Author: Jonathan Passmore (Ed.)

No recommended list of coaching publications written by OPP would be complete without a book on the benefits of applying psychometric tools to coaching. In this book, Passmore has successfully managed to pull together the contributions of a wide range of authors and experienced psychometric practitioners to create a handy reference guide. It’s doubtful that the book has been written in the expectation that it will be read from start to finish. Rather, each chapter focuses on a specific psychometric instrument, and its application to coaching, allowing the reader to pick and choose the chapters most relevant to them.

The book provides something of a 'shop window' opportunity for test publishers to set out the benefits of their psychometric tools for coaching. However, to prevent the book from amounting to little more than a 350-page marketing brochure, Passmore has encouraged each contributor to structure their chapter using the following sections: theory and research of he questionnaire; overview of the questionnaire; using the questionnaire to deepen self-awareness with the coach; and using the questionnaire as a tool with coaches.

As well as the two rather generic introductory chapters, the book includes no less than 15 chapters, each of which is dedicated to one particular psychometric tool, and its application to coaching. It would be too much to list all 15 tools featured, but a particular highlight is the chapter covering the universally popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This is an excellent chapter written by practitioners who are not only experts in the MBTI tool itself, but also in executive coaching. The chapter explains how the MBTI instrument can provide coaches with tremendous insight into their development through the application of type dynamics, and of the development of type over an individual’s lifetime. Other chapters worthy of note cover coaching applications of the FIRO-B instrument, the OPQ, Wave and Hogan.

Some of the introductory chapters are clearly written for coaches who have very little knowledge or experience of giving feedback, or of using psychometrics – although these chapters may be of value to generalist HR practitioners who have, as yet, elected not to specialise in L&D roles. Experienced HR professionals and coaches are likely to find the chapters that focus on specific psychometrics a very useful and practical reference guide, which can be quickly and readily accessed.

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