Coaching A to Z: How Haesun Moon’s Listening Compass Can Transform Client Conversations

In this episode of The Coaching Book Club Podcast, Christy and Ken explore Coaching A to Z by Haesun Moon—a beautifully structured and story-rich guide that brings coaching to life through powerful language and the lens of solution-focused practice.

Moon’s “Listening Compass” tool is at the heart of the conversation, offering a fresh way to guide clients toward their preferred future and resourceful past, instead of getting bogged down in the present problem. This episode uncovers:

• Why storytelling is at the core of transformational coaching.
• How repeating clients’ exact words can deepen connection and insight.
• The difference between “what matters to the client” vs. “what’s the matter with the client”—and why that shift changes everything.

Whether you’re a solution-focused coach or just curious about elevating your coaching presence, this episode is packed with practical takeaways, meaningful reflection, and a reminder that our clients are the true authors of their stories.

Transcript

Christy Stuber: 0:11

Welcome to the Coaching Book Club podcast, the show that empowers coaches through books. I'm Kristy s Stuber, here with my friend and co-host Ken McKeller. And today we're talking about coaching A to Z by high soon Moon. Moon Explorers, what kinds of conversations actually help people heal and grow? And she offers a powerful tool called the Listening Compass. It helps us focus on a client's preferred future and resourceful past rather than getting stuck in the present problem. And here's what you can expect in this episode. First, we'll start with a quick overview of the book, what it's about, and why it matters to coaches like you. Next, we'll break down some key takeaways that stood out to us and share how you can apply these insights to your coaching practice. Finally, we'll explore how these concepts connect to real world coaching challenges and help you build confidence, tackle imposter syndrome, and grow as a coach. Whether you've read this book before or hearing about it for the first time, you'll leave with actionable tools to strengthen your skills. So let's get started. Hey, Ken.

Ken McKellar: 1:15

Hey. Hey. How you doing?

Christy Stuber: 1:17

Good. How are you today?

Ken McKellar: 1:18

I'm doing good. Good, good, good. Good to see you. Good to be here.

Christy Stuber: 1:22

Good

Ken McKellar: 1:22

to be talking about A to Z.

Christy Stuber: 1:25

Mm-hmm. Yeah. What mattered to you about this book?

Ken McKellar: 1:30

Well, I have a solution focused background. So if you are into solution focused coaching, this is definitely a must have book. She really breaks it down. That's number two. Number one s. Stories she told, she tells stories. I'm a storyteller. I love stories. And you tell a story. Boy, that's, that's, that's definitely gonna plant a seed That's going to deliver a very juicy fruit during harvest season for me.

Christy Stuber: 2:07

That's what connected for me as well, the, the. Definition that she wrote about coaching. That coaching is curating stories of purpose, possibilities, and progress. I've always felt like the reason why I'm so interested in coaching is because every time I meet a client, it's like I get to open the book and hear their stories and you know, I love reading. Uh, so for me it's like I get to read all these new books when I meet with my clients. And to have that be her core idea, it's stories was. Really resonant with me as to, um, how I think about coaching as well.

Ken McKellar: 2:46

Yeah. I like, I like what she said at the very beginning, habits of the Heart gives ears to the story. And I was like, what, what

Christy Stuber: 3:01

habits of the heart give ears to the story?

Ken McKellar: 3:06

Yes. What I got from that was just in the coaching, right? What we build upon as habits, and she talks about from her A to Z exploring different options of coaching, what it looks like, what it may sound like, right? We build different habits on how we communicate. It generates different stories. If I ask you, do you want to go to McDonald's, that's a yes or no, versus what do you want to eat? You may say Hogie steak versus what do you wanna do? You may say, go get ice cream. So, I mean, but just from the questions, right? Generates a story. So that's what I got. That's what I'm starting again. I'm still working with it. Habits of the Heart gives ears to the story. What might that mean for you?

