As a business coach, your days are spent guiding others toward success. You pour your energy into your clients, constantly researching and reading materials designed to help them overcome their unique hurdles. But here is a hard truth: as coaches, we tend to dive more into the reading that helps our clients, and not enough on what helps us grow our own businesses.
If you want to be the hero for your clients, you first need to be the hero of your own coaching practice. To help you break through the noise and scale your operations, Jim Shopland, a Certified Professional Business Coach, has curated a powerful reading list.
Here are the top 5 books for business coaches ready to take their practice to the next level.
1. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
To build a sustainable coaching practice, you must stop acting like a technician and start acting like an entrepreneur. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber is foundational for this mindset shift.
- This book walks you through the steps in the life of a business.
- It guides you from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to a mature entrepreneurial perspective.
2. Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Burnout is a real threat in the coaching industry. Essentialism by Greg McKeown teaches you how to ruthlessly prioritize your time and energy.
- This read is all about getting only the right things done.
- It challenges the assumption that we have to do everything.
- It helps replace that mindset with the pursuit of the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.
3. The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler & Rich Litvin
If you are struggling with client acquisition or pricing your services, The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler & Rich Litvin is a must-read.
- This powerful resource has already helped thousands of coaches and consultants build their businesses.
4. Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
Marketing your coaching business doesn’t have to feel sleazy. Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port offers a structured, authentic approach to filling your roster.
- This book enables you to adopt the right promotional perspective.
- It provides the strategies, techniques, and skills necessary to get more clients.
- It outlines actionable steps to increase your profits.
5. Boundaries for Leaders by Dr. Henry Cloud
As your coaching business grows, so does the complexity of your relationships with contractors, partners, and employees. Boundaries for Leaders by Dr. Henry Cloud gives you the psychological tools to lead effectively.
- Dr. Cloud offers practical advice on how to manage teams and coach direct reports.
- It serves as a blueprint for building an organization with strong values and culture.