that coaching is a partnership in which coaches help clients examine and challenge deep-seated beliefs that limit them, rather than a surface level, problem-solving exercise in which an expert doles out advice.

Reynolds is a leadership and executive coach who hit rock bottom in a jail cell on drug abuse charges at age 20. Upon release, she began advising people on how to make positive change in their lives, but grew frustrated when she discovered that people easily fall back into old habits. She discovered that lasting change comes only when people confront the underlying assumptions and emotions that have led them into the same,...

Coach the Person, Not the Problem Summary Part 1: Coaching: What It Is and What It Requires

In this first section, we’ll examine Reynolds’ definition of coaching, mindsets that clients and coaches need to have a productive working relationship, and skills required for coaches to work effectively with clients.

What Is Coaching?

Reynolds argues that coaching is a partnership aimed at helping clients root out underlying reasons for why they feel stuck and helping them to move forward in their professional or personal lives. A coach’s role is to support clients in a deep investigative process to identify and challenge assumptions that underlie their beliefs and limit their progress—not be an expert who doles out advice or solves clients’ problems from on high. She says that coaches view clients as capable of making change when given the proper support and tools.

(Shortform note: The coach-client partnership Reynolds recommends is broadly understood as best practice, but some coaches offer more detailed insight than Reynolds into why it can be challenging not to take on a stronger, less balanced role of “guide” with clients: Coaches are trained to take an impartial view of clients’...

Coach the Person, Not the Problem Summary Part 2: Four Essential Coaching Practices

We’ve discussed what coaching is, the mindset that you and your clients need to have a successful working relationship, and key skills required to be a strong, effective coach. Now we’ll do a deeper dive into the “reflective inquiry” process and four practices that Reynolds says coaches should employ to make the most of coaching sessions.

Reflective inquiry is a practice coaches use to reflect back information or emotions to clients to help them identify and examine deep-seated assumptions that underlie beliefs that hold them back. The process centers on restating what clients have said in different words—for example by summarizing or paraphrasing—pointing out shifts in clients’ emotions, and asking follow-up questions to probe for deeper truths about why clients believe and act as they do.

(Shortform note: Reynolds says that education reformer John Dewey originally defined the term “reflective inquiry” in his 1910 book, How We Think. Dewey rejected the idea of unloading information into students’ brains and having them regurgitate their memorized learnings. Instead, he believed that engaging students in a combination of critical thinking, thoughtful questions, and...

Shortform Exercise: Confront Your Assumptions and Judgments

Reynolds says that the reflective inquiry process can be uncomfortable because it requires clients and coaches to challenge deep-seated assumptions and emotions. As a result, coaches should create nonjudgmental spaces to encourage clients to open up to them—which begins with acknowledging your own assumptions and judgments.

Think of a time when you made an assumption about, or judged, someone else. What assumption did you have or what judgment did you make?