The interesting thing is, the coaching journey isn't just for coaches. There's so much you can learn and use in your every day life. I wish I'd have done this 20 years ago
What was your inspiration or your motivation to join, come along and do the Foundations of Coaching Success training?
So, I've been a CEO for 12 years in a family wine business, so medium-sized, quite successful business. And before that I was in project management and consulting. And just about to turn 50 this year, and I was thinking, "Well is this it? Is this all there is?" I'd run a successful business for 12 years through the global financial crisis, through all these issues in the wine industry, and it wasn't a challenge anymore.
I wasn't getting that kick out of it. It was getting a little big mundane. There was things in the business that I couldn't change, which was holding the business back and I was starting to get bitter and angry about it. So I thought, "No, I need to do something different."
"Without doing stuff and practicing it, you can't actually get better at it. And that's something I think people forget, it's okay reading books and doing trainings, but unless you're actually using it on a day to day basis, you're never going to learn it and keep it."
It sounded like you ran out of challenges, like you ran out of growth opportunities?
Yeah, I'm always one that does to be doing further development. I'm always reading a book on something. The key that I learned yesterday was that I need to actually put some focus around that and actually make sure that it's for a reason, not just to read it for reading’s sake.
I think that's a wonderful thing that coaching gives us. Coaching can be that purpose.
Yeah, for sure. And for me with the business, I actually just cut it cold turkey, and the second day of the Foundations was actually my last day at work. I'm fully resigned. And I gave them six months notice to work all that out, but I figured, well if I don't do it, then they're just going to keep going the way they are, they're not going to change either, and they're not going to grow. I have to pull that record.
So you started searching for something more. How did you come about Foundations of Coaching Success? How did you know for you that it was worth exploring and tapping into?
Initially it was around fun and a course where I could learn and practice what I learn straight away. I've done a master's in marketing, so I've done some university-based training.
And then you've got all these books, and all this information, but how often do you actually use it? It's very limited. Where one of the things I loved about when I was finding out about the coaching this year was the fact that you learned this stuff and then straight away you're influencing it. You don't have an opportunity to sort of, "Oh, no, I might do it next week."
Even in the Foundations training, we do our first coaching session on the second day. And it's scary, but you do it and it's awesome.
Yeah, isn't that interesting? It's like before we're about to do something it's scary, but then after we've done it it's like, "Wow that was really cool."
Yeah, exactly. And without doing stuff and practicing it, you can't actually get better at it. And that's something I think people forget, it's okay reading books and doing trainings, but unless you're actually using it on a day to day basis, you're never going to learn it and keep it.
"The actual learning to some extent is secondary to the community and the friendships you build. I love coming here. And I come here every chance I get. Because the actual learning, and learn to become a coach, and the training, it's not easy, it's hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it."
You just achieved a really great business result through the application of what you've been learning. Share with us what you did, because I think it's fantastic.
So well I haven't really been consciously going out into the market looking for work, I've just been sharing my experiences and talking to people.
And through that I met a contact in the one industry, who's in our local region where I was working before, but was really interested in finding out more and having the chat. So I had a chat with him around what he's doing with his business, and I've just secured the contract with him for six months of consulting work with him and coaching to help improve his business.
So that first paid client, I've had pro-bonos, and 25K business in one go, so giving it away.
Congratulations! It's fantastic. You must feel wonderful.
It is. It's such a high. The sales process in itself is a high, and once you know the structure of how to go about it, it puts a lot of things in perspective. You kind of know what to do, but not for what reasons. Where once you actually start looking and breaking it down, it all makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, I think that's one of the things I hear students tell me all the time, is when they do the Foundations training they get their structure for success.
The interesting thing is, the coaching journey isn't just for coaches. There's so much you can learn and use in your every day life. I wish I'd have done this 20 years ago, because as a CEO the human behavior skills that you learn, so useful in day to day working life, and personal life. It just changes the way you look at things and you analyze the code for why people are doing things. It makes such a difference in your life.
How has what you've been learning from your Foundations training and being around the coaching in this community, how has that helped you?
So we've got two kids, two teenage kids, 18 and 15. And teenagers, especially nowadays, is just a whole new challenge.
Just the way they think about things, and their priorities, and because they're our generation, they're after millennials, they don't really care about work. They want the money, but they don't really care what they do. So to be able to start to analyze in that and thinking about sort of how they're thinking. It gives you a bit more tolerance around what they're doing as well. Everyone's different. We've grown up in different areas.
The knowledge and the way that you dealt or you thought about how you grew up, you can't put on to them, because it's totally different.
And I'm very lucky, my wife, she's a nurse, and she's got a lot more understanding of human behavior than I used to have. I'm getting better. And how I was brought up around relationships and kids was totally different to her. So she already knew that we need to interact more with the kids, and not just, "Go in your room, and do what you need to do." To actually talk to them and understand what they're going through.
"You can guarantee Foundations of Coaching Success is a workshop that you'll never have done before. There's nothing like it in the world. And to some extent, you're always looking for that again."
And now through this training it's like you're being ... you're on your own journey now of understanding?
Absolutely. And I'm still have lots to learn, but even when I'm not doing it, I realize why I'm not doing it and then think about, "Well I need to change going forward," which is great.
So you've really taken control of your own financial world. What has this journey meant to you so far?
It's interesting, because the actual learning to some extent is secondary to the community and the friendships you build. I love coming here. And I come here every chance I get. Because the actual learning, and learn to become a coach, and the training, it's not easy, it's hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
It's a challenge to learn new things, isn't it?
Exactly. And to keep your momentum going. I love coming here because no matter what you come here to train about, the energy that it gives you coming here, being with like-minded people, just helps to raise your energy levels to keep going. I think the main thing that I'm learning is learning about life and purpose. You've only got one life so you might as well make the most of it. But there's lots of ways to do that, and it's having some conscious awareness of what you're doing and why you're doing it.
One thing we cover at Foundations training is that, the more we know what's important to us, the better decisions we can really make for life, do you agree?
The Foundations training itself, it's very hard to explain to someone what it's going to be like, but as soon as you get in that room, the energy is just electric.
You can guarantee it's a workshop that you'll never have done before. There's nothing like it in the world. And to some extent, you're always looking for that again.
I'm looking forward to coming in and help support doing some ninja work on the Foundations, because I just love seeing people when they experience that for the first time.
It really is like the matrix. It's taking that pill and seeing what the life really is.
What would you say to someone who is thinking about coming along to the Foundations training?
You got to do it. Even if you're not sure if coaching is for you, give yourself the opportunity to at least try. If you don't give it a go, you're always going to be thinking, "What if?" But for what it is, and the time it takes, I'd recommend it to everyone.
ABOUT PAUL
Paul has been a successful CEO for over 12 years but the whisper inside has always telling him that there is more to him than that and that he need to do something different. Coaching has given him that purpose of continual growing and developing. He recently secured his first $25,000 business client in one go.
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