# The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

2 Hacker News commenters recommended The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for changing manager habits: asking questions and listening instead of giving advice. Critics say a training based on it left a manager sour on the role.

## Why people recommend it

- Stops advice-giving, improves one-on-ones (1 comments): "improved my 1:1s drastically (I basically stopped talking or advice giving and just listened" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48564804))
- Called fantastic and the right approach (1 comments): "The Coaching Habit is a fantastic book and is the right way to do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46158075))

## What people warn about

- Training left manager sour on role (2 comments): "When I was a manager I had to take a training based on the book "The Coaching Habit." It left me really sour on the role" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149522)) "It left me really sour on the role, and explained some of the behavior of previous managers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149259))
- Training method called terrible (1 comments): "They must have been using this terrible method." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149976))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unaccountability-machine.md): 11 recommend
- [Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/turn-the-ship-around.md): 10 recommend
- [Shape Up by Ryan Singer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/shape-up.md): 6 recommend
- [Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais](https://hackerapproved.com/p/team-topologies.md): 5 recommend
- [Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister](https://hackerapproved.com/p/peopleware.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1989603610?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781989603611) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier", https://hackerapproved.com/p/coaching-habit/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).