You’re Not For Everyone..
I want to introduce you to one of my coaching clients, David.*
David is a weight lifting coach in Washington State.
But he’s so much more than a coach:
He’s transforming individuals, a culture, and possibly even, y’know, impacting international geopolitics (…eventually).
How?
*By being unapologetically himself.
*By letting his story inspire the Change he wants to make.
*By seeing his work as a Cause, not just a profession.
David is passionate about weight lifting. But as he embraced the sport, he encountered abusive coaches, pressure to to get ahead through doping, and a culture of toxic-masculinity and dominance.
The pressure to go along with this culture led to injury, and almost getting kicked out of the sport for good (see link to his story below).
The pressure to “dominate” was also out of alignment with his deep desire to promote equality among all people.
David realized that conforming was harming both himself and his weight-lifting students. He wanted to create a weightlifting program that was steeped in his values, and encouraged his students to embrace others as equal and valuable as well.
But.
“But weight-lifting coaches don’t do that.”
Like many solopreneur-clients I work with, David knew what he wanted, but just needed a little permission.
*Permission to trust his intuition.
*Permission to be different.
*Permission to do what he really wanted to do (and be who he really wanted to be).
I encouraged him to lean into his differences from other weight lifting coaches. “Double-down on being YOU. The people you’re meant to work with will love it."
We discussed a plan for creating a Statement-of-Values for his students to understand and embrace when they signed on with him. I encouraged him to be clear that he not only saw this as a chance for them to grow physically, but in their internal character and concern for others. To be clear that he is promoting a culture of economic, racial, social, LGBTQIA+, and gender equality, as well as health-first (rather than “winning at all costs”) among his athletes— and in the weight lifting world at large.
David even pointed out with the powerful symbolism connected to international weight lifting competitions, a culture-change to eventually eradicate doping and toxic attitudes could eventually impact geopolitical dynamics, too. (Yep, we’re looking at the macro-level!).
But.
I warned him: You won’t be for everyone.
Clarity attracts ideal clients.
But clarity has a tendency to piss people off, too.
David may not fit the “typical” mold of a weight lifting coach. Some have shunned him.
But the clients who work with him LOVE him. They’re deeply loyal to him, because he knows he actually cares about them. That’s great for business.
His coaching practice is thriving, but even better, he gets to feel good about his place in the world.
As Seth Godin says, every marketer is creating a culture: “People like us do things like this.” The more clear and specific you are about who “People like us” are, the more those people will “Tell the Others,” spreading the idea to an even wider pool of like-minded people.
Narrowing down actually spreads the idea (whether a business, or a culture, or both).
And bonus #1: It’s more FUN to do the work while being “more you,” too!
Bonus #2? Finding people who value your work as you’re being “unapologetically you” is healing, especially for passionate people who’ve always felt a bit different.
How can you embrace your “YOU-ness” in your business? How are you afraid to go against the grain? What are the pain-points in your personal story that you bring to your work— and how might those actually be the key to helping others? What culture do you want to create?
It may feel like a heavy (ahem) weight to bear, but you’ll get stronger in the process. Just ask David.
(p.s. Here’s a link to a podcast where David shared his story. Check it out!)
*Client’s name used with permission