Photo courtesy of Beat Tschanz and Flickr
“DANGER: Keep your fingers out of the machinery. “
– Health and safety notice
This week’s article is about how to find your bearings when you get off-track. One of my favourite ways of learning a lot while having a big impact is during 1:1 Intensives with my clients. Here’s an excerpt from my book RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More (©2016 Jamie Smart, published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd):
‘You’re going to have to raise your game. . . ’ It was the end of the first hour of a one-to-one coaching intensive with Jim Lewcock, CEO of The Specialist Works. We were just about to go for a break when Jim dropped his bombshell, ‘You’re just regurgitating your book; you’re going to have to raise your game’. I thanked him for being forthright with me, and said I’d reflect on what he’d said. We were at a serene and luxurious hotel in the Surrey countryside, but as I started walking around the grounds, I felt anything but tranquil. What was I going to do? I thought I’d already been bringing my A-game for the past hour, but I didn’t seem to be having much impact. I felt worried and anxious. What if I wasn’t up to it? What if I couldn’t help my client? A flashmob of thoughts filled my head with visions of refund cheques, negative word of mouth and a long drive home with my tail between my legs. The feelings of worry and anxiety were getting stronger when I suddenly realized what was going on…
Your feelings aren’t telling you about your client, your past,
your future or what you’re like as a person…
Your feelings are an experience of the principle of THOUGHT
taking form right now, in this very moment.
As the realization landed, my body started to relax and I began reflecting on the first hour of our session. As I replayed it in my mind, I saw that I’d been struggling to feel a deep connection with Jim. We’d had good rapport when we’d done our intake call ear- lier in the month, so I started wondering about why it would be different now. Maybe he was feeling under pressure to get maximum value from this investment of his time, money and trust. Jim is a classic entrepreneur – a quick, creative action-taker. Per- haps he was trying to fit what we were talking about into his existing ‘mental filing cabinet’. Suddenly, inspiration struck; I knew what to do. When Jim and I reconvened, I told him I’d realized what the problem was. I said, ‘You’re here for transformation. You want results, but you’re not going to get them by collecting a bunch of new concepts and ideas. The thing that’s going to make a difference to you is a realization; a deeper insight into the nature of your mind and your life. It’s not going to come from me, my stories or my concepts; it’s going to come from inside you. If you want that, you’re going to need to raise your game and find a new way of listening. My job is to create a space where I can point you in the direction of that inner source of insight and realization. Your job is to listen as deeply as you can, and do your best to look in the direction I’m pointing’. As I spoke the truth I was seeing in the moment, Jim fell out of his urgent, outside-in thinking and back into reality. The feeling of connection we’d had during our intake call re-emerged, and we started to make progress.
A lot has happened in the three years since Jim’s coaching intensive. He says, ‘Allowing my thoughts to settle rather than urgently pushing them has led to more authentic, permanent and trusted decision making and engagement. The results of which have been rather wonderful’. For instance, Jim decided to purchase one of his competitors (a multi-million pound risk). Their clarity of understanding meant he and his team were able to move quickly, win over the new employees and double the company’s profits in one year. When The Specialist Works’ 100 staff were moving to new premises, Jim had a sudden realization that led to him inviting his employees to design their new workspaces. The result is an office space that’s inherently connected to the company culture, deep engagement from the staff who spend so much of their lives there and a six-figure saving on design fees. Jim explains, ‘I’m more patient these days. If it’s not absolutely right, I don’t push it. I wait until it’s right and then I act with total conviction’. The advertising industry always has unsold capacity, so Jim had an insight and created Goodwill Rocks. He persuaded 20 media companies each to donate £50,000 worth of media assets, then invited large charities to join them. Charities are usually very wary of advertisers and salespeople, but by leading with authentic engagement and connection, they can see Jim’s heart is in the right place. Twenty large charities got involved right away so The Specialist Works is now doing business with the charitable sector. Goodwill Rocks is accomplishing in months what would have taken Jim’s team years to do using traditional thinking, and has already created a million pounds worth of value for charities. The Specialist Works ended up being selected as one of the Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For in 2015. When I asked him about this, Jim said the reason was simple. ‘When you’re authentically engaged, stuff really works’.
By the way, would you like to ‘sit in’ / observe / ‘be a fly on the wall’ during one of my 3-day 1:1 Intensives with a client? Here’s what I’m thinking: Ever since I wrote in RESULTS about how Ankush Jain sat in and observed while I did a 3-day 1:1 Intensive with a client, I’ve had lots of people come to me and ask how they can do the same. The motivation is clear: while lots of coaches love the idea of offering high-value, multi-day intensives, very few coaches actually have a reference experience for them: they haven’t experienced what a multi-day intensive looks like, sounds like and feels like. Basically, it can be tough to do something when you don’t have any kind of reference for it. So I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I’ve come up with a way for you to sit in while I do a 3-day 1:1 Intensive with a paying client, and then de-brief with me between the sessions. Would you like to see/hear more? If yes, watch your inbox for an email with the Subject Line: Sit in on an intensive
Big love
Jamie
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Keynote” in the subject line.
2. Apply for the 2017 intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme
If you want to be part of the class of 2017, this year’s intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme starts in September. You can find all the details and get your application in here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-coach-training-sh/
3. Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group
Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free at www.JamieSmart.com/expo
4. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power this month. Stay tuned for details… If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice… email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Glasswing” in the subject line.
PLUS: check these out
Get your free Exponential Practice Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scorecard
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to Your Exponential Practice Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/podcast
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults