Based on the authors' extensive experience working with international board-level teams, Challenging Coaching suggests that for too long coaches have shied away from adopting a more challenging stance in their work - a stance that can provoke greater performance and unlock deeper potential in business leaders and their teams. In particular, the authors offer a new coaching approach, FACTS, to help coaches develop this challenging stance.

The FACTS approach, with its emphasis on FeeDavies-Blackack, Accountability, Courageous Goals, Tension, and Systems Thinking, is explored in theory and in practice using case studies, example dialogues, and practical exercises. Long-held coaching principles such as being nondirective, building rapport ,and holding to the client's agenda are put under the spotlight, with the authors questioning their relevance to a 21st-century business environment where the needs of the wider business must take precedence over the "me me me" of any specific executive.

This is a timely wake-up call for anyone who is responsible for the performance of others - be they coach, business leader, or leadership development expert. An original and thought-provoking message that dares the listener to face the FACTS and accept the coaching challenge.