Christy Stuber: 4:12

I think for me, for me, what I take away from that is if I can listen. To the stories that I tell myself, I can learn what my habits are and then I can start to get more information about how those habits are helping me or getting in my way. She talks about, um, unweaving Tapestry at one point that we need to unweave it to understand. That story so that then we can weave a new story. I think the second part was my adaptation. So that's what I think about when I hear habits of the heart and ears to the story. It leads to one of my first takeaway. Can I share? Mm-hmm. Yeah. One of my takeaways was about using our client's words. Um. She has a quote where she says, unless we language hope with our words, me, we may soon languish. There's so much in that, that one sentence I think that we could peel apart the piece of it that I think is important is that we need to use our clients' words back to them. And I remember early, mm-hmm. Early in my like training, not as a coach, but. I was probably training as a therapist when I was training to work on the suicide hotline. I was taught that we needed to not parrot, not repeat the other person's words that we needed to rephrase them in our own words. And as a person who reads a lot and loves words and loves, like finding the right word for things, that was great pleasure for me and great joy. Mm-hmm. And I've, I've been on this MCC journey and. Reevaluating that to using the exact words that my clients are sharing with me has become more important, so that I'm accurate reflecting back to them the habits of their heart and the way they're describing it.

Ken McKellar: 6:27

Nice, nice. That reminds me a lot of Marian Wade's work clean. Language coaching. Mm-hmm. And saying back the exact words and how powerful that is. Mm-hmm. Just to piggyback off of that, one of my takeaways was, first of all I liked, she did A to Z and she used the alphabets to kind of. Make her points right down from A to Z. Um, and B was becoming, and she tells a story about like her dad referring to her, you know, as what she wanted to be. And that was so hit home with me. That was right with, right up on my porch because I remember my dad, one of the things I wanted to to be is I wanted to be a doctor. Not a md, but a PhD is what I used to always say. But I used to say that even when I was, I don't know, I was real young and my dad used to call me Doc. He used to call us. I had four other brothers by what we wanted to be. He'd say, doc, yep. Go. Go clean out that garage. Yo doc. Uh, go bring that plate over here. I thought that was so cool looking back on it, right? I mean, it was to me, I was like. This is who I am, or this is who I was becoming. This is, this is, this is it. He could see it for me and allow me to see it for myself and allow me to expand on that possibility, which she talks a lot about in her book.

Christy Stuber: 8:05

It's The Language of Hope, and she talks about becoming, um, as a radical acceptance of believing. What you're describing is how she says this isn't important just for coaches. It's the glue that men's and bonds, many relations we hold near. So your dad was doing this for you? Mm-hmm. Takeaway for me on that is, uh, what I remember learning from a mentor that I need to believe in my clients more than they believe in themselves. Mm. Sometimes, and boy, that could be hard sometimes when I'm not so sure that I believe in them or I believe that what they're doing is right and holding that back because it's not up to me to decide or judge what they're doing. Takes a lot of effort on my part to maintain my presence in those moments, to allow myself to keep that judgment brain out. The curiosity brain in. That sense of belief in them.

Ken McKellar: 9:05

Yeah. You know, one of the things that she had mentioned in the book is this whole concept of, you know, taking in what matters right. To the client versus what is the matter. Mm-hmm. With the client and I was like, ah, shock it now. Right, right. Because you know what matters. That's coming from that trust, safety not coming from that high five of a coaching relationship. Man, it is completely different because with that, I'm not looking to fix, I'm looking to engage. Right.

Christy Stuber: 9:50

Right? Yeah. Even when I have a client who comes to me and wants to vent about something that's going on or maybe complain, I've realized that if I can look underneath that to what matters, to use your language and to use hers, what's that value that's missing for them, which is what matters. Then that conversation shifts from complaining and venting about what's going on. I'm thinking about a client I just had recently and they were really unhappy in their workplace and they just wanted to vent. But then we started, I started identifying things I was hearing that felt like they were misaligned for them, values that weren't being represented. They, um, actually made the decision to leave their organization because I realized maybe it wasn't the right fit for them. You know, as coaches, sometimes that's, well, I'll speak for myself, but that can be stressful when I'm coaching somebody and they've decided to leave and I worry about the organization's gonna be upset with me. And I remember the, the boss called me and said, Hey, this, this is the, the person's decision. And then he said, thank you. We don't wanna lose her, but we also don't wanna keep her if she's not aligned in who she wants to be here at the organization. Mm-hmm. I was like, thank you very much. Somebody who really gets coaching in their organization. But for this person, noticing those values that were not being represented, that were feeling like they were rubbing the wrong way, took them from complaining to having a more clear vision for their direction that they wanted to move in.

