The more successful you are the more you need to introduce other things in your life to counter balance it. The best type of 'other things' are those that demand you to be humble.
This is a new Small Business Tips and Techniques page for the small business owners out there and those running small businesses as a 'one man band'. I know the stresses and potential problems are legion.
Hence my desire, as a small business person myself, to provide a tips and techniques page that addresses some of these problems. All the life coaching and executive coaching tips and techniques are equally applicable to small business owners but we have our own unique challenges, worries and risks.
A small business owner has no resources other than their own skills, ingenuity and drive. But sometimes that is not enough, you also need support and guidance from someone who is in the same boat as you and understanding and feeling the economy with you.
All businesses go through cycles. Sometimes up, sometimes even and sometimes down. You must have the resources to be able to take advantage of the up, to float comfortably during the flat times and to ride out any lows.
You must build that potential into the business not by saving money during the good times but by spending money during those times to create the opportunities that will provide steady cash flow.
Small businesses take a long time to succeed. Sometimes so long that you go out of business long before you have given it the chance to succeed. This realisation and acceptance should be one of the antidotes to panicking when things start to go wrong. If you believe strongly enough in your product, you will succeed but keep it 'egoless'. If
things need to change, be prepared to be challenged.
You should never be in a position where things have already gone wrong and there is nothing you can do about it. Once the panic sets in, you are useless. You must have in place some early warning systems (other than gut feel and panic) that tell you that things are going wrong.
This early warning system is not just technology but people in your life, small business coaches and others whose judgement and objectivity you can trust. They should be able to provide you with gentle warnings early on that can save you later on down the track.
When you get to the point where you are no longer listening to people or are able to run the operational side of the business then you know though you have left it till quite late to seek help, that time is the absolute latest to seek it. A moment later and you have perished.
In all types of businesses you should do some planning especially in a small business where your livelihood and even your home may be at stake. When planning believe and trust in your Plan A but also have a Plan B. You must ensure that Plan B is not an option with a lot of emotional baggage.
In other words, Plan B should not be thought of as a 'failure'. Think of it as a plan to mitigate your risk and if it has already escalated into a running problem, then reducing your loss. Reducing your loss should never be thought of as a failure. Even if you reduce your loss by a small sum, that is still something you can rely on in the lean times ahead.
A small business should be devoid and denuded of pride and ego. Decisions made on the basis of family, emotion, previous mistakes made, debts owed real and imagined are invariably wrong.
Do not be afraid to listen to advice from people who you respect and trust. It is not expected that you are an expert in marketing, distribution, product development, web site development, finance, tax as well as your subject matter. You personally can't do it all. Recognise your limitations.
You cannot be right all the time, you will probably be wrong a fair bit of the time. Don't let the latter attack your ego. There is no point stewing over a loss of a client worth $1000 when there is a possibility of gaining one worth $10,000 if you only focused.
Being a successful small business owner is a confidence thing but also about being able to average out the highs and lows. Don't be too despondent about the lows or too elated by the highs. Find that happy medium where you can perform adequately for an extended period of time.
There are other things beside your small business going on in your life. Don't neglect those. They provide the necessary balance and perspective without which your small business can develop into an unhealthy obsession, no matter how successful it is.
The more successful you are the more you need to introduce other things to balance it out. If working 4 hours a day makes you a success then working 16 hours a day may make you 4 times more successful? That statement is certainly not correct. It may be achievable but it is not sustainable.
You should not be in a small business with a risk mitigation strategy as your primary survival mechanism. That is maintaining a constant defensive posture. Your primary posture must be attack using the best marketing tools at your disposal.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 64
Corporate psychopaths Q&A
What is a corporate psychopath?
It is someone who intelligently or with brute force or with a combination of both hijacks the resources of the organisation for their own ultimate ends. Psychopathy is not just about the ends but the means. Their means are brutal, authoritarian, coercive, wasteful of effort and resources, misdirected and just plain inefficient because they degrade people assets sometimes permanently and pervert processes.
