Ep 36 - Make generosity part of your business strategy
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[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to the business of executive coaching. So I'm normally pretty planful about what I include in these episodes. So they are always, well, I hope always very practical. And today, today's definitely practical, but it is coming from a slightly different perspective. Place where usually I'm coming from a perspective of sharing tips and tricks.
I want to talk today about something that I don't talk about as much on the podcast, which is how we want to feel in our businesses and how our businesses align with our values and what is important to us. And I guess the corollary of that is my deep belief that when we can do that, when we can focus on intentionally how we want to feel and aligning with our values.
That actually our businesses can be not just more enjoyable, but also more successful. And so the reason I wanted to touch on this is that I think there is an [00:01:00] unspoken or sometimes spoken, but an unspoken and sometimes even unknown tension or current that flows through. When we're in business, if we're not very intentional about it, that we are somehow predatory or there is something predatory about being a business person.
And that, you know, we can, we can subconsciously believe that when we sell, we're somehow manipulating people that when we profit is it is at someone's expense. Or it could be that we assume that when we do this very meaningful work that we love. And I think that that is a theme for coaches that if we were doing it for the right reasons, we would do it for free or, or that maybe we just find that there is a disconnect between these deeply held beliefs we have about.
Altruism and helping and that we think what we have to do in order [00:02:00] to sell our services is somehow disconnected with that. And you know, I know that in my group coaching program, the impact coach collective, we have some really interesting conversations about this because there is a tension. Between showing up in these ways that are important to us.
Right. So doing things that are meaningful in a way that is values aligned. And we can feel that there's a tension between doing what we need to do to get clients. And it doesn't come up though, with like a, you know, a neon sign saying, Oh, this is an interesting tension. Right. So. We often don't know that that is what is going on.
And so how it comes out generally that I see both in myself and in others, and, you know, I'm certainly not immune to this, how it comes out is in things like procrastinating in. Activities we commit to that will build our visibility. It comes out as a deep discomfort that we feel when sharing our opinions, [00:03:00] generally on LinkedIn, for example it comes out in challenges setting our prices, and it can come out as a reticence to speak about what we do with people who might be interested or who are willing and able to help us from within our network.
And. The truth is actually we get to do business, however we want, that's kind of the appeal of it. Like a lot of us, we came into business because we wanted to be coaches, executive coaches, do meaningful work, do things we care about, but we also did it because we wanted freedom, right? To some degree, we wanted freedom.
We wanted flexibility. And what I would say is that that freedom is Is broader than that. We actually, you know, there is no rule that we have to be in business in a particular way. So we get to do business however we want. So yes, we need to be profitable. [00:04:00] Yes. We need to show up and be visible. Yes, we need to acquire clients and we can do all of that while we also bring the best of ourselves with all of the generosity of spirit and kindness that is innate to who we are.
And you know, it's interesting. We often talk about showing up as our true selves. But we don't. But actually it doesn't mean just showing our flaws, right? Showing our missteps and our vulnerabilities. It also means showing our values, showing our altruism, showing our purpose, showing our generosity, for example.
And so when we think about the fact that we get to, we get to be in business in a way that is values aligned and and feels good. Good and virtuous and, and, you know, purposeful, then that is actually super liberating. It is exciting. But it does require firstly, a shift in mindset out of this black and white, [00:05:00] often subconscious view, business is bad, money is bad, sales is bad.
Doing things for free is good. Purpose is good. And we need to shift that into a more nuanced and sophisticated mindset that deeply believes. That I get to do both, right? So I get to be profitable. I get to be sustainable. I get to be successful in my business. However you define those things. And I get to be generous.
I get to be kind. I get to be giving. I get to be altruistic. I get to help. I get to make a difference. And I get to, you know, really live into all these values that, that I aspire to and that are important to me. And that led me to do this work in the first place. So I don't have to. Throw out all of those, those virtues and values in order to pursue you know, my, my, I guess my assumption of what business needs to look like.
And so one example of all of this that I wanted to share [00:06:00] today is about generosity. And that is because generosity is a value that really speaks to me. But you could do the same exercise or apply the same theory with any lens. So you might say gratitude, or you might do it with a lens of kindness.
You might even do it with a lens of spirituality, if that's important to you. You get to do you, and one of my big messages is that when you build your business, you get to do it your way. Now, one of the challenges I find with a lot of business coaches out there is that there, that it doesn't allow room for nuance and that there are, you know, there are 10 steps and you must do it their way.
You don't get to make it work for you. And so, I mean, that doesn't work for me. So there's no way that I think that works for my clients. So with my clients, I want us to work on this both end, right? There are things we need to do and things that we know work in terms of developing our client base. [00:07:00] And we get to do it in a way that reflects who we are, what our values are and what we care about.
