Real-Time Leadership – David Noble and Carol Kauffman · 2023

Carol Kauffman is one of the most respected voices in coaching. She founded the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School, has logged more than 40,000 hours with executives, athletes and creatives, and was named the number one leadership coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches community. Thinkers50 shortlisted her among the top coaches worldwide. With her longtime colleague David Noble, who coaches CEOs and their teams, she wrote a guide for the moments when everything speeds up: a crisis, a hard conversation, a decision that cannot wait.

The core idea fits in one sentence: create a little space between what happens and how you respond. From there the authors offer a framework called MOVE. Be mindfully alert to what is going on in you and around you. Generate options instead of grabbing the first reflex. Validate your vantage point by checking your view against other perspectives. Then engage and effect change by acting on the option you chose.

The book also shows how the two authors work: two coaches with one leader, a method they call two-on-one coaching. Real leaders appear throughout, each in a crucible moment, so the framework stays tied to a concrete situation. Decades of coaching practice and solid research stand behind every page, and the result is a rare book that is both wise and usable.

Talent Takeaway

• Pause before you answer. A few seconds of space give you a choice about how to respond.
• Name at least two options before you act, even when one feels obvious.
• Test your view with someone who sees the situation differently.
• When we develop others, we can ask: "What options do you see?" Helping a person create that space is one of the most valuable things we offer.

Noble, D., & Kauffman, C. (2023). Real-time leadership: Find your winning moves when the stakes are high. Harvard Business Review Press. Get the book