What is the difference between a corporate psychopath and an ambitious executive?
There are corporate psychopaths who verge into criminal behaviour such as fraud and there are psychopaths who do not have criminal aims but operate within the system but nonetheless still wreak havoc. The difference between a psychopath and an ambitious executive is that the former intentionally and cruelly wreck people's lives along the way even if they don't strictly need to, to achieve their goals. They destroy people just for pleasure and because they can.
Are all corporate psychopaths the same?
Yes they are all the same in the after effect of their behaviour being destructive but there are differences in their inbuilt traits and how that influences their approach. It determines their attack posture, their engagement model, modus operandi and methods.
These are the main types of corporate psychopaths:
Narcissistic psychopaths - uses charm and beauty to seduce their constituents. Sex is their currency and they are fabulously wealthy. If beauty and charm does not work they revert to the defensive/aggressive type. You know this type because they like to have their photo taken with the boss at every opportunity, smiling and in knockout clothes. These people are usually very body image conscious, after it is their currency. Not an ounce of fat here unless they're pregnant.
Management psychopaths - these people manage up beautifully but well only in that direction, horizontally and down their hierarchies they are terrors and mistreat their people and constantly war with their peers. Up they couldn't be more co-operative and show the utmost initiative. These people usually are not the best in their technical field quite the contrary sometimes. Their success does not hinge on perfection but on convincing the boss they're doing a good job. On inspection their work from a technical standpoint is usually quite poor. That may be one of the reasons why they spend so much time working up: they have a lot to hide and they need protection from their own incompetence.
Aggressive/Defensive psychopaths - exterior of steel, interior of mush. Lots of personal problems masked by cold, ruthless efficiency. Extremely sensitive feral even when it comes to criticism. Workaholic temperament usually with a substance abuse problem. Wretched relationships at home, not much better at work. Takes everything competitively even a game of squash or tennis. May bet even on the outcome.
Defensive/Aggressive psychopaths - soft people skills beautifully mimicked, underneath granite tough but nothing going on the emotional space. Non existent or self cauterised. The layer between the two is one micron thin. Charade of soft skills breaks down easily under real pressure and stress.
Criminal psychopaths - out to plunder the company and usually in a position to do so or engineering themselves into a position to do so. All their machinations are directed to that end and that end only. These people are very difficult to read because the goal is so self consuming and diligent that they appear to be 'company loyal'. This single mindedness, obsession can be misinterpreted for company goals not personal goals.
It is very difficult to distinguish between real and feigned emotions, real and false love, real and fake concern. Hence the reason for the unparalleled success of the psychopath. They combine ambition with cynical ruthlessness and cold execution.
Is corporate psychopathy an illness?
This is a very difficult question to answer. Most corporate psychopaths are not disabled by their affliction. On the contrary it allows them to be high achievers by bypassing the emotional cost of any high achievement. So it is then a condition which does not necessarily render the person any less likely to achieve high corporate goals. The problem is that this achievement is at the cost of humanity and the goodness of the human spirit. Success has triumphed over basic human kindness and caring. Does it matter then? For those who have suffered, who currently suffer and those will suffer at the hands of a psychopath, yes it matters. There is a cost to be borne by their victims and society in absenteeism, stress leave and breakdown/depression.
Are psychopaths mad?
That is just asking the previous question in another way. Psychopathy is classified as a borderline personality disorder but that is for the sake of labeling and classification only not a diagnosis. In a colloquial sense their behavior can be thought of as mad especially when, due to a lack of emotional intelligence, their actions cannot be understood or explained.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 63
Psychopathy is never a good thing but it is not always a bad thing
Greatness and power do not go hand in hand. In fact they are opposing forces.
There is a key driver for success in a corporate environment that may not be well known and that is to be successful you must be emotionally fully engaged with the environment and the people in it. Only by being engaged will you care enough to do a superlative job when everybody around you is giving up the ghost because it is too hard. But there is a risk with being emotionally engaged and that is the risk of any emotional attachment: loss, treachery, betrayal and heartbreak.
