In the beginning, we were just another coaching and consulting firm. We did good things and we helped our clients do better. But recently, we discovered the missing ingredient, the secret sauce, the magic maker. Rather than focusing on what we do or how we do it, we’ve gotten clear about why we do what we do and what we believe. Call it mission, call it purpose, call it core values. Whatever you call it, we’ve gotten clear on what we believe and now we’re building our business, what we do, how we do it, and who we do it for around our why, our beliefs, and our values.
Our clients are the reason we exist. You’re not a necessary evil or just a source of revenue. Our clients are like air, without which we have no reason to exist. We are committed to working, listening, producing, asking, delivering, solving and transforming, consistent with this belief that our clients are the essence of us.- We believe in stories and their power to disconnect us and empower us, personally and professionally. Much of what we do, how we do it, and what we believe is based upon stories, but many of these stories are not true, or at least no longer serve us. By debunking the stories that no longer serve us, and connecting with our authentic stories, we create the foundation for transformation.
- We believe in relationships. Relationships are the lifeblood of sustainable and thriving businesses. Deep, connected, and mutually beneficial relationships within teams, organizations, and with clients, are game-changers that drive transformation.
- We believe in authenticity and vulnerability. The past 25 years have proven that command-and-control, close to the vest, and top-down management failed to create engagement, collaboration and consistent execution. In contrast, open, authentic and vulnerable leaders nurture organizations that trust, create, and get things done. This new model of the aware, authentic, and conscious leader engages and enlivens people, teams and organizations.
- We believe in accountability and integrity. Seemingly lost in complicated processes in organizational development theory, integrity is simple: do what you say you are going to do when you say you will do it. Similarly, accountability can be just as simple: Did you do what you said you were going to do? If yes, provide praise and appreciation and continue the acceleration. If not, then identify what got in the way and provide support to help assure effective execution in the future. No shame and no blame!
- We believe in the power of questions to open eyes, shift paradigms, and identify the path to visionary objectives. Albert Einstein once said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” We have ideas to share, but often it will be our questions that will light the way.
- We believe in questioning everything, but changing only those things that will help you get where you want to go … faster and more predictably.
- We believe in alignment and integration. Plot your course, claim your values, and execute consistently with both, and the resulting alignment is a transformation accelerator. Likewise, when leaders fully align and integrate who they really are into their leadership, people, teams, and organizations will come alive.
- We believe in gifts, passion, and love. We all have special skills and talents, but it is our unique gifts which differentiate us, and identifying and focusing on our collective gifts is a powerful accelerator. When combined with love for what we do and even love for the people with whom we work, the resulting passion can set any person, team or organization on fire.
- We believe in transformation of leaders, of organizations, of teams, and of people. Many claim to be change agents and many organizations claim to have internal “change agents,” but change alone is not enough. If you’re going to go, then go big. When people wake up, are more aware, and live, work, and lead consciously, transformation is the outcome.
There it is – this we believe!
But don’t take our word for it. Ask our clients and the people that refer us to other clients. Have a conversation with us and see for yourself whether we live and breathe these beliefs. Work with us, test us, challenge us, and hold us accountable to these beliefs.
An icon of this type of leadership is Nelson Mandela, a man who overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges to change the world in a big way. Nelson Mandela lived and breathed many of the same beliefs, and he said: “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
We are inspired by men and women like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, Margaret Mead, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey. They were mission driven people who had vision and took risks to create transformational change. We want to work with the same kinds of clients. Are you one of these?
What they all shared was that they cared enough to take the risk of being rejected in order to change things. Steve Jobs from Apple called these types of people the Crazy Ones. They didn’t do it all, but they led from the front, authentic, vulnerable, and passionate. We choose to live and do business in the same way. We are one of those small groups of thoughtful committed people that are passionate about changing the world, one person and one relationship at a time (credit to Margaret Mead).
The Story Behind The Story
In the beginning (as Think Again CoachingTM), it was simple: We were trainers, coaches and consultants. We helped professionals grow their client base and their business by developing the next generation of rainmakers. We also helped professionals build deeper and more connected relationships with their existing clients by helping them to understand that the value they provide can and should go far beyond the quality and quantity of the services they provide.
We helped businesses, leaders and their teams learn how to trust each other, communicate, be accountable, and consistently and effectively execute.
In essence, we started out by helping our clients grow, build, and accelerate their businesses. We were good at what we did and we added value to our clients, but lots of people did that. We thought we did it better and different, but in many ways we were like other consulting and coaching businesses. And then we thought again!
Recently, we discovered the missing ingredient, the secret sauce, the magic maker: rather than focusing on what we do or how we do it, we’ve gotten clear about why we do what we do and what we believe. Call it mission, call it purpose, call it core values. Whatever you call it, we’ve gotten clear on what we believe and now we’re building our business, what we do, how we do it, and who we do it for around our why, our beliefs, and our values.
Jeff Nischwitz, Chief Transformation Officer
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