And I think you’re going to like it. If The Coaching Habit says, here are the seven essential questions for being more coach-like, The Advice Trap is about coming to grips with how to actually change your behaviour so you stay curious a little bit longer.

 It sounds like it should be easy, but it’s not. We have to tame our Advice Monster, that part of you that jumps in to offer up ideas, opinions, suggestions and advice. (#TameYourAdviceMonster … I think that’s going to be a thing.)

And it’s the taming of your Advice Monster that’s at the heart of this book. I tease apart the difference between Easy Change and Hard Change, and then unpack a powerful way to embrace and master Hard Change. It’s a fundamental skill that has the potential to accelerate you toward being the best version of yourself — Future You — a claim I don’t make lightly.

Mastering Hard Change so you can #TameYourAdviceMonster is where the book starts, but it doesn’t end there. You’ll learn about:

• The six barriers that stand between you and focusing on what matters most, and how to dismantle them.
• How to make your conversations (coaching and otherwise) irresistible, using the neuroscience of engagement.
• How to give advice (when you absolutely, utterly need to give advice).
• The power of Future You leadership, and what essential characteristics are required.
• How to get access to incredible beyond-the-book resources, including a one-year, free leadership program — The Year of Living Brilliantly — delivered by a 52-person faculty of cool, diverse, and provocative thinkers.

 Yeah, you say, but is it any good?

“This book speaks truth: when the best leaders do less themselves, they get more from others. But learning to do less can be painfully hard. Fortunately, Michael Bungay Stanier applies his signature wit and clarity to the challenge, which means making hard change just got a whole lot easier.”

“This is actually a brilliant book. I enjoy just skimming through it to see what great idea I’ll run across. And I love the playful style — one of Michael’s super-powers, I’m sure — especially because it always illuminates rather than obscures the point. It’s also eminently practical, so you’ll gain pointers you can use almost immediately. Highly, highly recommended."

One of my biggest intellectual heroes:

“The Advice Trap is a most useful book in pointing out the many ways in which we misconstrue both what we think We know and what we think the Other Person in the conversation knows and wants. Becoming more mindful, curious, and humble is a prescription one cannot argue with, and this book makes a good case for why those behaviors work better than tell, tell, tell.”

And the coolest compliment:

“Michael Bungay Stanier has done for curiosity what Brené Brown did for vulnerability.”

Buy a Book with Benefits (aka grab a bonus or two while they last!)

Authors like me run these prepublication campaigns to try to get as many sales “in the bag” before the launch date. That’s because, having accumulated, they all get counted in the first week of publication. And if you sell enough, there’s an outside chance you’ll get ON A LIST. 

 It’s not easy. Many of the people who appear briefly on, say, the New York Times bestseller list have coughed up a LOT of money to game the system. That’s not my style, nor in my budget. But I’d still love to see a surge up the Amazon rankings on publication day, so I’ve cooked up this fun bonus scheme for you.

 I’m doing things a little bit differently from others you may have seen. Purchase one copy and you’ll get my gratitude (really, thank you) and also available-during-launch-only download: The Spotters Guide to the Six Foggy-fiers.

If you’re buying more than one, there’s a hierarchy of Kickstarter-style bonuses. It starts with access to an exclusive course on FUTURE YOU LEADERSHIP — more details on that in just a moment. Other prizes include 20 lifetime licenses to Presentation Genius (my online presentation skills course); 100 signed and personalized copies of The Advice Trap and The Coaching Habit; and if you buy a LOT of books you can get an all-expenses-paid trip to spend a day with me in Toronto. Here’s a summary of what’s on offer (and there’s more detail on each one below):

Buy Your Books

Here’s How It Works

Step 1: Buy one or more copies of the book - anywhere books are sold - before February 29, 2020. (Because remember, all this goes away midnight EST February 28th.) They can be print books or ebooks (there’s an audiobook on the horizon, but it won’t be ready for the launch), from any retailer. Click on any icon below to purchase:

Step 2: Keep a record of your receipt. 