Burnout and stress at work is not really about working too hard but about loving too hard, caring too much, loving the workplace with no restraints or controls. When this love then oversteps the mark and ventures into a love affair at work, then you have a recipe for disaster. It is not a big stretch to go from one type of love to the other that is why high achievers are usually the ones who make this mistake. Their love has no limits or boundaries. It is an emotional over commitment.
Platform. It is easy for poor performers to use platform to look like adequate performers who are seemingly pro-active and energized. But that energy is useless unless there is powerful intellect to take charge and direct the energy. Intellect is the gears that transform the energy into directed movement. Platform without intellect is an aircraft carrier with aircraft but without pilots just sailors.
Psychopathy is never a good thing but it is not always a bad thing. Corporate psychopathy is the high performance engine of many corporate top performers. Psychopaths can and do damage lives and people. Psychopathy in and of itself is also a driver for change, which is not always a bad thing. Its sufferers cannot stand still, they are desperately unhappy with themselves hence the need, the desire the compulsion to change themselves (and get away from themselves seemingly) but as they cannot do that they try to change the world, to retrofit the world into their own image.
The fundamental thing that needs to change is themselves but they simply cannot do that as psychopathy is not amenable to standard treatment. One cannot undo psychopathy. So there are driven to change the external environment into their own warped, sick, perverted and dangerous image. Corporate psychopathy is an internal disease that is corporatised, externalised and globalised.
Psychopathy is not disabling like a broken leg. It is not visible and the person suffering from it doesn't even feel anything wrong. They feel nothing period. They may think something is wrong, especially if their social skills are poor, but that is purely an intellectual response.
What is the importance of communication in a corporate environment? None whatsoever as all relationships are built on the invisible, silent and hidden: emotion and chemistry creating needs, wants and bonds that are unspoken.
Is a corporate immune from ageism, sexism, racism? Absolutely not, they are there having the utmost importance especially in helping form political alliances, power blocs and useful connections. I hear you say what about merit and ability? Unfortunately there is no meritocracy in a corporate there is only power blocs based on former connections, blood, debt and relations. Merit has a part to play but is blown away by power. The goal in a corporate is not be good or even great but to be powerful. Greatness and power do not go hand in hand. In fact they are opposing forces.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 9
Process Improvement (PI)
The management consultants can show the way but it is the people on the ground who relish and welcome change who have to create the change it and there are too few of these already
An organisation with say 20-25 brilliant middle managers who are exceptional change agents can do well in the new world of 2010
Nothing causes more argument and angst in an organisation than this subject. It is perceived (perhaps rightly) as a distraction from the day to day business of the business and beside the purpose for the existence of the business. Wrong. PI is the business or one day soon there will be no business. People don't want to
do it and those that do hate it mostly.
In an organisation there are the EXECs (and senior managers) who champion and sponsor the change they want change but won't do the bottom up changes required to make it happen but they will take the credit and the reward when (if) it does. There are the middle managers where the ranks of the change agents need to come from
but there are vast vested interests at work putting a brake on change at that level, the people who are middle managers and making change happen are too few. Finally there are your day workers, your drones they have absolutely no interest in making any change happen so there is no point in looking in their ranks for the change agents.
Working in these constipated spaces are the management consultants, the laxative of the corporate world. They work at the EXEC level putting in place the program and the governance for change but they cannot make the change happen which must come from the too few middle managers who are the only ones who can make change happen by changing things
on the shop floor. An organisation with say 20-25 brilliant middle managers who are change agents can do well in the new world of 2010.
Executive Coaching contributes to and makes possible PI and PI improves the P&L, cost centre bottom line and operational KPIs. That's it sweet and simple. There is no other truer connection in the corporate world. But the problem is that the real world needs to change (operationally) for the numbers to work.
For example if you reduce your household spending budget by 10% you need to cut your consumption and costs by 10% meaning less soft drink or restaurant meals.
