My Ulterior Motive

In the last 18 months since I decided to leave the consulting company I founded, I’ve been asked over and over again, “Why did you leave?” The short answer is “I wanted to stop building companies, and start building into people”.  After doing so for 18 months, many of my current clients and colleagues have said things like, “He’s helping me with my business and helping me become a better marketer.”  Sounds like I’ve found my niche, huh?

Well, not just yet.  You see, I have a confession to make: helping people become better managers, marketers or salespeople isn’t my ultimate goal.  My true motive for launching a coaching practice is so that I have the resources, time and ability to help people live life to the full, influence their community, and make a long lasting Kingdom impact.

What did he just say?

Let me give some more explanation.

Last year, after I set in motion the marketing, sales and business portion of my practice, I began to explore how I was going to truly build into people.  That exploration led me to Five Capitals, a non-profit organization that works to help people discover how to live a full, integrated life that will make an impact.  Since working with Five Capitals, I’ve come to understand that we can achieve this life by investing the capital that we’ve been given. This idea comes from the teachings of Jesus.  When we read his parables, we see places where he uses “investment” language to illustrate how we should live our lives. I’ve come to learn that we’ve all been given “capital” (or resources) on a variety of levels that we are to use for the benefit of others.  My friends at Five Capitals have categorized these capitals as follows…

• Spiritual Capital – The amount of faith I have to invest
• Relational Capital – The level of relational equity I have to invest
• Physical Capital – The amount of time and energy I have to invest
• Intellectual Capital – The intellect, skill and competency I have to invest
• Financial Capital – The financial resources I have to invest

As with any capital, we should be seeking a return on each investment…

• My return on Spiritual Capital should be wisdom
• My return on Relational Capital should be family, friends, and deeper relationships
• My return on Physical Capital should be hours, minutes, and efficiency
• My return on Intellectual Capital should be insight and ideas
• My return on Financial Capital should be dollars and cents

Now, here’s the thing…I’ve listed these here in priority order.  The problem is that most of us have the order wrong, usually with Financial Capital as our top priority.  But when we get the priorities right, we see an inexplicable return on each capital, which leads to the full life mentioned above.

So, moving forward, in addition to my marketing, sales and business coaching practice, I’ll be serving as a “Five Capitals” Coach (an unpaid position, incidentally). My hope and prayer is that, no matter the issues my clients are facing, I can be used to help them see where they can invest, and realize a better than hoped for return.

If you’d like to know more about Five Capitals, feel free to contact me, or take a look at my website, and click on Five Capitals tab.