Always There When You Need Him

By Steve Lutes
VP Global Technical Services at Beam Global Spirits & Wine
Client of Bill Munn Management Coaching

When Bill asked if I would do him the honor of writing a guest blog for his website, I jumped at the chance. After all, who could resist the power of the pen, especially when the choice of topics is 100% left up to you? So where do I begin…

I’m a huge fan of coaching, which likely stems from my early days of being a sports fanatic. At an early age, I learned the difference coaching makes—often the difference between winning and losing, and certainly the difference in how to handle both with integrity.

From my perspective, a good coach listens closely, provides open and honest feedback, stays calm even when the “player” is not, paints a positive vision of the future, and provides inspirational motivation. Bill is all that and more.

In-the-Moment Insight

One of the most valuable services Bill provides is always being there when you need him.

I recall a meeting in which I vehemently disagreed with a peer and stormed out, visibly shaken. My first instinct was to call Bill, and boy was that the right instinct. After 10 minutes of talking with him, I regained my composure, walked back into the meeting, followed Bill’s advice, and was able to get aligned with my peer with no hard feelings. I’m confident that the result would have been different had I not made that call.

Flexibility

I also appreciate Bill’s flexibility. During the early years of our relationship, Bill offered a flat monthly rate for his services to coach me. I then asked if we could go to an hourly rate, and he happily accommodated. I then asked if we could go back to a different monthly rate to coach my entire team, and once again, he accommodated.

More Benefits of Leadership Coaching

Bill now coaches a number of members of my team, which is extremely useful to all involved due to the synergies from our conversations.

Bill always looks for a solution that works for me personally, and he has quite a number of tools in his toolbox. I’m especially fond of door jambs (both verbal- and e-door jambs), behavior modification, and vision setting.

He has also shown me the power of using fewer words in presentations, to keep the audience engaged and wanting for more. This was reinforced recently, during a leadership meeting in which we were asked to come up with our 6-word story. If you research this, you’ll find many examples of a tradition that Ernest Hemingway supposedly began: telling a powerful story in just 6 words. Hemingway believed that his 6-word story was his best work: “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.”

So I’ll conclude with Bill’s 6-word story: “We thrive when people exceed themselves.”

Think about it!