Process improvement must connect with and be directed by (and directs) the P&L. There is no other way to ensure PI sticks. It is not enough to improve processes and systems in a vacuum. This vacuum must be filled by the financial aspects of each process improvement effort. Having said that, a PI effort cannot be directed by a management or cost accountant at heart. They have
no imagination, no vision, no innovation in their bones. They are as dry as dessicated coconuts. For PI you need creative and innovative geniuses in the work context. These are few and far between.
It must be directed by a PI professional trained in the Six Sigma methodology. Why? Because at the heart of process improvement is the reduction of defects to an infinitesimal figure and removing waste within the process which is underlying to and underneath the financials associated with the process. The process is fuelled by finance but it is the people involved at the technical, operational
and project management level of the process that can change it.
Can it rightly be said that after PI the same business exists as it did before? No I would say, what now exists is probably a more efficient organisation needing new management and senior staff. The former managers and senior staff simply won't cut it in the new organisation. That much is crystal clear. They will oversee the carnage but will not be there to pick up the 'pieces'. A new management
team needs to be brought in, fresh and without the scars of the cuts made to the former organisation and the associated residual pain and ill feeling that lingers after any major re-structure.
PI will cause fear (of the unknown) and pain (when the unknown becomes known) and it affects someone deeply on a personal level.
About Gilbert Labour. Mr Labour is founding President of the Life Coaching Association of Australia (LCAA). In pursuit of his worldwide life and executive coaching activities he is hosting an Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) and Workshop in Mauritius in June, 05. This has not been affected by the recent events in South-East Asia.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 10
Obesity and the roller coaster ride from nadir to zenith and back
There are five journeys in obesity, which one are you on now?
Why are there obese people when there are people starving in the world? Is obesity a medical problem rather than
one of lack of self-control or perhaps even one using food for sexual/sensual gratification for masking (?) the real problems?
How successful is someone who is 250 kilos at 'masking' or hiding the problem?
The five journeys is obesity are -
Getting there becoming obese, this is the easiest journey of all and happens almost without you knowing. This journey is on the road to death.
Staying there at a steady weight, this is a hard journey because the tendency is to put on more weight not less. This journey is a slow death.
The next journey is one into hell and that is on the road to putting on more and more weight. This is the last journey these people even embark on.
This journey ends in death.
The penultimate journey and the one with the most difficulty starting is the road back away from obesity. The enormous journey back is not the problem
but the first step back, the first gram lost. This journey is not a journey of weight loss but a journey to lose the fears and problems that the weight gain had
temporarily put on the back burner. This second last journey is the life coaching journey and has much less to do with weight loss, exercise and fitness and more to do with
facing problems in their real intensity and fury perhaps for the first time since the decision taken to embark on the first journey.
The last journey and that is to keep the weight at the target weight after the massive task of weight loss because again the tendency is to put the weight back on
even faster than before and much much faster than it was lost. For every gram lost a kilo is put on.
Work with a life coach who understands your weight problem is not a weight problem but a personal problem posing, impersonating a weight problem. Someone who knows which
journey you are on and can make sure you either move to the next healthy journey or stay at the healthy journey you're on.
New Life Coaching Service Model - All Inclusive Platinum Service
Product Features
One new low totally all inclusive monthly fee ($400 AUS) - currently this is $500 AUS. Saving $100 AUS per month.
No contracts whatsoever, pay as you go month by month. Start when you want, stop when you want. No questions asked.
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Coaching can take place exclusively by phone and/or internet but it is preferred that an initial one on one session take place but this is not essential.
All inclusive, no exclusions, all services available (as per below).
Paid once a month at the beginning of the month (non refundable if cancelled during month).
Entitled to the full range of services (one on one, SMS, Mobile, Phone, ICQ, MSN Messenger, MS Netmeeting) on an as required basis. But does not
include CD and video conferencing products.
Use as much of the service as you require but please note as coaching is a relationship which requires and places responsibility on you to complete
agreed upon tasks, there will be regular scheduled feedback and catchup sessions. These are usually by phone or ICQ.
