How we work

We Empower You to Become a Superior Business Person.

We work with individuals who desire growth, success, and balance in their lives. We help them become better and more successful business people and have a better life.

We help holistic private practitioners to break through obstacles that have limited their performance for years so that they can now make more money working fewer hours. Their business now provides them ample resources to have a rich and rewarding life.

My emphasis is having you master your mental attitude, emotional fortitude, life balance, and habitual behaviors. This is the emotional side of your business, sometimes referred to as the Inner Game of Business -- like the Inner Game of Golf.

We help you discover what is holding you back, where are you stuck. Then we help you get unstuck and unlock your full potential. If t you don't do this, you never achieve your true potential. The only real way to grow and sustain your business is to grow yourself.

Have you ever considered what would be truly possible for you if: you had someone in your corner who always believed in you, was infinitely patient yet had the courage to push when needed, and who helped you tap into the special skills and talents that most of us never have had the good fortune of discovering—much less leveraging?

That last one—special skills and talents—is key, really.  You could probably train a dog to bark and wag his tail at all the right times to keep you motivated, and you may be getting enough personal encouragement from your spouse, co-workers, professional network and/or friends.

But who do you spend time with who has been specially trained to help you discover and fully leverage that 'special stuff' that each human has, but rarely makes the most of?

Until now, most humans have been too busy surviving and following the rules to fully develop themselves and make the most of what they've got.

It's becoming very clear that we are now at that stage of human, societal and technological development where each person has not just the possibility to reach his or her own potential, but the probability of doing so if he or she can access the right tools and create a nurturing and challenging personal and professional environment.  In the   United States especially - thanks to our relatively free thinking and independent culture - we Americans see the inherent personal and financial value of developing one's individuality.

And individuality is essential for long-term, stress-free fulfillment, success and satisfaction in a rapidly evolving world.

Perhaps it sounds a bit ' California ' to say that you deserve to be your own person, but it's true.  Think about it.  Scientists have said that we use only 7% of our brains.  From the look of things, it sure seems like we're only using 7% of our talents and skills as well.  In other words, we're only using - figuratively - 7% of our lives to live our lives.

But with a coach, you can 'increase' that figure and improve the quality of your life as a result.

If You Hire Us

We will have ongoing weekly conversations each month. During these sessions, we help you achieve your business and personal goals. You will bring to each session what it is you want to achieve now. We will help you figure out how to get what you want and help you solve problems that stand in your way.

We am committed to your agenda, not ours. Each week we focus on what is most important to you and help you remove blocks that might be stopping you. During these sessions we'll help you get crystal-clear what is most important to you and where you want to go. We'll help you figure out how to get there and remove the blocks (wrong attitude, line spots, bad habits and behavior) that's been getting in your way.

We Get to Know You a Profound Way.

The focus of these calls is on you. We listen to you with a professionally trained ear. My agenda is your success in business and in life. Your success is my success.

We will help you design and strengthen your personal and business environment.

During my sessions, we:

• provide structure, tools and support so you achieve more

• clarify your goals and keep you clearly focused so you achieve your goals

• help you be better organized and prioritize so you achieve more with less time and effort

• move you into action and holding you accountable so you achieve more

• upgrade communication skills so you work better with people

• upgrade your leadership skills so you can build a more efficient and effective organization

• optimize your environment so you are surrounded by supportive people and have effective tools, equipment and systems

• encourage you so you keep on producing

• help you master your psychology so you perform at your best

We give you a special Success Accelerator form for you to fill out before our call. We have found that this form helps my clients get the most from their sessions and, indeed, succeed faster.

Nature of relationship

The service provided is personal coaching and takes place in person or by telephone.  (Using the telephone is most efficient. It saves you hours of commuting. Our experience with countless clients shows that it is equally as effective as face-to-face sessions.)It is a relationship of equals where the responsibility for action lies with you and coaching support with insights, observations and challenges lies with me. It is not therapy or psychological counseling. If these are needed, we am a certified therapist as well as a coach. If needed, we can discuss how to handle such services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is "quality of life" anyway?

It’s making more money.  It’s having more time to spend with your kids. It’s traveling to every place in the world that holds some attraction for you. It’s getting up each morning and looking forward to the day, happy to be alive.

Quality of life is all that, and more.

Quality of life also includes a reduction in personal or business problems, an outright elimination of things you are putting up with, (called tolerations), and a strengthening of what we call your Personal Foundation, so that your life rises above the muck of life.

People come to a coach because they either want to achieve something, fix something or make an important change in their life.  Fair enough.  That's what the coach works on with the client.

People want to work on practical things like starting a business, improving a relationship, getting a raise, choosing a new career, getting more clients, coming up with a Life Plan, developing a marketing strategy for their business, learning leadership skills, reducing stress in all its forms, getting a project back on track, prioritizing activities, learning web and cyber skills, integrating a disjointed life, getting more done during the day without rushing, and having more fun.

