Book excerpt: What are the critical success factors in effective executive coaching? What are the key competencies of a psychologically-informed coach? What are the similarities and differences between coaching and therapy? This book provides business coaches and management consultants with the framework for a psychological approach to executive coaching. It shows how performance-related issues in the workplace often have a psychological dimension to them and provides the reader with an understanding of how to work in more depth to help people resolve their issues and unlock their potential. It analyzes what constitutes effective coaching, stressing the importance of sound coaching principles, good coaching process, the desirable competencies of the coach, the importance of the coaching relationship and the issue of ‘coachability’. It also examines the impact of a stronger psychological approach to coaching, exploring the key psychological competencies required, how to develop them, and the training and supervision issues implicit in this approach. A recurrent theme is the personal development of the coach throughout the coaching process and Peter Bluckert highlights the contribution that the Gestalt perspective offers the coach, through the use of self as instrument of change. Anecdotes, stories and case samples are used throughout the book to illustrate situations so that the reader builds a picture of what psychologically-informed coaching looks like and how to practice ethically, responsibly and competently. Psychological Dimensions to Executive Coaching provides business and executive coaches, management consultants, human resource specialists, corporate executives/senior managers, health/social workers, occupational psychologists, teachers, psychotherapists and counsellors with the essential information they need to be successful coaches and empower their clients.