Step 3: Follow the instructions at the bottom of the description of the prize you wish to claim. We’ll count the numbers available down, and then we’ll remove the prize from the list. So it’s first in, first served.  

Even as I’m trying to nudge you towards buying two or more books, don’t for a moment think I’m not very grateful for you taking the leap to buy this single copy. Thank you very much.

One of the key chapters of the new book talks about the importance and power of focus, and specifically on taking the time to focus and find the right challenge to work on. It’s taking the Focus Question from The Coaching Habit  -- “What’s the real challenge here for you?” -- and doing a deep dive.

In the book, I get to grips with the six patterns of conversation that get in the way of getting clear. I call these The Foggy-fiers. Each one has a distinctive way of showing up (you’ll definitely have your favourite), and each one can get dispersed by wielding the Focus Question in a particular way.

Mastery here doesn’t come from asking the question. It comes from learning to recognize the Foggy-fiers as they appear. As your bonus for buying a copy of the book, we’ll give you The Spotters Guide to the Six Foggy-fiers. It’s fun, it’s cool … and it’s going to stop you from getting seduced into wasting time and effort by trying to solve the wrong problem.

Is this the prize for you?

FIRST buy the book - anywhere books are sold - before February 29th, THEN fill out this One Copy Form with your contact info and receipt details, and we’ll send you your reward in March. 
Looking for somewhere to buy a book? Click on a bookseller icon below!

If you’re willing to leap in and buy more than one copy before February 29th, I appreciate your trust in me, and I’ve got something for you. I’ve made this one of the most valuable prizes I can offer, because I’m really hoping I can persuade many of you to go from “sure, I’ll buy a copy” to “OK, I’ll buy two”. I’ve said it’s worth $497, because that’s the minimum I’d charge for this course if I was ever to release it. But it’s a bit of a made up number, because this course is exclusive to this book launch. It’s now or never: it won’t be made available again. 

So what does it entail, exactly?

How to Be a Future You Leader

In the new book, I touch on three attributes I think define this next level of leadership. All three have foundations that rest on the power of curiosity. The three attributes are —

Empathy: having a greater sense of what’s real for the other person.

Mindfulness: having a greater sense of what’s real about the situation.

Humility: having a greater sense of what’s real for you.

If this sounds to you like I’m saying we spend much of our time slightly deluded about how much we know, you’re exactly right. Your confidence is not totally warranted. (Neither’s mine, btw.) 

This course won’t make you omniscient, but I think it will help you slow down and be a little smarter, a little less anxious and a little more kind.

In the course, each attribute is explored in a video, where I address the baggage that comes with the term associated with each attribute, dig down into how I’m using the terms (emphatic, mindful, humble), and then explore what the benefits are for you and for others in behaving this way.

I want to provoke you to think differently, but also to act differently. So in each video there’s (at least!) one specific exercise or process per attribute, so you have a way of putting the insight into action.

How Will All This Work?

In short, the course consists of:

• Four pre-recorded video lessons (a kick-off/introduction,  and then one on each of the attributes), and a live Q&A session.
• Access is available to anyone, anytime (during a two-week window), rather than being dependent on time zones and availability.
• Robust community discussion. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for: it’s down to you a little. But there will be a forum in which to reflect on the learnings.
• A worksheet for each video.
• A reading list for each video, so you know what sources I drew upon.
• Access for two weeks only. The first video will be released on Monday, March 23, 2020, and then one new video a day until Friday March 27. And we shut it down Sunday, April 5. That’s what makes this offer exclusive: it’s there, and then it’s not. 

You most likely have additional questions, and I definitely have answers. Rather than getting too “into the weeds” on this page, I’ve set up a Frequently Asked Questions page here.

Is this the prize for you?

FIRST buy two (or more) copies of the book - anywhere books are sold - before February 29th, THEN fill out this Two Copies Form with your contact info and receipt details, and we’ll send you your rewards in March.
Looking for somewhere to buy the book? Click on any of the bookseller icons below! 

