Coaching with Empathy

For many years, executive coaching assumed that feelings had no place at work, or in the coaching relationship. Fearful of getting into therapy, coaches ignored emotions at the expense of focusing on solutions too soon. Neuroscience is now showing us that emotion is the dominant part of the human brain and as coaches we can only ignore this at our peril. Everything in coaching is about trust between coach and client, and the only way to create trust is through skilled and sustained empathy.

Coaching with Empathy explains what empathy is, why it matters so much in coaching and what can go wrong when it's missing. Coaches who can use the skill of empathy, in the moment, have in their hands a powerful tool to nurture change in their clients. Anne Brockbank and Ian McGill provide an easily followed guide about how to create empathy and sustain it with clients, before asking them to think rationally about a solution. This timely book also gives practical and sensible guidance on how to avoid getting out of your depth, working within the boundaries of your skill and knowledge.