Background
In 2001, the companies I had started or been involved with were all running on systems and with competent staffs. I spent much of my day in coffee shops reading financial reports, reviewing business plans, and keeping myself busy and out of the way. Business friends would join me for coffee and ask for a bit of advice on how to get their companies making more money, their staff taking more responsibility, and how to get their business to where they could lounge in coffee shops during the week. I would teach them the ’stripped down’, basic business principals that I had used to build my companies and showed them how to make those systems their own. At the time i didn’t think of it as ‘coaching’. I saw it more as a mentorship role and I enjoyed the conversations as much as I hope they did. I was quickly nicknamed, “The CoffeeShop Consultant” by the various baristas around town.
As my coffee mates would implement my ‘tools’ with glowing results, I realized that the difficult business situations and decisions that they faced were common among almost everyone. The same challenges kept on popping up whether it be a realtor or a recreational therapist. It all came down to getting past the old information about how to do business and instead, look at the strengths of each person and then marry their skills with business development tools. We could stop putting ’square pegs in round holes’ and instead look for the fit. I for one wasn’t interested in doing things I didn’t enjoy so how could I expect others to do so?
After answering the same questions over and over again, I started developing models of how to accomplish the tasks common to all business professionals. From business development and sales through to negotiations and building strategic alliances, I took what I knew to work and systematized it. Men would come to be to learn how to make the big money, but the female professionals were really interested in learning a model and being able to make it their own. For them, it was about accessing knowledge, having a sober second thought, and having someone that they could have a frank and confidential conversation with. Basically being in business for themselves, but not by themselves. The demand for this type of service was overwhelming after a 56-city speaking tour I went on in the summer of 2003.
Upon my return that autumn with emails and phone calls flooding in from various talks I had given over the previous three months, I looked to many existing business coaching models and training programs in North America, but found the same sad fact. These coaching models lacked one fundamental piece. Their coaches hadn’t been in the trenches of business. Learning how to coach is not the same as having done the work yourself and knowing how to show people how to do it better, faster, and with even greater results. An exceptional coach can lead by example and give real examples rather than theoretical examples. Many of these models taught coaches how to ask questions and in my mind the focus had to be on supplying answers.
I’ve built my career on first looking for solutions and if stumped, then building solutions. When I couldn’t find a model that I could refer an ever growing demand of prospective clients to, I built the Ghost CEO. It is a model where a female professional, regardless of company size, experience, industry, or expertise, could have a supportive and experienced mentor they could access when questions came up. Someone to hold them accountable, share easy ways of getting things done, and make sure that the important parts of their professional lives were ‘measurable’. A model where clients have a clear “ROI” on working with their own advisor in business. Not someone internal to their company that will have a hard time being objective. Not a father, husband, or brother who’s never actually been in business management. A real advisor that was dedicated to them achieving the goals they set out for themselves and help them navigate their plan. A coach that bases their success on the success of their clients. A coach that is involved, engaged, and interested in the business model of the clients they service.
We aren’t therapists, counselors or psychologists. We are business professionals with a proven track record of success in business who know the shortcuts without jeopardizing the quality of work. We are someone who is prepared to ‘guarantee’ the outcome as long as the client does the work. We don’t lock clients into a ridiculous multi-month contracts. Instead,we prove our worth to the client each and every session and expect the client to do the same. We are passionate, articulate, and proven leaders in the field of business and we choose our clients as carefully as they choose us.
I still happily run my own coaching practice even with a hectic speaking, writing, and travelling schedule because of one simple fact. Working with passionate professionals is a passion of mine and why this company was first established. Seeing that look in the eye of an entrepreneur or employed professional when they get the right piece of information at the right time is what keeps everyone that works in the Ghost CEO model excited about their work.
When you work with the Ghost CEO program and its coaches, facilitators, and trainers, you are working with the best of the very best. We guarantee it.
Christopher Flett
Founder
The Ghost CEO