Thursday, October 28
Write the check!
Coaching, consulting, mentoring, training, teaching, managing, supervising, directing, guiding, advising, and rehabilitating all have one thing in common: the person on the receiving end must, ultimately, write the check.
A CPA, a bookkeeper, and a coach walk into a bar... wait a minute! Rewind. I was talking with a CPA, a bookkeeper, and a coach and they all mentioned to me that with certain clients, it doesn't matter how brilliant the tax strategy, how wise the coaching advice, or how effective and up to date the books are, the client can still not follow through and the results are disastrous.
Let's take the accountant as a real clear example. The CPA gets all the tax paperwork done, sifts through all the receipts, expenses, income, and statements, and finds some brilliant ways to save the client money, both in the short term and the long term. End result: the client goes to prison.
Huh?
What happened? We just established that the CPA did everything right, and even beyond that, did an exceptional job. What didn't the CPA do? He didn't write the check.
A CPA, a bookkeeper, and a coach walk into a bar... wait a minute! Rewind. I was talking with a CPA, a bookkeeper, and a coach and they all mentioned to me that with certain clients, it doesn't matter how brilliant the tax strategy, how wise the coaching advice, or how effective and up to date the books are, the client can still not follow through and the results are disastrous.
Let's take the accountant as a real clear example. The CPA gets all the tax paperwork done, sifts through all the receipts, expenses, income, and statements, and finds some brilliant ways to save the client money, both in the short term and the long term. End result: the client goes to prison.
Huh?
What happened? We just established that the CPA did everything right, and even beyond that, did an exceptional job. What didn't the CPA do? He didn't write the check.
- Only the client can write the check even though the CPA did all the work.
- Only the client can maintain the brilliant system the bookkeeper sets up.
- Only the client can make the life or career changes that coach and client co-create.
I started with 12 participants in a 4-week marketing program. Only 4 of them "wrote the check" at the end and put the system into practice. Nick, Marc, Gerrie, and David will all be successful not because of what I taught them; not because of the tools and strategies I shared; not because I'm a genius or know more than they do (I don't - see my earlier post) -- but they will ultimately be successful because they "wrote the check" and put the plan into action.
Whether you're a professional coach, consultant, manager, or therapist, look for people who are not only willing to show up and pay you money; look for people who are also willing to "write the check" and ACT.
