Beyond Belief: The Art of Confidence-Centred Coaching

launch date 4 March 2025, practical inspiration publishing

The book brings together much of the thinking, ideas and practices developed over the last eight years or so.

The blurb:

“Beyond Belief is a much needed, compelling, practical guide to a creative world of coaching, with confidence at its heart.

It reimagines a way of coaching with confidence and self-belief at the very heart of all we do: highly creative, deeply rewarding and leading to beyond belief results. It explores how we create assured spaces for our coaching to flow, the sometimes rocky paths to trust and how to help those we coach prepare for their daunting challenges: confident coaches, confidence in the coach and coaching for confidence. And everything changes: how we think of and support motivation, resilience, creativity and much more.

Drawing on the inner stories of coaches and coached, endurance sports coach Mike brings to life a vision of coaching at its best, in essence coach and coached finding an easy fluency, wholly attuned mind and body to self and others and a depth of meaningful connections. A coaching book like no other.”

Contents:

Foreword by Olympian and author of The Long Win Cath Bishop

Preface

Part 1: Setting Off to Discover Confidence

Chapter 1: Where We Are

Chapter 2: Rethinking Confidence

Part 2: Into Three Domains of Confidence

Chapter 3: Confident Coaches

Chapter 4: Confidence in the Coach

Chapter 5: Coaching for Confidence

Part 3: Coaching in a Changed Landscape

Chapter 6: The Magic of Creativity

Chapter 7: Motivation and the Paradox of Inner Drives

Chapter 8: Resilience at the Outer Edge

Chapter 9: Protecting Our Coaching Energy

Final Words: On Hope

What others have said:

“Mike Porteous gives me confidence – pun intended – that coaching is on the right path.  Beyond Belief transcends the regular predictable coaching book.  In fact, I would call it more of  spiritual guide, with deep insights the likes of which I’ve never seen before.  A must-read for any coach who is pursuing mastery of their craft.”

Cody Royle: Coach to Head Coaches in Elite Sports, author of Second Set of Eyes, The Tough Stuff and Where Others Won’t.

Beyond Belief challenges us to reconsider how we build the confidence of those in our care.  Cherishing individuality, committing deeply to the relationship between person and environment and favouring, not the accumulation of knowledge for dissemination , but the embrace of not knowing and of a journey orientation.  If you are curious to learn more about developing a deep sense of identity, belonging and confidence in those you are fortunate to support, then I highly recommend giving this book your time.”

Craig Morris: Olympic Canoe Slalom Coach and High Performance Coach Consultant

“It sings!”

Professor Stephen Rollnick: Co-Founder of Motivational Interviewing, Co-Author of Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best


You can pre-order on Bookshop.org, Waterstones and Amazon.