The Coaching Habit
The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanierby Michael Bungay Stanier
Shares rank 11 of 12 management books by recommenders
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.
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.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 33%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Stops advice-giving, improves one-on-ones
“improved my 1:1s drastically (I basically stopped talking or advice giving and just listened”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?” Called fantastic and the right approach
“The Coaching Habit is a fantastic book and is the right way to do.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Transparent leadership beats servant leadership”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Training left manager sour on role
“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”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Transparent leadership beats servant leadership” “It left me really sour on the role, and explained some of the behavior of previous managers”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Transparent leadership beats servant leadership” Training method called terrible
“They must have been using this terrible method.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Transparent leadership beats servant leadership”
Other management books people recommend
The four most recommended other management books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Unaccountability Machineby Dan Davies | 11 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Turn the Ship Around!by L. David Marquet | 10 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Shape Upby Ryan Singer | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Team Topologiesby Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais | 5 | 3 | 63% | 4 | — | — |
| The Coaching Habitby Michael Bungay StanierThis page | 2 | 4 | 33% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“improved my 1:1s drastically (I basically stopped talking or advice giving and just listened”
“The Coaching Habit is a fantastic book and is the right way to do.”
“They must have been using this terrible method.”
“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”
“It left me really sour on the role, and explained some of the behavior of previous managers”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.