The thing I absolutely HATED being told...

What’s the one thing you REALLY don’t want me to say to you?

I ask because there was one thing I absolutely hated being told for years: “You need to let go.”

Nope. Absolutely ridiculous 🤣

My business had been built on NOT letting go. I was meticulous, thorough, and had incredibly high standards. I trained people carefully, I checked things, and I made sure things were done properly. That was WHY we were successful as far as I was concerned.

My reputation mattered enormously to me, and when something went wrong in the business, it didn't just feel like an unhappy client or a mistake that needed fixing, it felt super personal. 

So when people suggested I needed to let go more, what I heard was:

• Lower your standards.
• Stop caring so much.
• Accept that things won't be done properly.
• Put everything you've built at risk.

Erm...no thanks.

But I was also exhausted. I was far too important to the day to day running of the business. 

Despite hiring and training lots of people over the years, I was still responsible for a huge amount of the turnover. And every time I tried to step back, things seemed to go wrong. Which obviously proved I needed to step back IN again... right? 😬

It took me a long time to see that the thing that had helped me build the business had also become one of the things keeping me trapped in it. 

And THAT is part of what you’re getting when you work with me - someone who has been willing to examine themselves deeply, including the bits I REALLY didn’t want to look at, and who is absolutely not going to shy away from looking at yours.

That doesn't mean I throw harsh truths at people five minutes after meeting them. These things are said with love, when we've built enough trust to go there, and I'm always willing to be wrong.

But I want to work with leaders and practice owners who are willing to let me take them somewhere they perhaps weren't expecting to go. Because they come to me wanting more space, more peace, more freedom, to trust their team, to stop carrying everybody else's emotional baggage, to actually switch off when they leave the practice, to be more present at home, and ultimately enjoy the bloody business they've spent years building. And sometimes getting there means being willing to hear something you REALLY don't want to hear.

Things like...

• “You keep telling me your team need you too much. But I think part of you needs them to need you too.”
• “I think some of what you're calling high standards is actually control.”
• "You say you want your team to take more responsibility, but I'm not convinced you actually trust them with it. Because every time they get it wrong, you take it straight back.”
• “You say you want more space, but every time space appears, you fill it. I don't think being busy is just something that's happening to you anymore.”
• “You want the business to depend on you less, but I don't think you've fully considered who you'll be when it does.”

And then I ask: “What happens for you when I say that?” Because I'm not saying it to be right. I'm saying it because you've trusted me with what you want, and sometimes my job is to put something on the table that nobody else around you is willing to put there.

So, what's the one thing you REALLY don't want me to say to you?

Email me and tell me.

And if reading this has made you think, “Yep. This is the kind of coaching I need”, I'm going to be re-launching my group coaching programmes in the next few months - one for practice owners and one for employed leaders.

Drop me a quick email saying "INFO" and I'll send you the details.