What I discovered in journeying from corporate leader through entrepreneur through spiritual healer to coach-entrepreneur is that passion and purpose — and not just marketplace dynamics — are critical to success in entrepreneur leadership . As a coach , you already have the passion for what you do and purpose in serving your client . You would not be reading this article otherwise .
Coaching is not a business to be cognitively analyzed . It is a vocation to be emotionally experienced . To many it is a spiritual pursuit . Yes , we need money as means to an end , but our purpose is to serve others with passion , transform mindsets if possible and empower our clients by partnering with them .
Business schools do not teach passion . The Walkman would never have been invented if Akio Morita had been to business school . Apple would not have been born , nor Microsoft , had Steve Jobs and Bill Gates graduated .
As a coach , you are already on this journey of transformation . You have the passion to serve . For success you need to align your passion and purpose with your strengths to discover business opportunities and establish support systems .
I used the six-step process outlined here with thousands of people in my healing practice before I became a coach . This is a “ mindless ” meditative process based on Zen & yoga concepts . Focused on journey rather than outcome , it creates far deeper awareness , action and anchoring of reframed behavior than popular mindful techniques that work on the conscious mind . Once you become proficient in applying this in your own life you may wish to share it with your clients , as well .
I describe four of these six processes here . The other two are experiential meditative techniques that need face-to-face inputs .
1 . Sweet Success Spot
The first step , shown in the below graphic , has four elements to discover your passion , linking it with strengths , opportunities and resources to create a powerful base for envisioning your future .
• List exciting or joyous moments in your life . These may relate to achievements , recognition , relationships or serving others . Circle 1 represents joyous moments . Patterns that emerge indicate your passion and purpose .
• Reflect on your strengths . Place strengths you leveraged to realize these exciting moments in circle 2 . Your dreams meet your strengths where circles 1 and 2 intersect .
• Identify opportunities . Based on the intersection of your passion and strengths , discover opportunities to fulfill you in circle 3 .
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Entrepreneur leaders work on their gut feeling , passion and grit , and belief in an idea , not by analyzing the market mathematically . Entrepreneurs are resilient ; they fall and rise to grow . They do this because they believe . They believe in something that drives them relentlessly to succeed . They may start with the goal of wealth and power . Over time with success and failure this transforms into what they can contribute to society . It is about what is in their heart that helps them grow and succeed .
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