A coach and a coachee, writing from experience

COACHABLE

A Guide to Becoming Better

In this book, Rob and Fred explore “What does it take to turn an honest conversation into meaningful work in your life?” Coachable is a practical guide on executive coaching through the perspectives of a coach and the person doing the work alongside him.

Keep me updated Explore the book

Fred Erler, coach · Robert A. Lee, coachee

Being successful doesn’t mean you’re finished growing.

Leadership brings responsibility for other people’s lives. It can also make candid feedback harder to find. This book looks at the habits, conversations, and commitments that help leaders keep examining how they lead.

What the book is about

Turn honest conversations into real action.

A good conversation can help you see what needs to change. The work begins with what you do next. Drawing on almost a decade together as coach and coachee, Fred and Rob show how to make clear commitments, act on them, and return honestly to what happened. Coachable connects the coaching room to the decisions, relationships, and responsibilities of everyday life.

Definition

Extreme Trust

A commitment by coach and leader to speak candidly, examine their interpretations, and value truth above protecting appearances. It depends on ethical boundaries and respect for the leader’s choices. The leader may disagree, decline a question, or pause; the coach remains open to correction.

In practiceA coach questions a pattern, the leader challenges part of the account, and both examine it without requiring agreement in advance.

Definition

Extreme Accountability

The discipline of making clear commitments, acting on them, and returning with an accurate account of what happened. A missed commitment may call for repair, practice, different support, or a revised plan. Coach and leader remain responsible for examining the work honestly.

In practiceA leader reports taking back a delegated decision, examines the cause and effect, and changes how the next decision will be handled.

Definition

Life Data

A written or stored record of actions, observations, feedback, and outcomes used to examine patterns over time. It may contain numbers or accounts of experience. The record keeps reflection specific, but its accuracy and meaning still require judgment.

In practiceA leader records an interruption, what happened next, and a colleague’s feedback, then examines those accounts together.

Thirteen chapters. A place to begin.

Inside Coachable

Explore the chapters. Open the book to read the introduction.

01Why Do Successful Leaders Choose Someone to Answer to?
02Are You Coachable?
03The Executive Coaching Process, Step by Step
04Client Accountability: Doing the Work That Changes You
05What Is the Story You Want Told at Your Funeral?
06Who Pays for Coaching and What Changes?
07Self-Care Coaching: Leading Yourself Before You Lead Others
08Personal Development: The Leader’s Lifelong Edge
09Coaching Before a Leader Is in Trouble
10Accountability When the Plan No Longer Fits
11Coaching Outcomes: What Change Really Looks Like
12How to Choose the Right Coach
13Conclusion: The Leader You Are Becoming

The Purpose

The work between the conversations.

Coaching earns its value in what happens after the conversation. We wrote Coachable to help you turn a useful insight into a commitment, a deliberate action, and an honest review of what followed.

For leaders considering coaching, people already working with a coach, and anyone curious about taking a more active part in their own development. The aim is to make the work visible in how you lead and in the life you share with others.

Understand the coaching relationship
Explore trust, confidentiality, expectations, and the responsibilities of both coach and coachee.
Connect intentions to actual experience
Examine patterns, make considered commitments, and learn from what happens afterward.
Find an approach that fits
Consider how to choose a coach, assess progress, and understand the role of an organizational sponsor.
Carry the work into your life
Apply what you learn to how you lead, care for yourself, and show up for the people who matter to you.

Meet the authors

Written from both sides
of the coaching relationship.

The coach

Fred Erler

Fred Erler brings decades of business leadership and coaching experience to his work with people. A former division president at Nordson Corporation, he founded FAME Enterprises in 2002 and has had the privilege of supporting clients across the United States and Europe. He holds a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Care and Counseling and completed Harvard University’s Advanced Management Program. His work centers on helping people understand themselves, strengthen their relationships, and become better leaders.

Fred and his wife, Maggie, have five children and ten grandchildren. In Coachable, he brings the perspective of a coach, husband, father, and grandfather committed to helping people grow in their work and in the lives they share with others.

The coachee

Rob Lee

Rob Lee is a longtime founder who has built more than a dozen companies, with deep experience in scaling businesses and navigating rapid growth. He has had the good fortune to experience a $485 million business exit and the privilege of leading a company with more than $1.5 billion in assets under management and over 700 employees. A philosophy graduate of Emory University with a master’s in architecture from Georgia Tech, he brings a varied perspective to business and leadership. His life’s purpose is helping people become better.

Rob and his wife, Sarah, have four daughters. In Coachable, he brings the perspective of a husband, father, and entrepreneur who continues to do that work himself.

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COACHABLE

Turn honest conversations into real action.

Inside Coachable

The work between the conversations.

Written from both sidesof the coaching relationship.

Fred Erler

Rob Lee

Be part ofwhat comes next.

A question forFred and Rob?

Written from both sides
of the coaching relationship.

Be part of
what comes next.

A question for
Fred and Rob?