Q. Can a coach really help you do all of that?

Yes.  And more.  You see, a professional coach has been trained to work with clients on over 200 different types of goals, problems, and situations. There isn't any other type of professional with the depth and breadth of training, skills and experience that a coach brings to the table.  Even friends and family, while usually supportive, aren't trained in the art of achievement or the process of coaching.  Coaching really is a unique set of skills which takes about two years to learn and about five years to master. (we have been coaching for six years an am a Professional Certified Coach)

Q. But shouldn't I be able to coach myself?

Yes, you can coach yourself.  It's called self-talk and willpower.  It works, but only when you remember, or when you are in the mood.  Not good when you're in the middle of a huge goal or project and are having problems. Or when you need a helicopter view of where you're at and where you're going.  See, that's the problem when you try to go it alone.  All you can see is what you can see.  That's just not good enough in a world that's getting networked and where increased perspective is as important as dedication and persistence.  If you want to get somewhere interesting in life, you'll likely need an outside view, the support to follow your dreams and a strategy to help you save time and money.

Not convinced?

Okay, let me ask you this.  What Olympic athlete hasn't used a coach to win the gold medal?  These athletes are already the best in the world.  But even they understand the measurable value of that 'extra something' that comes from having someone work directly with you, someone to point out the stuff that you cannot see, someone to keep encouraging and challenging you to go beyond your limits and perceived limitations.  In other words, to cheat reality, in the most positive sense.

There is more evidence of the value of coaching.

Performers, such as actors, dancers and singers almost always use a coach to bring out their best.  Sports teams always have a coach and they rely on the inter-developmental relationship that coaching offers.  Business executives have often had a coach - someone with whom they could have honest, no-holds-barred discussions as they worked out problems and developed strategies that couldn't be done with their executive team, given the biases, politics and power differentials involved.

Tiger Woods has two coaches. Michael Jordan has six.

Q. But I'm not a dancer.  I'm not Michael Jordan.  I'm not Bill Gates. Can I still benefit from coaching?

Definitely.  All you need to get value from coaching is a strong desire to achieve something, a willingness to learn new ways of going about it, and an openness to include someone else in the process.  That's it.  That's all you need.  You don't even need to know exactly what your goals are.  Or to have 'everything in order' in your life.  That can be part of the coaching process.  Come as you are.  That's the best place to start.

Hmmm, I'm intrigued, but I'm still trying to figure out why coaching works.

Well, that's the right question.  It's very important that you know what coaching is and why it works.  After all, you are buying a professional service. Coaching works for three basic reasons.

1. Collaborative partnership.

First, coaching works because you've got a collaborative partner in your coach.  Someone who's there.  Someone who's probably been there and done that.  Someone who understands the creative and achievement process and knows when to pull, when to push and when to shut up.  Someone who is on your side.  Someone who helps you focus on your strengths, not waste time trying to overcome your weaknesses.  Someone you can share your dreams and ideas with, with the assurance that you will be heard and respected, no matter what. And someone who comes to know you and helps you focus on what matters most to you.

By the way, the ability to powerfully collaborate is one of those meta skills for the new millennium and you'll master it naturally during the coaching process, as a bonus. 

2. Weekly sessions.

Second, coaching works because you're connecting frequently.  Most coaches speak with clients once a week, usually by telephone (although other formats such as in-person, video conferencing, email and fax work well, too). Having that consistent structure provides a supportive framework for whatever you are working on.  If your coaching appointment, let's say, is 4pm each Tuesday, you'll probably find yourself naturally getting more done by 3:59 than you would have on your own.  So, with a coach, you tend to have a tighter focus, generate more commitment and, to be blunt, take the actions you know are needed to reach your goals, no self-talk or willpower needed.

Self-talk and willpower are antiques anyway.

3. A personal focus.

Third, coaching works because you focus on you, not just the goal.  We say there are two parts to sustainable success - the Who (you) and the What (the goal).  To work exclusively on the goal (the What) can make you one-dimensional, thus limiting the opportunity you have to develop and evolve, which are key to long-term fulfillment.  After all, goals usually don't bring fulfillment.  You bring fulfillment.  Reaching goals, while very important, is only aspect of living well.

Q. What part of "you" do you focus on during coaching?

This is entirely up to you, but clients usually enjoy this self-focus, which can include wants, needs, values, vision, lifestyle, sensitivity, peace, joy, choice, strengths, talents, gifts, toleration-reduction, dilemma resolution, desires, love, relating skills, standards, boundaries, Personal Foundation, whims, feelings, creativity, bigger thinking, understanding, acceptance and happiness.  You know, the basic stuff that often seems to come dead last in a busy life.

It's a goal of coaching that "You can have it all, without paying the  price."  And what we find is that when the Who (meaning you) is taken care of, you actually need - and want - less.  (Note to strivers:  Striving comes with a high cost to yourself, your body and your relationships.  There is another way to succeed.  A coach can show you how.)

How does all of this get done in 30 to 50 minutes a week? Is the coach talking as fast as that guy in the FedEx commercial?

Q. How do I find a coach?

That's easy.  I'm a coach.  It's surprising to most clients just how much does get accomplished in a weekly coaching session.  Even a 30 minute one.  Without rushing.  Without coach and client competing for speaking time.  It's our view that coaching really can get done well in about seven minutes, but that the 30 to 50 minutes provides a warm and supportive cushion so that no one feels rushed.  After all, creativity can occur in an instant.  Solutions can come to you in a flash.  Opportunities can be seen in the blink of an eye.  Coaching can be all the catalyst you need.

