50 Top Tools for Coaching A Complete Toolkit for Developing and Empowering People
Ro Gorell, Gillian Jones · 2018
A practical, dip-in reference toolkit of 50 proven, adaptable coaching tools that equip coaches, managers, and individuals to develop and empower people across every situation from goal setting and confidence to hybrid working and neurodivergence.
50 Top Tools for Coaching is a hands-on, jargon-light toolkit designed to give anyone involved in coaching—external coaches, internal coaches, managers, and self-coaches—ready-to-use forms, models, and step-by-step exercises they can apply immediately. Rather than lecturing on coaching philosophy, the book delivers battle-tested tools organized by the situations coaches actually face: setting up the coaching relationship, foundation skills (listening, questioning, feedback, the ORACLE model), goal setting, problem resolution, values and beliefs, confidence, relationships, personal impact, leadership, career planning, developing women, change, team coaching, neurodivergence, and coaching in a hybrid/AI world. Each tool explains what it is, what it's for, when to use it, the process, hints and tips, and time required—so you can pick the right instrument for the moment and adapt it to your own style. Written from decades of real coaching practice, it is both a starter kit for new coaches building a practice and a versatile reference for seasoned practitioners navigating today's rapidly changing, technology-mediated workplace.
The model it argues
An inferred causal model expressing how coaching design levers (contracting, foundation skills, and tool application) and contextual conditions (psychological safety, inclusive/hybrid environment) drive psychological and behavioral states (self-awareness, self-belief, motivation, clarity of goals, reduced limiting beliefs) that in turn produce development outcomes (goal attainment, performance improvement, confidence, and sustained behavior change).
Key ideas
- Contracting and Relationship Setup
- The degree to which the coach establishes a clear, structured coaching agreement at the outset covering desired outcomes, responsibilities, confidentiality, measurement, and ways of working together.
- Foundation Coaching Skills
- The coach's proficiency in the core skills of active listening, effective questioning, and constructive feedback, including structured application through the ORACLE model.
- Situational Tool Application
- The appropriate selection and adaptive application of specific coaching tools matched to the client's situation and context.
- Psychological Safety and Trust
- The extent to which the coaching relationship or team environment feels safe, confidential, and non-judgemental, enabling openness and vulnerability.
- Clarity of Goals and Desired Outcomes
- The client's degree of clarity about a well-formed, measurable, visualizable goal or desired outcome that gives direction to the coaching.
- Self-Awareness and Insight
- The client's increased understanding of their strengths, values, beliefs, behavioral patterns, and how they are perceived by others.
- Reduced Limiting Beliefs and Negative Thinking
- The extent to which self-limiting beliefs, negative internal dialogue, and distorted thought patterns have been surfaced and reframed into empowering alternatives.
- Self-Belief and Confidence
- The client's confidence, self-esteem, and belief in their ability to achieve goals and perform in challenging situations.