The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever

Every coach needs this book

MBS goes into the next steps of great coaching skills and habits.This is an easy read with straightforward, implementable ideas and strategies!

Very helpful for anyone wanting to be a coach or a leader. Can be difficult to hold your attention, but overall really good!

Great follow up to The Coaching Habit to help us tame the instinct that is so naturally to solve problems for others even when that isn’t what they need from leaders. Easy read and interactive. Fun self improvement project.

The words "Best Seller" don't mean much to me. Neither does most praise written on books by other authors. I love reading sincere reviews, good or bad. I especially enjoy hearing from a colleague who has seen and/or met the author. As a physician, researcher, and business person, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Michael Bungay Stanier before the Pandemic. I don't care what profession you are in, or if you are just attempting to help your children grasp New Normal, you WANT what Michael offers in your LIFE! One of the best signs of brilliance is someone's ability to take big concepts and, with almost no effort, make them simple, easy to learn, even enjoyable. Watch him on YouTube. I don't have much free time, but Michael IS worth anyone's time. He isn't trying to "sell" anything, he offers choices. Mainly, from feedback I have received, Michael's intention to empower people has impacted so many. I always keep one or more of his works with me in case it provides someone a "gift" they can give themselves and others. He is, quite simply, a "healthy dose," an adaptogen, that allows everyone to feel "effective," regardless of their situation. MEGA-STARS!

This book was awesome. My job is a Scrum Master in project management, in which my biggest job is to coach others to be more effective. As a more authoritative "get things done" type, I found this book extremely helpful. While some coaching can be taken to the dark side of manipulation, this book comes from a lets bring out the best in everyone so they can be more effective type way. In addition, not only does Michael Stanier give great advice (lol), but he does it in a way that empathizes with the struggles people may have, including his own. When reading it, I felt understood and supported, which def increased my motivation to learn more. As a coach myself, I know how difficult this can be, it really is an art, and he is a master painter. Easy read, simple concepts (hard to implement, but simple to understand), and paired with real life examples. I also loved how he used his own examples and was vulnerable and open, he admitted his weaknesses and shared his struggles. He uses comparisons of the primal lizard gut feel brain versus where we want to go and who we want to be. Great book for anyone looking to understand why we feel the way we do when it comes to advice and coaching, and how to be more effective in your personal leadership skills. Thanks for your contribution to this world, Michael!

I have been a fan of Michael Bungay Stanier’s work for many years and have read, appreciated, and used the tips, tools, strategies, and more from his books and programs. When “The Coaching Habit” was released I read it, thought this is as good as it gets, and started using in programs I deliver to help leaders be more “coach like.”But then, viola! He does it again with “The Advice Trap!” In it Michael goes much deeper exploring reasons that it is so hard to avoid jumping in with all the answers and more importantly provides practical, specific steps that when followed help us to stay curious longer and jump to advice-giving a little more slowly.And, personally I loved the opportunity at the end of each chapter to reflect and capture what was valuable in each chapter. Further, throughout the book he provides information on how to access even more helpful (and free) information from his website. Finally, at the end of the book he provides “A Bonus of Extra Goodness” that includes book recommendations and much more.If you want to be more “coach like,” if you deliver programs designed to help leaders/others be more coach like, or even if you want to do a better job of coaching yourself, then is absolutely a must read!Ed Nottingham, PhD, PCCConsulting & Clinical PsychologistAuthor, “It’s Not as Bad as It Seems: A Thinking Straight Approach to Happiness”

I wrote an article based on a training I created on how to coach and one of the people that read the article recommended this book. It made sense because working the first few pages the book used almost the same reasoning and sources to posit Advice as a trap and Staying Curious longer as the antidote.This book basically closes the loop the author started in “The Coaching Habit.” He calls those coaching questions back in this book as part of the full picture of leading and coaching.The tools inside will be something I refine for the rest of my life.The vibe of the book is that of James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” in that coaching is a skill you break down into small habits that must be honed over a lifetime. The lessons are short and to the point and are written in such a way that makes them easy to discuss.I will be using this book at work to both train hundreds of leaders as well as lead book groups. As such, Michael Bungay Stanier will be impacting my life and others for years to come.Well done.