I’m pulling these gorgeous postcards out of the archives and printing up just 199 sets. There’s one postcard for each of the seven essential coaching questions, designed by the brilliant Lee Crutchley. You might choose to stick a stamp on them and send them off. You might choose to strategically give them out to people who need them. Or, if you’re like most people, you’ll keep them to yourself … maybe stuck up on a pinboard or somewhere near you.

AND you get the rewards from the lower tiers as well.

Is this the prize for you?

FIRST buy ten (or more) copies of the book - anywhere books are sold - before February 29th, THEN fill out this Ten Copies Form with your contact info and receipt details, and we’ll send you your rewards in March.
Looking for somewhere to buy the book? Click on any of the bookseller icons below!

They’re a lovely pair. The cookies & cream, the Vegemite & toast, the Fred & Ginger, the Gilbert & Sullivan, the Harry & Meghan of coaching books. Buy 20 books, and I’ll send you your own personalized and autographed pristine set of The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap. 

 AND you get the rewards from the lower tiers as well.

Is this the prize for you?

You want to buy 20 (or more) copies of the book before February 29th? Amazing. Contact us directly. We’ll help arrange for your books to get bought and shipped (at a bulk discount rate), and we’ll send you your rewards in March.

One of my best friends is Mark Bowden. He’s the world authority on influence and persuasion, has written numerous books and has an outstanding TEDxToronto talk. He also — just to boast about the cool factor — played the Orc general in the Lord of the Rings movies. (I KNOW!)

He and I created a fabulous online program, Presentation Genius. We don’t talk about it much, but it’s really one of the best things I’ve ever done. Twenty-three episodes, each about 15 minutes. We share our very best skills for how to rock a room, whether you’re doing a keynote or running a workshop or holding a meeting.

 AND you get the rewards from the lower tiers as well.

Is this the prize for you?

You want to buy 100 or more copies of the book before February 29th? Yay you! Contact us directly. We’ll help arrange for your books to get bought and shipped (at a bulk discount rate), and we’ll send you your rewards in March.

 (If you don’t want 100 books but you’d like to check out the course, it’s here.)

Well, hello! You are AWESOME!!

This is the big kahuna! I’ll fly you up to Toronto sometime before February 28 2021. How do we spend that time? That’s up to you. I’ve got skillz, mad skillz, and they’re at your disposal. I can teach you facilitation skills. I can help you design a program. We can brainstorm a book idea. We can tour cool cocktail bars. We can go to fabulous museums. We can take a hike. We can go axe throwing. Really. You get to design an awesome day with me.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• A return airplane ticket (economy class) from anywhere in North America; or contribution to a ticket if you’re flying from outside North America.
• One night’s accommodation at a funky hotel in downtown Toronto.
• A day co-created by you and me that you’ll love.
• Dinner with me and a couple of my coolest friends.

(How did I come up with the value of $25,000? I mean, that’s a LOT of money. Well, that’s what I charge to come and do a keynote in North America. It’s actually a little more if I’m travelling overseas.)

AND you get the rewards from the lower tiers as well. I mean, you get EVERYTHING!

Is this the prize for you? Are you going for it?

Contact us directly. We’ll arrange for your books to get bought and shipped (at a bulk discount rate), for you to get the other rewards in March, and we'll start planning your visit!

But This All Goes Away 11:59pm Toronto time (EST) February 28th

You know why I’m doing it … it’s all about helping you take the leap and preorder. There’s always a degree of risk. There aren’t any reviews up on Amazon yet. You’ve only got my word that this is going to be good (oh, and the word of all those who gave testimonials … and there are more below). So, it’s you gambling your $15 or so on a copy, and me making that feel like a no-brainer for you.

Thank You Again for Your Support!

And to reassure you that the excellence of The Advice Trap isn’t just some fever dream of mine, here are a few other awesome blurbs from people who’ve read the book. Think of these like the credits at the end of a movie. You can move on, or you can scroll through and read them. (Unfortunately, there’s no cool Avengers-style teaser right at the end.)