Today my guest is Michael Bungay Stainer, founder and CEO of Box of Crayons and author of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change the Way You Lead Forever. He’s also written Do More Great Work: Stop the Busy Work, Start the Work that Matters.

Box of Crayons is a company that helps organizations do less good work and more great work. Michael is a teacher of 10 minute coaching, to help busy managers and leaders build stronger teams and get better results. Michael is someone that I’ve met through Marshall Goldsmith’s MG 100 and his book is a kind of book that when I learned of it, I started to see it and hear it about it everywhere. I picked it up and I found that it’s an extraordinarily useful little book. Michael says in this interview that he was his aim to write the shortest book possible that was still useful. He also talks about the best question in the world, which he shares in this interview and how to use it, and why you would want to.

Michael was the first Canadian coach of the year in 2006, he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University and he has written for all kinds of publications. Michael is a very smart, thoughtful, engaging thought leader who can help you become a better whatever you already are. Enjoy.

SUMMARY
02:47 – What’s life about?
10:36 – Creating books as an experience.
13:52 – Two ways of using stories.
18:06 – A great opening question.
22:46 – Finishing a conversation.
32:57 – Lightning round.
44:34 – Lessons learned.

LINKS – (In order of appearance)
Michael Bungay Stainer books.
Box of Crayons
The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier