Ok, I am the first to shy away from explicit money conversations. Blame it on my conservative, South Island protestant upbringing, money was never talked about.
I want to apologise in advance, if this blog comes across as yukky, brash or out of touch. I did have some big concerns about posting it, but I am taking a risk, and just doing it!
One of the criticisms about the Thought Leader Program is the relentless focus on how much you earn.
This can really push my boundaries, as a thought leader mentor. I have just returned from Thought Leader's Business School, and believe me, the focus on what you earn (argghhh!!) was extreme. In one session, we were actually separated into groups, depending on what we earn. I could have REALLY made it mean something, that I was the only thought leader mentor in the 'lowest earning' group.
The irony, is that the lowest earning group is identified as those earning less than $240,000 per year. How does that resonate with you? In New Zealand, earning that kind of money is considered as pretty successful. Especially when you look at how much some employees with huge responsibilities bring home annually. And don't even get me started on social workers, mental health workers and researchers.
Do you believe that your own views around money can be a help or a hindrance?
Certainly, there is some brilliant evidence to suggest that this is so. Ask Jasmine Platt, Catherine Newton or Trish Love, and they will show you why they believe that.
So! Why not have some shifts around what is possible? The way we move our thought leaders through to being 'black belts' are by focusing on launching one new offering a quarter, with that offering generating you $10,000 per month. Once you have that 'plate spinning' as it were, you focus on the next one. It certainly has taken me a while to get my head around it, but now that I have, suddenly the goal doesn't seem quite so out of reach. Also bear in mind, that we say that it takes on average three years to reach black belt status ($60,000 per month).
I have made the decision to focus on growing the community of New Zealand thought leaders!
Another confession coming up. I find it way easier to attract clients in Australia than NZ. Maybe our Aussie friends have a healthier relationship with money, maybe there genuinely are more opportunities over there to generate revenue, but I am not going to let that be an excuse.
I am for now, totally focusing on supporting NZ thought leader to be more commercially successful. It breaks my heart how many of my wonderful expert colleagues are really struggling. We have an unfair advantage following the curriculum (45 plus people attending Business School last week are a testimony to that), and I would love more kiwis to experience that.
For some, the investment of Thought Leader's Business School or one on one private mentoring with me is cost prohibitive for now. I have therefore decided to launch a new offering (following the methodology to the core!), of a weekend intensive. Coming up in Auckland (5th and 6th April at the GORGEOUS Hotel de Brett), this weekend will be a brilliant opportunity for you to focus solely on how to be more commercially successful as an expert. Limited to 12 people, and very hands on, you will learn all you need to know about clarity, cleverness and conviction ( along with a bit of playfulness and daring!).
Last week for me felt like 'coming home'. I have truly found my tribe. Yes, there is talk about the money, but what these people are really about is doing what they love, having freedom, and making a contribution. What is even more exciting is that the tribe is growing here already ( around 12 of us meeting tonight who are already on the journey).
Is belonging to this tribe something that resonates for you?
Congratulations to the inspiritional Marc Fountain for winning the gliding competition as the first person to sign up to my mentoring program after my last blog!
