As this year comes to an end, here are my favourite books of the year – books that have inspired me as a coach, impacted my work, and are books that I would thoroughly recommend.

Some are new, some have been on my bookshelf for a while… but all have influenced and inspired my work this year.

THE HUMAN BEHIND THE COACH by Claire Pedrick and Lucia Baldelli

I had the pleasure of meeting Claire this year through a mutual connection. I love her book. It’s not only for coaches, but useful for anyone who wants to engage with others in a more meaningful way. The authors focus on humility within oneself, and humility between coach and coachee. Lots of great insights for me – particularly round control and not knowing, vulnerability, partnership.

THE ART OF ENOUGH by Becky Hall

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Becky in 2023 and heard about her thinking, wisdom, and experiences of being enough. Her premise is that we are out of balance in many different areas of our lives and that we need to learn how to be, do and have enough.  It brings together a lot of the themes I am exposed to – change, sustainability, overwork, burnout.  She raises some great questions around our relationship with the term “enough” Her book is very practical and aims to help people find more sustainable ways of living and working.

POWER by Julie Diamond

Power, politics, authority are themes that come up a lot for me in my coaching. This book helps to reframe power more positively and to conceptualize power differently. Julie Diamond provides great tools, examples, and reflections to develop external authority, navigate high power roles and responsibilities and to find personal power irrespective of role or title. We all ultimately have power – everyone and everywhere.

TA TODAY – An introduction to Transactional Analysis by Ian Steward and Vann Joines

A lot of my work with clients and as part of leadership development programmes this year has focused on the Transactional Model and this book has been a great reminder and go-to reference as I have prepared content and shared materials with clients. TA is a great model for understanding human personality, relationships, and communication. It is an easy way to view your interactions with those around you and can reveal the hidden source of reactions to things.

50 SÄTZE  by Karin Kuschik

So a German book made my top 12 this year! Given to me by a trusted colleague as a gift, I love the choice of the 50 best sentences to use. These can be broadly clustered into themes around setting boundaries, asserting yourself, negotiating, and admitting mistakes. The way you assert yourself is so linked to the topic of your personal power…see other book recommendation!

SYSTEMIC CONSTELLATIIONS by John Whittington 

This was on my recommended list from last year. I worked with constellations a lot more this year and am now a certified practitioner. The book is such a fantastic comprehensive overview to the principles and practices of constellations – looking at each relationship system to help you identify the invisible field and hidden dynamics.

ULTRA-PROCESSED PEOPLE  by Chris Van Tulleken

This has been a year where I really focused on health, wellbeing, and nutrition. This is a fascinating book into the investigation into the science, economics, history, and production of ultra-processed foods. It has changed the way I am now making purchasing choices in the supermarket aisle. Not directly related to my work, but at the same time being fit and healthy is the foundation to doing great work with clients.

SEVEN AND A HALF LESSONS ABOUT THE BRAIN by Lisa Feldman Barrett

This is a short and easy read. In seven chapters the author reveals the latest thinking in neuroscience research, with great insights around perception, emotion, consciousness, and memory.

MORE TIME TO THINK by Nancy Kline

A year end book review would not be complete without a book from Nancy Kline in the list. Her work, research and experience around a Thinking Environment and creating the conditions for people to think independently for themselves is an underpinning philosophy of everything I do. This year I am proud to be part of her faculty and will be doing more teaching in this space next year. Although this is not her latest book, it is still a classic to dip in and in and out of

IKIGAI by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

The topic of purpose and fulfillment often comes up in my client conversations. This is a beautiful little book which explores the Japanese concept of findings one´s purpose in life by analysing the habits and beliefs of the world´s longest living people. There are some great case studies and practical tips.