(c) 2004

I have noticed that though my clients often have created a plan, many do not incorporate an understanding of themselves to execute it, and so it is not adequately customized. Unleash your ultimate success by developing a strategy that seamlessly integrates self-knowledge to increase profits and personal fulfillment. Imagine the results of integrating that into your day-to-day life? Can you logically deduce the potential benefits and act accordingly?

Like me, you probably get e-mails everyday telling you about a new product that will automate cumbersome parts of your business. However, it is very easy to end up with a ton of software and books and still find yourself struggling with the same root issues.

Look, if you are going to invest in yourself or your business you must examine the big picture, not just one part of it. Acting haphazardly can actually take you farther off course, away from your true aspirations.

It’s akin to getting bogged down in the details. There is a middle point between bogged down in details and skimming the surface.

I highly advocate dealing with your relationship to self as a primary objective because it has multiple benefits on nearly every level. That is the key to unleashing the secret to your success. The place to begin is developing a strategy with your requirements and objectives at the center.

You might like to know that I haven’t always emphasized this relationship with self, component in my consulting practice. For a while I thought it was too personal, but time and again I saw that it was at the root of why the initial plan didn’t work.

The turning point came for me after I had been consulting with a recreational vehicles parts manufacturing company. The company had earned $1,000,000 in profit in its third year, so all seemed reasonably well. That is until I got inside.

There were a lot of communication problems, production was six months behind, what was being produced was mostly rejected work, and this contributed to issues of lacking supply inventory, nonexistent company morale…

You get the picture. After conducting my assessment, going over the production and sales logs, I made my report. Since my focus is on thought leadership and relationship marketing this was the framework in which my recommended solution was offered.

The managing director was unwilling to see the situation as a relationship that was dying and he wasn’t interested in “throwing anymore money at it”. Long story short, within six months half of the key staff had left and the company only had one remaining account to sustain the business, so much for another year of million dollar profits.

I wondered if it would have saved the company if I had pointed out that the director was at the center of the entire fiasco, fanning the flames actually. I saw enough of his personality drama to understand the tension I sensed from everyone working with him.

This was a lesson to me about what is at stake if I pretend not see what is glaringly obvious. If the client doesn’t see it, then that explains why they hire me.

I needed a change after that, so I decided to offer my services to people who were truly in need, but unlikely to get the kind help I thought I could offer.

I accepted the privilege of assisting women with children as they transitioned from homelessness. I was a part of a mentor team. It started out as personal coaching mostly because it became clear very quickly that a little help could go along way for someone who has never been encouraged.

Out of those coaching relationships several entrepreneurs were born. Empowered to seize their destinies rather than merely being manipulated by the choices of those around them, I witnessed how the relationship with oneself can heal a life.

I was privileged to benefit from the experience of others and I realized how much relationships could mean during times of uncertainty. This is as true when our professional life is negatively impacted, as it is when our personal life seems devastated.

It has been my honor to work with a number of talented, highly motivated and inspiring people. As we come to the end of this tête-à-tête, I encourage you to remain aware of the importance of relationships in reaching or staying on the top and the value in beginning with the one you have with yourself.