The self-help and business-owner advice market is – in a word – supersaturated. Like a pitcher of lemonade made by a 5-yr. old with a pound of sugar at their disposal, the number of self-help gurus and business coaches and experts has exploded over the last decade. Stemming from basic principles espoused by the likes of Andrew Carnegie (self-made individual) through to Stephen Covey (seek first to understand, then be understood), business coaching and mentoring is now an industry in and of itself, with industry associations like the World Association of Business Coaches incorporating regularly.
By varying degrees, these associations and the accredited coaches and mentors comprising their ranks are generating remarkable returns on investment for businesses throughout the world. In fact, Action Coach Executive Coaching, an industry website, reports that for every dollar spent on professional coaching, there is a seven-fold ROI.
However, one coaching expert is breaking new trail and forging ahead with a combination of business and personal coaching that she believes creates the optimal mix of personal and professional growth and sets entrepreneurs, owners, and professionals on their own unique path to success. Gisele Gambi, a native Australian with clients and mentoring relationships throughout the world, challenges “small business owners, coaches and entrepreneurs that they don’t have to do things like everyone else – they don’t have to sell, they don’t have to market, they don’t have to deliver, they don’t have to charge as their industry does. I want my clients to realize that blindly following industry practices, experts and models does not create success, but actually delays it.”
Gambi believes that with the increase in conventional business wisdom, the average business owner has so much information so consistently thrown at them that these individuals lose sight of the truly important aspects of both their personal and professional lives. Robert Holden, author of Authentic Success, offers similar sentiment, noting that, “We live in a very manic, busy and hyperactive world in which we’re often chasing success without actually having worked out what success is in the first place. We are so busy. We are living life so fast but what are we busy about? [Rather, we need to] arrive at a definition of success that includes all of you.”
Gambi agrees, noting that her motivation to provide this unique business/personal coaching and mentoring approach occurred to her because, “There’s too much suffering out there and many people believe that ‘work is a necessary evil,’ and hard work is ‘the price that you just have to pay for success.’ This suffering caused by work stress leads to relationship and parenting breakdowns and health issues. Just look at the amount of depression and suicide in our lives. The fastest growing demographic of antidepressants is the under 5 year olds in the US.”
“Work does not have to be hard, nor do we have to suffer. Small business owners have more room to do things differently. Imagine the impact on their family when a small business owner is struggling to make enough money to pay for the mortgage. In contrast to this, imagine the impact on their family when a small business owner is rocking their results and loving the process sky high. We have an obligation to show our kids that we can do what we love with people we love doing it with and get paid really handsomely for it.”
In following her program, Gambi’s clients are realizing significant results. “From helping me transform how I see myself in business and by guiding me into being 100% authentic and honest in and with what it is that I offer the world through my work, I’ve seen rapid changes, dizzying successes and lots of ‘yes’ responses from clients – all of whom have approached me,” stated Charbel Zeaiter, director of Experience at Velvet Onion, a design and market research and analysis firm in NSW. Zeatier continued, “Authenticity, ease and grace in my business engagements are how I now define who I choose to work with – yes, I said, “who I choose to work with.”
“It’s the best investment I’ve made in myself and for my business. In point of fact, my first client [after following Gambi’s program] more than covered the fees!”
To learn more about Gambi’s coaching and mentoring program, visit her website at: http://www.giselegambi.com.au/ for information on personal and professional coaching guidance.