Description

The book introduces executive coaching as a way of helping managers and leaders understand and improve their performance within the complex environment of an organization.

A central idea is the systems-psychodynamic perspective. This combines two ways of understanding people at work:

• Psychodynamic: looks at unconscious thoughts, emotions, motivations, anxieties, relationships, and patterns of behaviour.
• Systems: looks at the wider organization—roles, teams, authority, culture, relationships, and organizational pressures.
• Executive coaching: uses these ideas to help leaders reflect on their role and make more effective choices.

The book emphasizes that an executive’s difficulties are not necessarily caused only by the individual. They can also arise from the relationship between the person, their role, colleagues, team, and organization.