5 books you can’t miss when you’re starting out as a coach!
Would you like to deepen your understanding of the world of coaching? Books are a fantastic way to enrich and challenge yourself as a beginning coach. From in-depth knowledge of models, techniques, and methods to real-life stories, metaphors, and perspectives that expand awareness — discover 5 books you can’t miss as a new coach!
Discover 5 coaching books for beginning coaches. More and more people are exploring coaching as a profession. And when you’re just starting out as a coach, books are a powerful medium to enrich yourself. Coaching is about expanding awareness—and that requires reflection and introspection.
Here are some favorite books for beginning coaches:
- De Maskermaker
- Coachen op competentieontwikkeling
- NLP foundation coaching books
- Carl Jung books & related works
- Meeting your shadow
1) De Maskermaker
People are mask makers. We all wear different masks—or roles—often unconsciously, to protect ourselves from vulnerability and pain. In essence, masks are behavioral or identity patterns linked to the roles we take on within specific contexts.
Sometimes these masks work in our favor. At other times, they become a source of unconsciousness and conflict. As a human being, you are more than just a role. But who are you when you show up as your authentic, free self?
The book De maskermaker, written by Wibe Veenbaas and Joke Goudswaard, explores the landscape of the soul. A true recommendation for anyone who wants to reconnect more deeply with themselves.
2) Coachen op competentieontwikkeling
The book Coachen op competentieontwikkeling by Marijke Lingsma and Marcel Scholten is ideal for coaches, HR professionals, and leaders who want to learn more about professional development and how to support people in achieving their goals.
Organizations are increasingly investing in the continuous development of their people. But how do you truly support growth in someone’s professional field? Competency-based coaching helps employees develop knowledge, behavior, and skills in a goal-oriented way. It increases awareness and ownership for the coachee—leading to stronger performance.
This coaching book gives you a concrete and clear overview of everything related to competency development, competency management, and competency-based coaching—helping you develop competencies in a results-oriented way.
3) NLP foundation coaching books
NLP stands for neuro-linguistic programming. It is a method that focuses on creating awareness of how we perceive, understand, and influence the world around us. NLP has both supporters and critics, but in the right hands it can be a powerful tool for personal development and effective communication.
NLP assumes that, as humans, we largely operate on autopilot. We make unconscious assumptions, cling to certain thinking patterns, and sometimes develop habits or behaviors that do not serve our goals. NLP offers a wide range of tools and techniques to help you gain insight into your own patterns and replace them with new, more productive ones.
Books such as NLP Basis, NLP voor Dummies, or NLP voor coaches provide an accessible and low-threshold introduction to NLP concepts.
4) Carl Jung
Carl Jung is one of the founders of modern psychology. His work is still widely used and applied today. For example, the color theory behind Insights Discovery is based on Jung’s ideas.
Almost any book by Jung is worth reading for a coach. In De psychologie van het onbewuste, Jung explores how the unconscious plays a crucial role in shaping our thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
5) Meeting your shadow
The book Ontmoeting met je schaduw, written by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams, helps you explore your own psyche—especially the shadow side: the darker parts of our personality that we often suppress.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung
We often find sources of blockage within our shadow, such as unconscious beliefs that keep us stuck in our current reality. By acknowledging and integrating your shadow, you can move through life with greater self-awareness and authenticity.
Your development, of course, doesn’t stop after reading five coaching books for beginners. Even as an experienced coach, it’s valuable to keep enriching and challenging yourself with new ideas and perspectives. Within the Shift & Grow network, for example, we’ve built a library of more than 100 coaching books.
Which coaching books would you add to the list?
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