Andrew Mowat, John Corrigan and Doug Long have described five powerful steps to growing yourself and leading others in a great book called The Success Zone. Their central idea is that our best mental processing is done with the part of our brain responsible for thinking, imagination and empathy. Such thinking is called using our Blue Zone. Other parts of our brain can derail us when we experience our Red Zone and become reactionary and carried away by our emotions.
The book gives some excellent guidance on listening and questioning skills that can really improve the quality of our conversations and relationships.
This is a must-read book for coaches. Read the summary (PDF 193KB)