Coaching And Betrayal

Sometimes my books have a clear trajectory. I am reminded, for example, of ‘ The Management of Interpersonal Skills Training’ which I wrote with Tony Fraser in 1980 (Gower). We were both very clear on what we wanted to achieve and rapidly created a shape for the book which we then proceeded to fill over the ensuing months.

My book on betrayal is essentially at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of the writing process.  For more than a year I had no particular intention to write a book. Rather I simply made notes on topics which took my interest : these might range from random purchases at second-hand bookshops to overheard conversations in coffee shops.

Then one day I was talking to a client and the word betrayal came to my mind regarding what he was saying about some of the events in his organisation. Suddenly I had a clear focus for my writing and then began trawling through all the notes I had made in order then to create a shape for the book.

Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Defining Betrayal
  Degrees of Awareness
  What and How
  The Mind of the Betrayed
  The Cultural Dimension
• Betrayal in Organisations
  From Transformational to Transactional Leadership
  Undiscussability
  Leaders Feeling Betrayed
• Implications for Teams
  Loss of Identity
  Self-Betrayal
  Idealisation/Demonetisation
• Implications for the Work of the Coach
  Depth of Working
  Types of Intervention
  Summary
  Rules of Thumb
• Implications for Teams of Coaches
  Assuming Betrayal
  Challenges Around Depth of Working
  Summary
• Implications for the Coaching Supervisor
  Betraying the Coach
  Depth of Working
  The Epistemological and Ontological Dimension
  Summary
  Rules of Thumb
• Conclusion