Coaching Made Easy

Do you want to enhance your coaching skills? A number of coaching models are available to help structure coaching discussions. Coaching effectively requires a mindset—one that translates to certain behaviors.

In Coaching Made Easy, Dr. Alonzo Johnson provides a comprehensive yet straightforward framework that leaders can use to create the right coaching mindset. This framework is articulated as five elements that form an acronym that is easy to understand and apply:

  • Communicate
  • Open
  • Align
  • Collaborate, and
  • Harness

The author engages and guides readers through the elements of the framework and associated behaviors by using examples from his own coaching experience, while interspersing relevant coaching concepts and models. Although the COACH framework can be scaled and used at any leadership level, this book is written in an easy-to-read format with easy-to-understand terms and coaching concepts.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?

Coaching Made Easy is the third book in a series of self-help books designed to present simple approaches to help overcome leadership and other workplace challenges. The first book, Hiring Made Easy as PIE, is primarily for managers with little hiring experience. It presents a straightforward approach for interviewing and selecting best-fit employees. The second book, Leading Made Easy, explores how to lead effectively after the hiring process is over, and is intended for anyone desiring to build or improve leadership skills..

Coaching Made Easy targets one of the most challenging aspects of leadership, coaching, and condenses it into a five-element framework with effective coaching behaviors. This book is intended for anyone desiring to build or improve coaching skills. The five elements of the coaching framework presented in this book can be scaled and used at any type and level of an organization.

There are three options for navigating this book:

  1. Read it from cover to cover.
  2. Read only the element you need to enhance your knowledge.
  3. Review any part of it as a reference.

An end-of-section reflection activity is included for each element. The activity provides an opportunity for you to informally assess the degree to which you use the elements and behaviors presented in this book.

Praise for Coaching Made Easy

  • “I’m a trained coach and mentor, but rarely have I come across a book on coaching that is straight forward, practical and easy to apply. Coaching Made Easy is a concise practical guide that I will recommend to my students and clients who are dealing with real-world challenges. Dr. Alonzo’s many years of experience in coaching others successfully are evident in each section of this book.”
    Musa Nyakora, Ph.D.
    Professor of OD and Leadership Programs, Adventist University of Africa
  • “This book is not only great if you have just started coaching or considering it, but invaluable for seasoned veterans. The content is actionable the first time you read it. I found myself nodding my head throughout each section. I am grateful to have been brought back to the basics of coaching.”
    Robin Mottern
    Executive Coach, Emotional Intelligence Practitioner
  • “Coaching Made Easy presents a five-part framework that is easy to understand and apply. I love the examples that are shared in each part of the coaching framework—it is easy to see how those everyday examples translate to my work environment. Alonzo does a great job of weaving in the different behaviors related to each element of the framework. I believe leaders at all levels can benefit from these insights.”
    Martha Trott
    Vice President, Human Resources, Americas, DeLaval
  • “It is easy to lose sight of the fact that sustainable results can only be achieved through others. Equally, this can rarely be accomplished without effective coaching from leaders. Effective coaching not only achieves outcomes, but also facilitates talent development. Why isn’t this done more often? Leaders lack the playbook for effective coaching. Finally, in Coaching Made Easy, we have the COACH framework that is accessible to all who are committed: Communicate, Open, Align, Collaborate and Harness. With many realistic examples and articulation of supporting behaviors, this is the ‘how to’ book that will help leaders facilitate great individual and organizational effectiveness. I cannot recommend it more highly!”
    Joseph R. Bongiovi
    Chief Human Resources Officer, Sazerac Company, Inc.

As mentioned above, Coaching Made Easy offers an end-of-section reflection activity for each element of the COACH framework. For a more comprehensive evaluation, a companion COACH180 assessment is available.

COACH180

A Coaching Made Easy Assessment

The COACH180 is a companion assessment available for the Coaching Made Easy book. The instrument allows multiple raters (self and others) to measure a coach’s effectiveness by assessing the degree to which he or she uses behaviors related to each element of the COACH framework:

  • Communicate
  • Open
  • Align
  • Collaborate, and
  • Harness

These behaviors matter most for both experienced and novice performance coaches and can be scaled and used at any level of the organization. The feedback that leaders receive from the COACH180 provides information that can be used to improve their coaching skills and overall leadership effectiveness.


The instrument was developed through a rigorous process of analyzing leaders’ behavior at various levels within a variety of organizations. The COACH180 has undergone a series of validation and reliability testing to ensure its robustness.

Coaching Made Easy book and the COACH180 assessment present a simple, yet effective approach to increase your effectiveness as a coach—making coaching easy.

Purchase the companion COACH180 assessment along with your copy of Coaching Made Easy today! (And remember that we sell both the book and the COACH180 in bulk quantities!)