And so, you know, I'm thinking more and more about this. And I think that level of authenticity is really important. I think it's important to coaches perhaps more than other people, because you know, we are all about helping our clients explore these things. And so doing it for ourself is also really important.
So I wanted to share some ways that generosity could be integrated into your business model. And many of these are ways that I do incorporate it because this is a value that is important to me. The first for me is generosity of ideas. So for me, I want to share what I know about How to build an executive coaching business, because I want to make business building for executive coaches, much less opaque.
And I want to allow more people, more coaches to build a sustainable living, doing this work and ultimately to create a [00:08:00] bigger positive ripple effect on the world and the communities we work in, where more coaches are out there doing great work with individuals and organizations. So, you know, but what does the generosity of ideas mean?
Well, for me, it's sharing ideas and tips and the things I've learned over lots of years and in lots of contexts in different ways. So this podcast is one of the ways I want to be generous with my ideas.
And, you know, it does take work. Like there's a lot of work that's involved in getting it out there. I share a lot of posts on LinkedIn. I share posts on Instagram and Facebook as well. I also like to share a lot of masterclasses that have got, you know, quite more deep reflection, lots of valuable information. I like to answer people's questions thoughtfully and fully. So I like to offer ways for people to ask me questions so that I can really answer it, you know, with their context in mind.
And the idea of. Of generosity has made it [00:09:00] so much easier for me to post content without overthinking, because I think of it as, you know, offering ideas and tips for people who might need them. So if I can think about it as talking to a real person, then that makes it so much easier for me. And you know, if just one thing I share helps just one person for me, that's a win.
The double win is if someone hears or reads what I'm putting out there and thinks that I can help them in their business. Right? So that is the double win. And the fact of the positive business outcome that I get from, from that does not negate the fact that. The benefit to others through the ideas I am sharing and putting out there.
Right. Because I've got no assumption or expectation that what I put out on there will have a, you know, a direct reaction from someone going, Oh yes, I must work with you now. I put it out there. I feel good about that, right? I [00:10:00] feel like I'm helping, I feel like I'm being generous and the work that comes from that.
Is, is just part of this ecosystem of generosity and what feels like, you know, what you put out there comes back to you. And that might sound a little bit woo woo, even, even I think that as I say it, but I really believe that. And it feels good to me to do business in a generous way. So the next way that I think generosity can be baked into your business strategy intentionally is generosity of time.
Of course, in some ways, this is another reflection of you know, sorry, it relates closely to generosity of ideas. It also relates to generosity of money. But for me, generosity of time means that I am happy to meet with any coach who has questions about their business. Right. So regardless of whether I think they are my ideal clients or not I'm happy to meet with them.
I want to talk to them. You know, I will answer questions. I will not gate keep my knowledge in, if we [00:11:00] have like a, an introductory meeting, I'll talk about what I see, what I think about your business, where I think you could go. You know, what niches I see you could have what offers I think you could, you could have.
I will do that with you. I'll have that, that discussion and I will do it with no assumption that you will want to work with me. Of course I would love it if you would want to work with me, but that's not, not the, the assumption. And it's not the only reason that I want to have these calls. You know, I deeply enjoy it and I do it from a spirit of generosity.
In my coaching business. That has meant that I usually like to have at least one pro bono client at any time. I find that being generous in that way as a coach with my time, strangely makes it easier for me to value my other coaching work highly and to charge accordingly. So, you know, I once heard someone say that you should charge a premium for your time or you should give it away.
And that has always worked for me rather than [00:12:00] sitting in the middle, right? So it's either free. Or it is a premium product. And when I can give away my coaching services to people who will, would not otherwise have that opportunity, but who will really, you know, grow from that experience, then that feels really good to me.
And that is generosity. That feels good. And it, yeah, as I said, it makes it easier for me to value my coaching services highly in charge for that as well. I also think that generosity with money can be a big part of our business strategy. So if generosity is important to you, you can, for example, make a decision to contribute a percentage of your revenue or of your profit to causes that are important to you.
And this can be really inspiring. Firing because you can know that for every piece of work you sell, you are directly contributing to something that you care about. Now if you wanna do this, I, you know, I always say start conservatively and then increase it. So you might say 1% of your revenue calculated [00:13:00] quarterly is, is donated to, you know, X cause and then, you know, when you feel more inclined, when you have more cash flow, you can increase it.
It is a really fabulous feeling. Giving is a really fabulous feeling in business. In particular, I also think the idea of building your values into your approach to sales is a really important thing to do and generosity in sales is a really interesting one. Firstly, when I talk about generosity in sales, I do not mean discounting.
I don't mean giving things away for free. I mean, being generous with the advice you give during the sales process. And I mean, being really honest and transparent about what is going to best achieve the customer's desired outcomes. Even if that means a different service to what you're hoping to sell.
