In an increasingly complex world, the ability to ask powerful questions and facilitate meaningful change is more valuable than ever. Whether you’re an aspiring coach, an established leader, or someone simply seeking personal and professional growth, great coaching books have the power to shift your perspective.
The following curated list brings together timeless classics and modern gems that offer thought-provoking insights designed to help you become a more effective coach or mentor. These coaching books are sure to uplift and challenge you on your journey.
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The top 17 coaching books and what they teach
Here are the 17 best coaching books that can help you become a stronger coach and a better human being.
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
The Coaching Habit is a practical and highly accessible guide that demystifies coaching for leaders and managers. Stanier introduces seven essential questions designed to cultivate curiosity and foster stronger conversations without overwhelming coaching frameworks.
This book’s straightforward approach helps readers build a coaching mindset they can use every day.
Co-Active Coaching: Changing Business, Transforming Lives by Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandahl et al.
Widely regarded as a foundational text in coaching education, Co-Active Coaching presents a holistic model that blends inquiry and action. This book emphasizes the power of presence and collaboration, inviting coaches to engage clients as whole individuals rather than task-focused problem-solvers.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
While not one of the coaching books in the traditional sense, Drive has become essential reading for anyone who wants to understand human motivation. Pink outlines the science of autonomy, mastery, and purpose, three concepts that are central to effective coaching and leadership.
Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work by David Rock
In Quiet Leadership, Rock brings neuroscience into the coaching conversation, offering a framework for helping others think better and perform at their best. The book’s six-step approach teaches coaches how to shift focus from giving answers to facilitating insight.
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey
The Inner Game of Tennis is an iconic work on performance psychology. This book goes far beyond sports. Gallwey’s insights into self-belief, focus, and internal dialogue are powerful tools for coaches helping clients overcome mental barriers and unlock potential.
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown
In Dare to Lead, Brené Brown explores courage and leadership through the lens of coaching and culture-building. This book teaches coaches how to cultivate trust, navigate difficult conversations, and lead with empathy and resilience.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Dweck’s research on fixed vs. growth mindsets reshaped how coaches understand learning and achievement. Mindset provides coaches with the language and strategies to help clients embrace challenges and flourish on the other side of them.
Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being by Martin E.P. Seligman
In Flourish, Seligman expands coaching conversations beyond performance to include engagement and wellbeing. Using positive psychology, coaches will find frameworks for helping clients craft richer, more fulfilling lives.
Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training by Patrick Williams and Diane S. Menendez
Becoming a Professional Life Coach is a practical manual that covers coaching competencies, ethics, and techniques with clarity and depth. Ideal for emerging coaches, it’s a comprehensive guide to building confidence and competence in client partnerships.
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander
Blending creativity, leadership, and psychology, The Art of Possibility invites readers to reframe limitations and open up new realms of possibility. Its poetic stories and exercises make it a source of inspiration for coaches encouraging expansive thinking in others.
Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore
A true cornerstone of modern coaching, Coaching for Performance introduced the widely used GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) and reshaped how coaching is applied in leadership and organizational settings.
The book blends theory with practical examples, making it an essential read for anyone looking to structure effective coaching conversations that drive sustainable performance.
The Heart of Coaching by Thomas G. Crane
The Heart of Coaching highlights the relational side of coaching, underscoring the importance of trust and authenticity in meaningful change.
Crane explores how emotional intelligence and genuine connection form the foundation of successful coaching relationships. With actionable techniques and real-world insights, The Heart of Coaching helps coaches foster accountability while maintaining compassion and respect for the client’s journey.
The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler & Rich Litvin
The Prosperous Coach challenges coaches to rethink how they create value and attract clients. Chandler and Litvin advocate for deep listening and service-led relationships over traditional marketing tactics. The result is a philosophy-driven approach to building a coaching practice rooted in trust.
Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle
Trillion Dollar Coach tells the story of Bill Campbell, the behind-the-scenes coach to some of Silicon Valley’s most influential leaders. Through real examples and leadership lessons, it reveals how empathy and candid feedback can drive extraordinary results at scale.
For coaches working with executives or teams, this book offers powerful insights into how coaching can shape performance and organizational success.
Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
In Thanks for the Feedback, Stone and Heen explore a crucial but often overlooked aspect of coaching: helping clients process and apply feedback effectively.
Drawing on research and real-life scenarios, the book breaks down why feedback can feel challenging and how individuals can learn to extract value even from poorly delivered input.
The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
Daniel Coyle dives into the science behind exceptional performance in The Talent Code, exploring how talent is cultivated rather than inherited. Through stories from “talent hotbeds” around the world, he reveals the role of deep practice and effective coaching in skill development.
For coaches, this book offers valuable insight into how deliberate struggle, repetition, and feedback can be intentionally designed to accelerate learning and mastery in clients across disciplines.
The Solutions Focus by Paul Z. Jackson & Mark McKergow
The Solutions Focus introduces solution-focused coaching as a powerful alternative to problem-centric approaches. Jackson and McKergow emphasize helping clients identify strengths, resources, and small actionable steps toward change.
By focusing on what’s already working and what the client wants more of, the book equips coaches with conversational techniques that promote forward momentum.
Your coaching book could be next
Reading through these coaching books, one thing becomes clear: every impactful book started with someone who felt inspired to share what they’d learned. If this list sparked an idea for your own coaching book, we want you to know that it’s absolutely possible to make that idea real.
At selfpublishing.com, we work with aspiring authors every day who start exactly where you are now: inspired, motivated, and maybe a little unsure of the next step. That’s why we offer one-on-one book coaching, guiding you through every stage of the process, from shaping your idea and outlining your book, to writing, publishing, and ultimately sharing it with the world.
And if coaching isn’t your niche? That’s okay too. You can write any type of book you want and we’ll help you bring it to life.
The coaching books on this list prove that stories and lived experience have the power to change lives. If you’re feeling that nudge to contribute your own voice, consider this your sign. With the right support, your book doesn’t have to stay an idea, it can become your next big impact.
