James

“People ask me what the book means. But the meaning is with the reader. It's shaped by your identity, your experience.” — Percival Everett

In James, Percival Everett doesn’t just reimagine The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — he reconstructs it. Told through the voice of Jim, the enslaved man at the heart of the original story, James is a literary tour de force that gives voice, complexity, and full humanity to a character too long sidelined.

When I heard Everett speak about the book, he said something that stopped me in my tracks: “The meaning is with the reader.” As a coach, that hit me hard. Because isn’t that the very heart of our work?

Meaning doesn’t come from the coach. It comes from the client — shaped by their lived experiences, their identity, their context. Our job isn’t to supply insight. It’s to hold space for the meaning that emerges.

Why This Book Matters for Coaching

Everett’s framing reminded me of ICF Core Competency 4: Cultivating Trust and Safety — particularly the emphasis on seeing and understanding the client within their context. Every coaching session is shaped by the meaning a client is making of their life — not the meaning we project onto it.

That’s the quiet discipline of coaching: listening not just to what’s said, but to what it means — and recognizing that meaning isn’t fixed. It’s deeply personal, layered, and evolving.

“Each coaching conversation is shaped by our clients’ identity, experiences, and values — and the meaning they make from those things.”

Four Insights That Changed the Way I Listen

1. Performance and Power Dynamics

“My performance for the boys became a frame for my story. My story became less of a tale as the real game became the display for the boys.”

Jim’s reflection on performance hits close to home — especially in the coaching context. Many clients perform in coaching sessions — not dishonestly, but self-protectively. They adapt. They present what feels safe to share. They play roles that have kept them afloat.

It’s our job to notice that. To listen beneath the performance. And to create a space where the client doesn’t have to perform — where they can show up as their full, unfiltered selves.

This ties directly to ICF Competency 6: Listens Actively. It also calls us to examine power dynamics. What unspoken rules are shaping this space? What does the client feel they need to be in order to belong?

“Our first task is not to get clients to ‘open up’ — but to show them they can.”

2. Language as Safety

“Safe movement through the world depended on mastery of language, fluency.”

This line reminded me how language functions as a kind of armor. Many clients are eloquent, but that fluency can serve as a shield. The way they speak — their pace, tone, word choice — might be less about expression and more about protection.

In coaching, we need to honor that. To stay curious about why language is being used the way it is. To listen not just for content, but for safety strategies.

Sometimes the most powerful coaching move is silence — creating space for the client to pause, reflect, and choose their words without needing to perform.

3. Meaning and Identity

“If [these words] can have meaning then life can have meaning, then I can have meaning.”

This line gave me chills. It gets to the heart of what coaching makes possible: meaning-making. Coaching isn’t just about solving problems. It’s about helping clients discover what matters. What’s true. What’s theirs.

That kind of meaning isn’t always easy to access. It requires stripping back layers of conditioning and self-protection. But when it emerges, it changes everything.

Coaching gives people the space to claim their own narrative — one that’s rooted not in expectation, but in authenticity.

4. Belief vs. Truth

“Belief has nothing to do with truth.”

This one hit home. Because so often, what gets in a client’s way isn’t fact — it’s belief.

They believe they’re not ready. They believe they’re not good enough. They believe something isn’t possible.

Our job is not to argue with those beliefs. It’s to create a space where clients can examine them. Ask where they came from. Decide whether they still serve. And begin to distinguish between the stories they’ve inherited and the truths they want to live.

“One of our deepest responsibilities as coaches is to help clients distinguish between beliefs they’ve inherited and truths they want to claim.”

Applying James to the Coaching Room

Reading James invited me to turn the mirror on myself. I started asking:

• When do I perform in coaching?

• When I’m intimidated or uncertain, do I overcompensate with confidence?

• How does my own sense of safety — or lack thereof — shape the container I’m trying to hold for someone else?

These reflections have made me more compassionate, more attuned — and more honest.

Because the truth is, we’re not immune to the dynamics our clients navigate. We’re in it with them. And that shared humanity is part of what makes coaching powerful.

Ready to Learn More?

If you’re intrigued by the coaching wisdom embedded in this novel, listen to our full episode of The Coaching Book Club Podcast. In it, Ken and I explore how James invites us to deepen our understanding of identity, performance, and presence in our coaching practice.

Coaching is a space where people get to tell the truth of who they are. James reminds us why that matters — and how sacred that work truly is.