Coaching for Optimal Energy: A Guide for Executive Coaches Paperback – 4 April 2023

I specialise in coaching entrepreneurs who are developing their businesses in complex settings with demanding clients. They are juggling so much in their personal and working lives and, although I could see that this was having a detrimental effect on their energy, I wasn't sure how to help them or how to work with this in sessions. A colleague recommended this book to me. It is based on some serious research, is really informative yet easy to read. It has given me new insights, models and a language which I can use not only myself as a coach but also which I can explain to the clients to help them understand what is affecting their energy and what they can do themselves in their professional and everyday lives. It is a great book.

Coaching For Optimal EnergyIn the world of Executive Coaching Viv Chitty is a consummate professional and this original book, Coaching For Optimal Energy, shows why. Just like we ‘assume’ the glass when we look out at a landscape through our favourite widow, so we ‘assume’ the issue of energy when looking at what impacts people’s performance at work. The importance of the book is summed up I her own words, “being sub-optimally energised presents a risk: poor decisions, behaviours and relationships could be the result”.The power of this book is in how it doesn’t settle for simplistic or binary answers, but in its thoroughly researched and rich exploration of the complexities and nuances of the subject.Viv deconstructs all of the head, heart and body elements of what strengthens or diminishes our energy at work and their impact, but holds it all together in a holistic way through he leading edge research, he clients experiences (all of whom are themselves Executive Coaches) and her own 20+ years of executive coaching.As an Executive Coach I felt that no stone was left unturned and that I was being given a raft of possible interventions to use in my own work.

Developed from an award-winning Masters thesis, Viv Chitty has not only reflected in great detail upon her own understanding of energy in a Coaching and Supervision context but has researched many others' understandings too in writing this book. Without any detailed reference to the Physics of energy, she takes an experiential view of the kind that is the substance of Coaching and it is a book that will deepen and strengthen any Coach's or Supervisor's practice.

This book caught my eye because it is subject matter that probably does not get the full thought and attention it deserves.For its author Viv Chitty, Coaching for Optimal Energy represents a personal journey of discovery.She had been coaching senior executives since 1998 and had become increasingly aware of differing energy levels in her clients and how it was manifesting as an issue for some. That piqued her curiosity to find out more, but there was little existing research which was useful. That left her wanting to know more and questioning if other coaches were addressing energy levels in clients and if so, how?Her interest eventually led her to studying the subject for her Masters in Coaching and Mentoring Practice at Oxford Brookes University. That body of work was awarded the APECs prize for the best dissertation on an executive coaching or supervision topic before eventually evolving into this, her latest book – Coaching for Optimal Energy.Readers will find a well-considered and constructed book that leaves no stone unturned when it comes to exploring how energy impacts how we behave as humans.It has been expertly put together by combining peer-reviewed evidence from published research and the lived experiences of herself and other professional coaches. The result is a profound insight into the concept of human energy in the context of the workplace. As Chitty explains, it also aims to help the reader become more able to recognise manifestations of energy in clients, the impact on their performance and provides practical insight into how this could be addressed with clients once it has been assessed whether it is appropriate to do so.The content is easy to follow and starts with a comprehensive overview of the concept of energy and how it manifests in executive coaching. Chitty guides the reader through the different states of energy – optimal, depleted and inappropriate high energy – and challenges previous thinking moving away from the linear model of low/bad versus high/good energy.Chapter two walks the reader through the myriad of influences on energy taking everything from physical and psychological influences into account, through to what might be happening to and around people in the workplace and out of work too. Chapter three attends to why we should be addressing energy and the role of the executive coach in doing so.The fourth outlines the steps coaches can take to assess whether to address energy with the client and how to start doing so in a coaching session. Chapter five tackles the physical influences on energy such as diet and exercise, while the sixth deals with the psychological side and examines emotions, trauma and social interactions. The last chapter further concentrates on the psychological aspect by delving into working with the cognitive influences on energy.I read it thinking that it offers a rich and valuable resource for coaches whether you are new to the profession or have many years of experience under your belt. It is an important topic that Chitty successfully covers with clarity and authority.The academic research is complemented with a healthy peppering of quotes from fellow executive coaches which help illustrate and bring their approaches to energy management to life. This is a useful and practical resource and required reading for coaches of all levels and anyone working in the field of people management. It will also particularly resonate with those working with stress, resilience or high performance because so much of what it covers is pertinent to how and why we behave and feel the way we do.

As executive coaches we often get clients coming to us who are overwhelmed, fatigued and wanting to build back their energy levels. This book is a wonderful guide for us to help these types of clients. Well written, evidence-based and practical. My favourite page is p80 which has a diagram that includes 18 different coaching tactics we can use in the cognitive, emotional and physical domains. Well done on a highly recommended book Viv Chitty.