HI, I’M JOHN

I’ve been a professional business coach since 2004.

Before becoming a coach, I was president and CEO of BC Liquor Stores - a $3 billion dollar company.

(Want to know what I learned about running a business during that time? Read this post: Lessons from a CEO: Five Insights for Small Business Owners)

I started my career at Tip Top Tailors, a men’s clothing retailer.

My first job was on the store floor and I worked my way up to the executive suite before I was recruited by BC Liquor Stores.

Looking back, I am struck by the high quality of leadership training I received at Tip Top. It was there that I learned many of the leadership, delegation, and Socratic questioning tools I teach my clients today.

Since becoming a coach, I’ve helped close to 400 clients become the CEO of their business - giving them the tools and structure they need to feel organized, confident, and in control.

In many cases, these owners doubled, tripled, or even 10xed their businesses - and I’d love to help you do the same.

John Sig
John Image

WHAT I BELIEVE IN

WHAT IS JOHN LIKE TO
WORK WITH?

I’ll let my clients answer this one!

John listens closely and attentively: I feel heard

He listens closely and attentively: I feel heard, and at the same time, I’m conscious of what I’m saying - I’m listening to myself as well. He asks insightful questions and issues helpful challenges and homework.

He has advice, answers and resources

It seems like he can instantly pull up an article or a book for me to read or something that references what I’m going through.

He’s easy to chat with and we make good use of our time together.

I really like John’s professionalism and system for our regular meetings.

Goals, timelines and follow up are written down and tracked. With previous coaches I worked with, it was just a long conversation with no follow up and it was up to me to figure out what to do.

John is straight and to-the-point. Not a lot of sugar-coating.

He doesn’t have a hard edge, but he knows what he’s doing, so he’s giving the proper advice. He likes the facts. He’s not intimidating - he’s very personable - but the job at hand is what he gets taken care of.

He's outcome and results driven, and very sharp.

I like that when I get on a call with him, he holds my feet to the fire in terms of how I want to make the most of the money I'm spending on him.

Sometimes I'll just jump in and want to have a chat and he asks: "What are you expecting from today?"

He ties me back to what my bigger goals are when I'm distracted. He provides the bigger picture and holds me accountable to what I want.

He's not afraid to keep you accountable

He'll tell you that you didn't do what you said you would do. There have been times where I felt sheepish about not doing the homework!

John provides structure

I'm not a supremely structured person - I'm more on the creative and ideas side of things.

He has an agenda for our meetings, I have a spreadsheet to update with my goals, tasks, the things I want to work on and my wins. (It's also nice to share those with somebody!)

He offers outside insight and perspective, without telling you what to do.

He is really good at identifying what needs to be worked on, even if you haven’t noticed or thought about it already.

He gets you thinking about other options, but he makes you figure out your own answers, rather than telling you what to do.

He’s not afraid to tell me what he thinks

If I’m not doing something I should be doing, he’s gonna tell me and he’s not gonna worry about offending me. I see great value in that. He wants to fix any problems that he sees.

John is efficient, intelligent, level-headed, flexible and a very good listener.

He’s very insightful. He has advice and recommendations can make a big difference to profitability and operations.

One small idea can revolutionize the way you approach something or do something.

He also has a sense of humor!

It's great not to take things too seriously.

John helps me sort out what to do, so it’s not just a big blur.

He breaks things down into the steps that need to be taken, and then suggests people and other resources to help to get there.

Then we get started and follow up with our progress the next week. He keeps me accountable and on track.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I BELIEVE I WAS BORN TO COACH

In about 2004 just after I started my coaching practice, I had an epiphany: I was born to coach.

I’ve been coaching all my life. Until that moment I hadn’t been able to label it. Now I had crystal clear insight.

I now understood what Steve Jobs meant in this quote: That only after you’re there, can you then connect the dots.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”

~ Steve Jobs

MJB

I’M AN ADVOCATE FOR DESTIGMATIZING
DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE

I believe that leadership requires us to stand up for what we believe is right and good - even if it means taking a personal risk.

In recent years, I have become an advocate for positive social change around destigmatizing depression and suicide - especially in men.

Entrepreneurs and company founders are often isolated, under a lot of stress and prone to depression.

Because depression is often seen as a character flaw in our culture, many of them don’t seek help and some turn to suicide as an answer.

I am intimately acquainted with this subject. In 2011, I suffered from depression and attempted to take my own life. I told my personal story in my 2015 TEDx talk on destigmatizing depression and suicide.

I’ve since been interviewed for ManTalks.com and appeared in a TV commercial to promote www.HeadsUpGuys.org, an online resource for men who struggle with depression.

Doing this changed how I interact in the world and in my business. I learned that vulnerability is something to be embraced - a sign of strength, not weakness - and it is how I endeavour to show up every day.

“THE RISK OF A WRONG DECISION IS PREFERABLE TO THE TERROR OF INDECISION.”

This is a great quote from Maimonides.

Seems you read to the bottom of this page, you’re probably wondering if it’s a good idea to connect with me, you might want to consider the quote...then call me!

LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING
CONTACT JOHN