Ken McKellar: 11:26

One of the biggest takeaways for me for the book is the storytelling. That's what she did throughout the book. She told stories, used examples, metaphors, analogies. I mean, it was beautiful. I was enga. It's a short book, so it's not that long, and I was engaged from. Beginning to end. You know, she's weaving out interactions with family members, parents. So it was a learning opportunity for me as well as entertainment. And anytime I can put my learning in my entertainment in the same cup, that is the perfect Folgers.

Christy Stuber: 12:13

Fo not a sponsor. Yeah. She has lots and lots and lots of great examples of her own experience, her own life, and how they connect to the framework that she. Has focused on, which as you mentioned, is more solution focused, is really about this preferred future and resourceful past, keeping our conversations in those areas with our clients. Um, so many good examples in the book about how to do that. So, Ken, what are you gonna be applying to your coaching practice after reading this book?

Ken McKellar: 12:48

Well, I think it just takes you back to the beginning of. Like you just said, what is that preferred future? What is that resourceful past? So remember that remembering that in conversation is, I mean, a very powerful concept. I, I like solution focus coaching. So in the way she talked about it, this was a. Because I, I read it for the second time or maybe the third time, so this is one of those books that goes right up next to Claire Norman's and list at the heart that I'm reading every quarter.

Christy Stuber: 13:28

I think the big takeaway from me parallels my experience with reading books, so I. I read a lot and I've had a lot of people say to me, don't you wanna write books because you read them? And I say, Nope. I think I know where I am in the food chain of, of books. I'm the reader, I'm the appreciator of the books. And in coaching, I have the same opportunity. Right? If I, if I believe that my clients are the experts in living their lives. Then my job is to, to witness that with them, to wonder about it with them, to maybe help them find that language of hope so that they can write their stories. I'm not the writer of their stories. That's what I wanna, that's my takeaway that I wanna hold onto and remember, just like when I read, you know, books for fun. I'm not the writer and just when I talk to my clients, I'm not the writer of their stories. They are.

Ken McKellar: 14:32

Well, I hope you read my book Coming out in March 4th, 2026, right. The, the, the high five of coaching relationship on, in the book that's coming out, uh, two months before that called. Coach your insights for life. I hope you read my books. Stop Playing. Matter of fact, how can my book get on this podcast? I wanna put a bid in right now.

Christy Stuber: 15:01

Well, Ken, if you have a book suggestion, you can just message us on our LinkedIn and we'll consider your books for our conversation. It's exciting to hear about your books and have them contribute to our conversations. Anything else that you wanna add today before we close out?

Ken McKellar: 15:20

Get the book and I know Is she, is, is Moon, is she gonna be a speaker at the, the conference?

Christy Stuber: 15:33

Yeah. So a reminder for all of our coach friends out there that, uh, this October ICF Converge is happening in San Diego and High Sun Moon is one of the signature speakers. So they will be there presenting their ideas, and the conference overall is a great opportunity for coaches to gather, to learn, to get inspired. And, um, I just highly recommend if you are on the fence about it, to take a look at the website, icf converge.com to learn more and register. And our hope is that we'll see you there, Ken. That's where you and I finally met in person, uh, two years ago, was at the ICF converge in Orlando.

Ken McKellar: 16:17

Yeah. So get the book and. She'll be there. She can sign it for you. She did not tell me to say this. If I run up to, if I run into her, I'm getting my book signed. I know that.

Christy Stuber: 16:31

There you go. Well listeners, we wanna thank you for listening again today, high Soon. Moon describes coaching as curating stories of purpose, possibilities, and progress. And Ken and I can't think of a better way to sum up what we do as coaches. We hope these takeaways have sparked new ideas for your coaching practice and reminded you that showing up with curiosity and humility is often the most powerful thing you can do. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe to the Coaching Book Club on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode, and we'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn. Follow us for more coaching insights and updates about upcoming episodes. And if there's a coaching book that rocked your world, uh, let us know. Send us a message on LinkedIn and we might feature it in a future episode. So thanks again for being part of our community. And until next time, happy coaching.