Interested in writing a book?

The collaboration required to achieve results

By Damián Goldvarg

Last May 17^th, I was in Buenos Aires and had the opportunity to celebrate the presentation of our book “New Coaching Competencies Applications”. You may be familiar with the version in English: Professional Coaching Competencies that I co-authored with Pat Matthews and Norma Perel.  After ten years of the first edition, which had ten reprints, we were very happy to present the update of that best seller to the Spanish-speaking world of Coaching.

During the book presentation, I focused on the importance of collaboration to achieve all the important things in our lives. We don’t get anything done alone. Everything depends on the coordination of actions with others.

Effective collaboration requires confidence, flexibility, clarity in expectations, and articulating personal needs.

For example, to publish the book, I had to coordinate actions with my mother, Norma Perel, my co-author, with coaches who were volunteers in giving us feedback, with the editor, and with Granica, the company that published the book.

In another book that came out in May, El Ser y el Hacer del Coach, (Being a Coach and Doing Coaching) we had a much broader collaborative experience because together with Norma Perel, and Ana Escalante, we coordinated eight teams made up of master coaches from six Latin American countries, US, and Spain.  In total, we were twenty-eight authors cooperating, giving the best of themselves to optimize the final result.

In September, we are looking forward to the publication of the first book in English on Coaching Supervision in the Americas.   This book edited by Francine Campone, Joel De Girolamo, Lily Seto, and Damian Goldvarg is also an example of a book in collaboration with supervisors from all over the Americas and with contributions from colleagues in Europe.

Each relationship required cultivating a workspace where we all sought to demonstrate respect, effort, commitment, and also the appreciation of what each one was contributing. This was a major investment in time and teamwork.

In the book I am currently working on, The Leader Coach, which is almost finished, I also focus on collaboration as the key to leadership success.  Leaders need to collaborate to engage stakeholders to develop healthy environments that promote wellbeing and satisfaction and not only results.

We often meet people who want to write books.  But what is the difference between those who keep this desire as a wish and those who make it come true? Writing a book requires a clear WHY, knowledge or information that is going to be shared, commitment, discipline, knowing how to ask for help, and being open to receiving feedback.

I believe that writing a book implies being of service to others; in this case, to the readers. It is about thinking about how others will benefit from reading it.  This can motivate us in times of desperation.

In summary, if you want to write a book you need to have a strong WHY, commitment, discipline, and looking to collaborate with many people who will support you in the process.

Collaboration is not only about achieving the results of writing a book but also about working together to contribute with small actions for a better world for everyone.  It is a mission that I choose for myself, and I invite you to join me.