Clearly articulated and set goals such as embarking on a new career, changing careers, developing new small business, creating small business growth,
preparation for retirement, developing additional income in/for retirement.
These services include small business development coaching, product development and promotion, and press release preparation.
Payment and services commences in the calendar month of first payment and lasts till the end of the next month, then regular monthy payments commence on the 1st of each month thereafter (for example) ---
Paid 1 month on 15th of July - $400
Payment due on 1st August - Nil
Payment due on 1st September - $400
Payment and services terminates at the end of the calendar month of the last payment as follows (for example) ---
Payment made on 1st October - $400
Decision to cancel made 4th October and notice to do so received on that day or any day within the month
No refund policy but services available until 31st October if required
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The Platinum Life Coaching Product is now the only life coaching product available aside from
tailored programs and the featured programs.
50% Discount for bona fide students. The fee for students is $200 per month.
You will receive an exceptional level of service and care from one of the best life coaches practicing today.
Coaching Programs
555 Program
The 555 Program is complementary to the 333 Program and is part of a family of programs called The Numbered Series, a simplification of a plethora of products, services and programs into
a number of specifically targeted set of programs that target a very specific audience with a limited amount of time and resources to devote to a life and executive coaching program. The programs
covers a set of goals over a set period for a specific (one time only) fee.
The key goals of the 555 Program is to be able to run 5k in 5 months, to solve 5 life coaching issues or problems in 5 months and to investigate and resolve 5 executive coaching problems
in 5 months.
Life Coaching Portal Programs
Beyond the existing Diamond program being run on the portal, a series of additional programs are being developed to be run for specific audiences and which have very clear targets and goals.
These include the following.
The 555 Program
Gilbert Labour, will personally run this program. It will probably take in the region of 10 suitable people and run for 5 months. The program is multi-faceted and covers three main streams a fitness stream, a life coaching stream
dealing with personal issues and an executive stream to supercharge your work, business and corporate environment.
The first stream is a fitness element. The goal is to be able to run 5k (non stop) in five months and be able to lose 5 kilos in the process. This is a modest achievement and is considered a healthy approach to fitness generally.
I am a former fitness instructor and dance teacher and can provide guidance in this area. You will need a clearance from your doctor if you're over 45.
The second stream is a life coaching element. The goal of the life coaching is to investigate a number of current personal issues and focus on 5 for resolution in 5 months. One to be resolved or at least worked on each month.
The third stream is an executive coaching element. The goal of this element is to come up with five goals or issues to be dealt with in the 5 months of the program. These could involve working towards a promotion, changing jobs, changing careers,
leaving the corporate environment and developing a small business. For the hard core executives and other corporate thrivers and survivors there will be a number of areas that include executive interview training and executive decision making that can be covered.
There are many others and these can be chosen based on your current goals. The aim of this stream is canvass all the possibilities and focus on only 5 and work through each one.
The cost of the program varies. To take part on a one-on-one basis with Gilbert Labour will cost $5000. To take part in a group setting will cost $2000. Individual programs can start at anytime considered suitable.
To provide this program on a company wide basis (more than 10 people), please call Gilbert Labour for a quote.
Please call Gilbert Labour on 0409 223 436 if you would like to take part. Further information on the 555 Program is available from the portal.
General Information
I also do a small amount of pro-bono work in the area of life coaching. I belong to the Life Coaching Pro Bono Group (LCPBG), a group of life coaches I am putting together to do this type of work for people in need but who may not be able to afford the services of a full fee life coach. We make allowances for your circumstances and also on the understanding that once you're back on your
feet, your capacity to contribute to your life coaching will also improve.
Generally speaking, we will set clear goals, we will put in place plans to attain those goals, we will execute the plan effectively. We will monitor and survey the results and ensure our goals are met. In most cases, we will envelope what we are trying to achieve into a coaching programme.
I operate flexibly taking into account the needs of the client as we progress with the programme.
Please call me on my mobile (0409 223 436) for a confidential discussion to begin the journey of self discovery.
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