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How I’m helping clients deal with Covid disruption right now
With Mark’s support as my coach, my family as my backbone, and my great team of employees, I managed to shift my business model from 80% on-site and 20% remote work to 100% remote work for my clients.
Holger Nils Pohl, Visual Strategist
Right now we are facing unprecedented disruption to our lives and our work. Even people with an established career or business are feeling the heat.
If you habitually work from home and your customer base is still intact, you may be carrying on as normal.
But if your work depends on human contact in any way — making physical products, working as part of a team, performing on stage, running workshops or retreats — then business as usual is not an option.
And even if you can keep working, your market may have shrunk or suddenly become more competitive.
Does this sound like you?
You are an established creative professional — such as a creative, an artist, a leader, a consultant, or a creative entrepreneur — with at least 10 years experience in your field.
Prior to Covid, things were going well.
Now you’re facing massive disruption and disorientation. All is not lost, but you know this is a critical time for your career. A time when the decisions you make, and the actions you take, are crucial to your future.
So this is a time when you need to be at your best. Maybe your best ever.
Which takes a cool head, and the clarity to make good decisions.
We all have our moments, but you cannot afford to be overwhelmed by anxiety, anger, frustration, disappointment – natural and understandable as all of these emotions are.
It also takes creativity — you have to dig deep and come up with solutions to massive and unheralded problems.
It takes communication and collaboration — whether you are a solo operator, a leader or a team player, you are only as strong as the relationships in your working life. So it’s essential that you communicate clearly and effectively, and provide support, solutions and leadership to your team, your partners, and your clients or customers.
And it takes courage. You have to face fear in different guises — in the middle of the night, first thing in the morning, or in difficult conversations with your team, your clients and customers. You are also concerned for your family, who may well be looking to you for leadership.
But you can’t let the fear stop you from doing what it takes to keep your career or business moving forward.
All of which means you need to reassess and reinvent — maybe starting with your working habits, your product range or your service offering.
And on some level you are reinventing yourself. Because this crisis is also an opportunity to learn and grow stronger, and emerge as a more confident and creative person.
On your side through the crisis
All of the above is essential. None of it is easy. And all of my clients have someone to help them with this.
I provide them with a calm and confidential space to talk through their challenges — not only the external problems, but also their inner feelings and doubts. The thoughts they can’t share with others, because those others are looking to them for leadership and solutions.
I help them acknowledge the problems and the feelings that accompany them. And then get creative in finding solutions, reinventing themselves and their work.
For some, it’s actually about holding steady on a course they were already set on.
For others, it’s about reinventing their work, their business and themselves.
And for some, it’s about taking advantage of unexpected extra time, to work on a self-initiated creative project — such as a book, a screenplay, a proposal, or a new type of artwork or product — that could have a game-changing effect on their future career.
Whatever their particular challenge or situation, all of my clients have someone on their side, who knows them deeply, and who can help them stay calm, think clearly and create a path through the current crisis and beyond.
They have the support of regular scheduled coaching sessions, where they can stop the world and get off. This is a time to things through properly and make well-considered decisions. It’s a place to reconnect with their creativity and even rediscover their sense of humour – and emerge fired up for the week ahead.
They also have someone they can phone any time they need help with an urgent challenge or decision.
And they know they can email me their questions, progress updates and important documents for review.
In short, they have someone on their team whose biggest priority is helping them address their biggest priorities.
If you’d like to have this kind of support to help you rise to the challenge of the crisis, answer the questions on this page and I’ll get back to you within 2 working days.
I will treat your answers, and anything else you tell me, as strictly confidential.
If I think we may be a good fit for working together, I will find a time for us to talk about your challenges and goals (with no fee or obligation) to see if I am the right person to help you through this crisis.
Please note: There is only one of me and I give a lot of time and attention to every client, so I have limited places available.
For many years I have allocated these places to the kind of clients that bring out my best work as a coach: experienced, high-performing creative professionals, who are doing great work and touching others’ lives.
If that sounds like you, answer the questions on this page and let’s talk.
Mark McGuinness
This year was already a challenging one business-wise. And then Covid-19 happened. I mean, it happened for everyone, but I am a facilitator and coach, earning the majority of my revenues through in-person workshops. Covid-19 was here. And all my jobs for the first half of the year got canceled within two working days.
Mark helped me calm down in my first moments of panic. In our emergency calls, he helped me acknowledging the struggles and the crisis, but he pointed me as well to the right questions to ask at that moment.
With Mark’s support as my coach, my family as my backbone, and my great team of employees, I managed to shift my business model from 80% onsite and 20% remote work to 100% remote work for my clients.
I built multiple assets to support my clients and my network for free during this challenging time. And I acquired more than enough projects to not only keep my business running, but most likely, I will significantly scale my business this year.
The coaching process helped me in multiple ways during the crisis:
- Mark is the one coming up with the hardest, but the best questions I needed to answer.
- The coaching time was offering a safe space to moan, to struggle, and to get creative and crazy as well.
- The hours with Mark were guaranteed focused time without any distractions.
These and more helped me overcome this existential crisis caused by Covid-19.
Holger Nils Pohl, Visual Strategist, HolgerNilsPohl.com
Mark McGuinness’s role in helping to clear the noise is critical, whether the world is in a crisis of scarcity, a shock of pandemic, or even when it is a time filled with plenty. He is a treasure of a man who helps me keep my eyes on what is essential.
I have a lot of irons in the fire every day. I am an industrial farmer, I am a serial entrepreneur, and I own a high-end luxury company. I work in many fields with all ranks of people — some teach at famous universities and others can’t read at all.
A person like me needs a space to agglomerate his experiences and take a look at them with someone who offers a fresh perspective. It would be tough to overestimate the value Mark brings to our meetings.
Daniel Boettcher, Founder and CEO, The Intrepid Wendell