This book is packed with very practical advice on how to refrain from giving advice. It does a great job at convincing you that listening carefully to the person you're talking to, and challenging them a little by asking the right questions, at the right time, will make a whole world of difference compared to offering advice outright.
"What's the real challenge here for you?" is the question that will help slow down the rush to action, so you spend time solving the real problem, not just the first problem.
— Michael Bungay Stanier, The Coaching Habit
The author presents seven questions as complementary tools to make sure that every one-on-one conversation you have brings value to both parties involved. Seven questions to master in order to become more of a coaching and inspiring leader, as a people manager. There is one loud message coming back throughout the book: the answers you can get from someone, with some nudging, are often a lot more effective and yield better results than the ones you could offer them.
Your job as a manager and a leader is to help create the space for people to have learning moments [through their work].
— Michael Bungay Stanier, The Coaching Habit
The promise of the impact those coaching questions can have is diligently supported by relevant research, which I found quite useful. Included are some good tips on forming new habits, a little bit of human interaction psychology and advice on how to be a great listener. Overall, I found The Coaching Habit to be a compelling reminder to say less, indeed, and be more intentional in how I drive individual conversations. I'll certainly be practicing those learnings and what's more, I got a lot of other resources to go through later, to dig deeper.