Q. But what do we talk about during the coaching session?

That's up to you.  You're in charge.  But typically, you talk about you. You update the coach on what you're working on.  You share a roadblock you’re encountering and ask for suggestions.  You develop strategies - a better way to reach your goals.  You brag and boast and share your wins, shamelessly.  You bring problems and talk them through.  You share a dream or vision you have and tease it out.  You vent, if necessary.  You ask for perspective so you can see a situation, opportunity or problem much more clearly.  You create-as-you-talk, especially if you are an entrepreneur. You discover stuff that you didn't expect to.  And you even learn stuff that you didn't know you needed.  All in 30 to 50  minutes.  Really.

Q. How do we know that coaching will make a decent investment?

The truth is, you won't really know until you try coaching yourself for 30 days.  By the end of that time, it will be clear to you that it's incredibly worthwhile or that it's not. 

So, if you want to give it a try, the financial risk to you is pretty low. We do not require binding length-of-term commitments or ask for big bucks up front.  Fortunately, the coaching profession is very 'clean.'  Most clients come via word of mouth from satisfied clients, and there's rarely a hard-sell.  In fact, this webpage is far pushier we would ever dream of being when introducing themselves or our services in person.

Another way to look at this is to ask yourself, "What might it cost me or my business to NOT have a coach right now?"  Accountants call that type of loss an "opportunity cost."  In other words, what it costs you to not do or have something. ( Opportunity costs, by the way, are the fastest rising costs in any business, given the much faster pace of events today.)

We really can help, either as your coach or by providing a referral to another coach.  We know about 50 other coaches around the country, so if it's not a match between us, we can still be a resource for you.

My coaching style is both intuitive and logical.  In other words, my left brain and my right brain get along pretty well.

Q. What is the difference between coaching and psychotherapy?

Coaching is about action and moving toward your goals and dreams. Coaching is about creating a rich and rewarding business and life. We do not focus on healing emotional pain or past emotional trauma as part of coaching. I am trained and able to help you overcome emotional blocks to your performance. However, healing emotional pain is not the primary purpose of coaching.

Q. Do I have to do anything between sessions?

Yes. During a coaching session, we help you figure out what you have to do to solve your problems and reach your goals. It is your responsibility to put this plan in action in between sessions. At the next session, we review what you have done, discuss problems that may have gotten in your way and help you solve those problems. We may give you special reading or writing assignments to help you succeed.

Q. Do I have any commitment?

Yes, you have to do the required work described above. You also have to agree to a series of regular monthly sessions. Many of my clients have been with us for years. They stay as long as they are benefiting from my services.

Q. Is coaching confidential?

Yes, confidentiality is critical to our relationship. I am bound by my license to maintain your confidentiality to the full extent allowed by law. I do not discuss your coaching sessions with anybody else unless we have your express permission.

Any subject discussed and/or items shared, including such things as personal information, future plans, proprietary information, the goals, job and company information, will remain confidential. This is in keeping with my philosophy that you, as my client, are under my protection and my mission is to serve you.

Interested in talking?  Please call me toll free at 877-261-0550 or email stan@stanmann.com.  We would like to spend about 30 minutes with you over the phone listening to what you're facing and what your dreams are.  And to learn what a perfect life would look or feel like to you.  Toward the end, we'll share a couple of thoughts with you, based on what we've heard.  If you like what you hear, let's try coaching for a month with a moneyback satisfaction guarantee. 

If there's not a match between us, let me provide you with a referral to a coach who will be a match.  I'm happy to spend the time with you, whether we work together or not. 

Note:  Live in a different city or state than we do?  No problem.  Most of my clients don't live in Michigan , either.  Most coaches have national or international practices, thanks to the phone and email.

Special offer

Prepare yourself and your managers for today's challenges.
For a limited time you can get
a personal, confidential, free executive coaching session
and a free Time Mastery Profile.

Picking the right coach is an important decision and most people feel more comfortable hiring a coach only after interviewing him or her in person (after all, a good match is crucial to a successful coaching relationship). Therefore, we am offering a complimentary coaching session and a free testing with the Time Mastery Profile to Pvt. practitioners who would like to try coaching. There is of course, no obligation and there will be no pressure to start a coaching relationship. We only want to work with people who can benefit significantly from my services. By attending this private session, you should be able to make a judgment concerning the cost-effectiveness of hiring a coach.

If you are unsure, please take a moment to check out my testimonials. Only 1% of the people in this country regularly invest in their own self-improvement. Are you one of the few? Will you take one hour out of your day to invest in a relationship that could help you meet your goals more quickly and efficiently? If so, please contact us or give us a call at 877-261-0550.

Highest regards,

Stan Mann , C.P.C.
Holistic Private Practice Coach

PS. We are offering a complimentary coaching session AND a free testing with the Time Mastery Profile to business owners who would like to try coaching.  So if you are a person who values growth and excellence, call us at 877-261-0550, or e-mail stan (at sign) asuccesscoach.com.