And even if it means you might not be the best coach for the engagement that you're talking about, but I think. Also that generosity in sales means service, [00:14:00] right? I always talk about sales and service sales as service even, and to me, service means partnering with the client to find the very best solution to their problem.
And, you know, I do believe that this approach. Creates very trusting and very long term relationships with clients, and that can only be a benefit for you and your business in the long run. So for example, if I don't think one of my programs is the best option for a client, I will be very transparent about that.
And I will do that now, even with my, my programs for coaches. If I don't think the impact coach collective or the corporate coach blueprint is the right thing for you. I will tell you because I want everyone who comes into my world to get the best they can from it. And that means you know, being there at the right time, being there with the right needs.
So yeah, I, I'm really [00:15:00] transparent about it. And I think this has in my coaching business, this has really served me very well. And I, I, I like to think that some of the clients that I've had the most long term relationships with, you know, it has been over a long period of time, I've done a lot of work in different contexts with these clients, and sometimes it has involved me saying, I don't think coaching in this case is the right thing to do.
Is the right avenue, or I don't think leadership training is going to do the job here, you know, and, and then presenting them with a suggestion or telling them what I've seen in other places be more effective. So being really transparent and I consider that to be generosity because I could probably you know, convince them that coaching or whatever it is that, that I've been pitching is the right route.
If I want them, if I want the best for them, and I [00:16:00] really believe that, then I'm going to go in and I'm going to pitch what is, what is, you know, I'm going to tell them what I believe, and I'm going to be generous with my expertise and with the, you know, my experience and, you know, helping them to figure out what is actually best for them.
I'd also say another interesting aspect of generosity is more in the how we go about doing business. It means being generous when we attribute an intent to people, for example, which is really often more about assuming positive intent. And I think there's some generosity involved in that because it, you know, it can be so easy.
Particularly when we find aspects of business to be stressful. We can tend to assume that people are ignoring us rather than busy. We might assume that people selling to us are trying to trick us. We might assume that people who don't renew our services think we're crap and so on. But when we take a generous lens to these aspects of our business, it is a [00:17:00] much more enjoyable way of being.
And we open ourselves up to a lot more positive connections and often a lot more positive outcomes. Because as we know you know, we see other people's behavior. We don't see their intent, but you know, I think it's an interesting saying that we judge other people by their behaviors, but we judge ourselves by our intention.
So when we're generous, we can often you
and not make assumptions. So one thing I'd like you to do before I wrap this episode, if this is, you know, of interest or it's speaking to you, it's just take a moment and close your eyes unless you're walking, unless you're driving, please don't close your eyes if you're driving and just feel into what it might be like to bring that energy of generosity into your business.
To bring it into your posting of content on social media, right? To view [00:18:00] what you're posting as, as sharing ideas of, of offering some, something valuable for people to take on their own terms. Think about what it would be like to bring that energy of generosity into your outreach, to your network, that you're really there.
To help not to push, think about what that energy of generosity would feel like, how it would shift your sales conversations. That's another example. So I just want you to sit with those things for a moment. And if it feels like you can breathe a bit deeper, or if it feels a bit less like hard work about less of a pushing energy, then that could be a sign to integrate more of these ideas into your business.
Okay. Of course, if you would like to talk about what this could look like in your business, or if you are finding some of these things challenging, I [00:19:00] would love to talk it through with you. I would like to talk about your business and we can discuss whether the impact coach collective, which is my group coaching program could be a good fit for you.
You can find a link to book a time in the show notes, or you can just drop me a DM on any platform. Please connect with me on LinkedIn. But I'm also on Instagram and Facebook and I'll just send you through a booking link and you can find a time that suits for you. I usually set these sessions up for 30 minutes.
You know, so we can, we can do something meaningful, but hopefully that doesn't feel too overwhelming, right? We can just, we can just connect, say hi. And we can, we can dive in and you know what coaches are like, we tend to have pretty deep conversations pretty quickly. So you know, I love it. And I hope to connect with some of you soon.
Okay. I'll be back next week and I hope you have some, some great generous energy this week. And yeah, I'll talk to you soon.
Thanks for [00:20:00] listening to this episode of the business of executive coaching. If you found it helpful, please share it with a colleague or friend on LinkedIn. And don't forget to tag me so I can say thanks. I would be tremendously grateful also if you would leave a review on Apple podcasts. More reviews means more people can find us.
This episode was brought to you by the Impact Coach Collective, where executive coaches grow their businesses in a community of peers with business education, mentoring, deal clinics, and more. If you'd like to contact me or work with me further, all my free resources, courses, and more info on the Impact Coach Collective can be found at elliescarf.com. Have a brilliant week, and I look forward to talking to you again soon.