The Top 10 Factors Which Contributed To My Success by Thomas J. Leonard

A few bosses I remember fondly.   Thomas Leonard was one of them.  He was a financial planner, who although he didn’t attend college, was certified as such by a national organization.

He created the coaching school I attended, Coach U, and was still teaching there when I registered but had sold it by the time I graduated.  He moved on and started a membership coaching school, called Coachville.  It was there that I worked for him for 3 years.  “t” as he preferred being called is fondly known as the father of the profession of coaching.   He created two coaching schools and two coaching organizations; all four ventures still exist today.  He was a prolific writer and proofreading wasn’t something he thought much about.  At one time he had 22 newsletters going all at once!

He lived a full life, although personally, he was often very brash.  I didn’t talk to him often, he emailed me the projects I was to work on.  I once called him to ask a question about a project he’d given me to complete, and his answer was “figure it out” as he hung up the phone.  Of course, I did (figure it out).

Born in 1955, he died on February 11, 2003, and still has many lessons to teach all of us.   Read more about him http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/25/business/thomas-joseph-leonard-47-teacher-of-business-coaching.html

Here’s one of his articles, created on 11/21/96.

The Top 10 Factors Which Contributed To My Success

I was recently asked this question by a coach and I thought it would be fun to think “back” and identify the key factors.

1. I had a vision.

Well, it wasn’t really a vision at first; more like something I was really interested in – – training coaches and creating new/better ways to serve my clients. I had this idea that it would be possible to train a coach in an hour. Sounds silly, but this goal/vision has influenced and motivated me because it’s so BIG and would require a radically different approach to coach training. It’s called a vision, because it’s clear to me that this will occur, and hopefully during my lifetime.

2. I created a game that others could also win at.

In helping to “package and popularize” the coaching profession, I opened the door for thousands of professionals to become coaches and earn a great living at it.  When you give folks access/faster access to money and happiness, they’ll return the favor in many ways: personal support, gratitude, referrals, cash contribution/gifts, etc. Value has been added and folks pay you back when they receive value. Simple as that. The funny part of it has been that the financial cost of me adding this value to others has not been very expensive. It was very expensive, personally/emotionally/spiritually, however.

3. I was entirely selfish in my efforts, yet….

I was looking out for me and doing things (writing, teaching, etc.) that gave me pleasure or energy or money. When in doubt, I put myself, my intuition, my needs, my opinion first. I made plenty of righteous mistakes, but I’ve come to believe in my approach. Dangerous perhaps, but tempered by an EQUAL dose of ‘standing in the shoes of my customers/clients/students’ and feeling/guessing/asking what would serve them most TODAY. So, I was being really selfish, but getting my inspiration/direction/guidance from my customers. This selfish/contributory dynamic works really well for me.

4. I asked my critics to take a hike.

I could definitely have made fewer mistakes if I was willing to listen to my critics. But the fact is, I am too SENSITIVE to hear much criticism, even if accurate. And, some people just think that it’s their role in life to point out other people’s weaknesses and boo-boo’s. I got really tired of that and decided to surround myself with folks who agreed with me AND who could point out errors with LOTS of sensitivity. I’m a believer that my sensitivity/reactiveness has permitted me to create cool stuff. I’ve given up the conventional wisdom that you should be really open to criticism from all sources. No thanks.

5. I had several key coaches and partners who wereincredibly supportive.

As I was building Coach University and my other ventures, I had lots of emotional support. I needed it, given my history with depression and other stuff. These folks kept my spirits up, endorsed me and even the dumb ideas I’ve had, etc., because they had FAITH in what I was up to. Plus, they were personally and financially benefiting from my efforts, so they had a vested interest.

6. I kept my personal and business expenses very, very,very low.

I live on less than $40,000 a year; Coach University is primarily volunteer-run. Both mattered a lot. It’s hard to make money in the training business and I knew I was going to make mistakes rearing this baby. Mistakes are/were financially expensive — but because Coach U was volunteer-based, I could afford to incur/pay for those “learning curve” mistakes and not put the company at great financial risk.

7. I knew that I was going to sell Coach University fromthe day that I started it.

Having this goal in mind gave me some of the emotional freedom I needed to keep working at it. Having sold Coach U in mid-1996, I look back on the experience and believe that the timing was perfect; it was strong/structured/viable enough to sell and the right person (Sandy Vilas) bought it.

8. I create by fully responding, not by trying to create.

Life is my creative catalyst. I am a far better “responder” to what’s going on right in front of/around me than I am at creating from scratch. The key is to surrender to responding vs. trying to initiate new stuff all of the time (too exhausting!). I feel/am sensitized to a lot of what’s going on around me, so I always have something to write about or create. My inspiration comes from others/life/situations; not from me.

9. I put myself on a progressive thinking track.

I am interested in how I think and in how the world is evolving. I read everything from Wired Magazine to The Economist; from USA Today to the Wall Street Journal; from The New Yorker to the New York Times. I read for the pleasure of it, but also know that reading such a list of magazines affects my thinking and educates my mind — not just with facts, but with IDEAS! I create by feeling/getting and I have CHOSEN to surround myself with ideas, trends, information and people/writers to affect me greatly. It’s SO much easier this way!

10. I continually add value, everywhere and for everyone.

If I have something that I can share with others, or if I can improve something that I’ve created, I do so. My goal with Coach U was to double the value that students got from the program each year, yet keep the tuition at $2495. I think it’s fair to say that this has worked and will keep working. I know of no other company that both thinks AND acts in this way. If I had to pick out the #1 source of my success, it would be this one: Adding value, everywhere and always, just for the pleasure of it.

© 1997, updated 2001, Thomas J. Leonard. His site is maintained at www.thomasleonard.com by CoachVille