The role of leadership is changing because of technological advances, increased competition (both domestic and international), and the desire of employees to be more involved in managing their own work. Now and in the future, leaders deal with a more educated, talented group of employees who have definite interests and aspirations. People can have the greatest influence on productivity, excellence, and quality, but only if leaders can empower employees and give them more autonomy while maintaining effective accountability. This means a substantial change in the role of the traditional leader and in his/her skills to interact on a one-to-one basis. The new job of the leader will be to coach, develop train, delegate, facilitate and run interference rather than doing all the planning, organizing, and directing from an authoritative base.

Leaders will need to instill a new competitive spirit in employees to streamline work, reduce errors, respond to customer needs, and solve challenging problems. Leaders and employees will become more like partners whose common cause will be to accomplish the job in the best way possible. Leaders will be required to learn how to convert employees into allies, not adversaries, without sacrificing standards of quality and productivity. Because organizations have defined resources and because actions that can be undertaken are limited, leaders and employees will need to develop a common vision of the mission or work to be done. These leaders will need to coach, monitor, and help employees realize the organization's vision and purpose. In fact, the main reasons we advocate is because it enables us to more adequately respond to the demands of customers, to maintain standards, and to fulfill the purpose of existing in the organization.

Some leaders may find the new approach described in these coaching books as a challenge because their own bosses may not have been the best models to follow. In the past, we have looked at employees as children needing a benevolent parent rather than entrepreneurial partners. More and more employees now want to be included, to contribute, and to be treated as necessary, not like just extra pairs of hands or pack mules. The new attitude will test the patience, skills and knowledge of leaders.

These coaching books are about your beliefs as a leader regarding your employees and how they should be managed and directed in a very positive way. Our promise to you is that if you will seriously ponder the message in the books, put into practice the behaviors, and assimilate the values advocated, you will definitely succeed in winning the cooperation and support of your employees. It won't come overnight, and you will find some employees who defy the recommendations that we suggest. These exceptions will require a different and perhaps tradition management style. However, others will appreciate the refreshing difference in your approach and will reward you with incomparable levels of performance. We also ensure that the reading and search for solutions interesting and to the point.

So there you have it. There are many leadership and coaching books. Choose one or both of these books if you want to concentrate on specific skills related to positive leadership and coaching interaction. We believe coaching is a constructive game for leaders to learn, a lot of games can be learned, some good, some not. Why not learn the art of a good one?

Steven J. Stowell is the President and Founder of

Steve has over 27 years of experience in the areas of , leadership, and employee development. To learn more about Steve or the CMOE Development Team, please contact us at (888)262-2499.