Simply the Best: 29 Things People Say You Must Know About Coaching

Overview
Thomas J. Leonard presents a compact, punchy guide that isolates 29 essential ideas every coach should understand to build effective, sustainable coaching practice and relationships. Each item is framed as a practical insight or directive, blending mindset shifts with concrete actions that span session craft, client attraction, and business systems. The tone is direct and encouraging, aimed at helping both new entrants and seasoned practitioners sharpen what they do and how they present it.

Core Themes
A central thread is the primacy of outcomes: coaching must be oriented around clear, measurable client goals and the behaviors that produce them. Leonard emphasizes precise agreements, consistent follow-through, and accountability mechanisms that turn intentions into results. Another recurring theme is the coach's stance, curiosity, disciplined listening, and the willingness to ask bold, clarifying questions rather than offering premature solutions.

Marketing and Positioning
Practical business matters receive equal treatment. Leonard outlines how to define a niche, craft a compelling offer, and communicate value so prospective clients understand the transformation available. He stresses simple, repeatable systems for lead generation, clear language for discovery conversations, consistent follow-up, and creating referral pathways that rely more on delivered results than on slick promotion. Pricing is presented as a function of clarity and confidence: charge for outcomes and value rather than selling time alone.

Client Relations and Session Design
Leonard breaks coaching down into predictable, repeatable elements: a strong intake that uncovers true client priorities, session structures that balance exploration with action planning, and closing rituals that cement learning and commitment. He recommends using agreements to set expectations and regular progress checks to maintain momentum. Handling resistance, setting boundaries, and recognizing when a client needs different support are treated as professional responsibilities, not optional skills.

Techniques and Tools
While not prescriptive about any single methodology, the guidance highlights a toolbox of practical techniques: powerful questions that focus attention, metaphor and visualization to expand perspective, concrete assignments that build competence, and simple assessments that measure movement. Leonard encourages coaches to develop templates, discovery scripts, progress trackers, and debrief formats, that reduce friction and increase consistency in results.

Professional Development and Ethics
Sustaining a coaching career requires ongoing learning and a commitment to standards. Leonard urges coaches to invest in their own development, seek mentors and peer supervision, and maintain clear ethical boundaries. Reputation is presented as the most durable marketing asset, earned through confidentiality, delivered outcomes, and honest communication about capabilities and limitations.

Style and Usefulness
The book's brevity and structure make it highly usable: each of the 29 points is a prompt for reflection and immediate action rather than an abstract theory. Anecdotes and examples keep the advice grounded, and the format invites coaches to revisit items as their practice evolves. The overall effect is a practical primer, compact enough to read quickly, rich enough to serve as a checklist for professional growth.

Why It Resonates
The appeal lies in combining strategic business sense with craft-level coaching practices. Leonard's focus on outcome orientation, clarity with clients, and repeatable systems addresses two chronic issues coaches face: turning sporadic insight into lasting change for clients, and turning good coaching into a viable business. The result is a tightly focused resource that helps coaches align technique, client experience, and enterprise-building in ways that produce consistent, measurable progress.