Coaches: Become the James Bond of Your Industry (Fast!) or Suffer
You and I have a problem that connects us.
The world as we know it is changing quickly and it will inevitably impact the industry we work in.
We need to protect ourselves in a way that won't just allow us to survive, but will see us thrive, despite all of this change.
If we don't, we risk becoming the easiest type of people to replace.
The type of people that aren't just replaceable by other humans, but by tech.
The choice of defence is obvious to me: Skills
…that's how you will survive.
The application of those skills: 'Skill-Stacking'
…that's how you will thrive!
The blueprint for achieving this is as follows…
Skill-Stack Like A Spy
James Bond is a spy.
But not just any spy. He's the most effective spy.
What makes him the best, most effective spy?
…his skill-stack.
James Bond isn't just proficient in the art of killing people.
He's proficient in a whole bunch of skills, that he stacks together, to complete his missions.
He can win fist-fights, pilot sea planes, charm the allies of his rivals, problem-solve under pressure, make decisions quickly…and so much more.
Even if someone could out-score him in the firing range, I doubt they would have any chance of being as effective as 007 is out 'in the field'.
This example teaches us that being good at your job isn't enough.
There has to be more to you and what you can bring to the table.
The world is a competitive place and if we want to succeed we need accumulate a set of skills that allow us to be effective now AND adapt to the changes ahead.
The James Bond Playbook for Getting Ahead of Your Industry Rivals:
Play along with me for a second…
As a business owner you have several 'missions' you have to complete regularly:
>Delivering your service (Coaching & Client Care)
>Growing your service (Sales, Marketing & Lead Generation)
>Retaining people within your service (Communication, Psychology & Leadership)
>Spread the word about what you do (Content, Creativity, Tech etc.)
…and I could go on!
Each area has an accompanying set of skills you could choose to acquire.
Notice anything about these skills?
90% of them are unrelated to the core 'thing' you do.
In the same way that James Bond uses non-lethal skills to complete a lethal mission, you have to stack unrelated business and soft-skills to best carry out your mission.
For example…
If you want to become one of the most effective Coaches in your space, the specific skills related to your coaching service probably account for about 20-25% of your overall skillset that will make you effective.
When you first start, the coaching-specific skills will make up a larger piece of the pie.
You haven't yet had chance to acquire any other skills yet.
But, over time, I believe that you should aim to reduce the size of that portion of the pie by adding in additional skillsets that help you in your overall mission.
Here's a diagram to make my point a little clearer…
The more advanced (and effective) coach doesn't just get better at the skills specifically required for their coaching, they add unrelated skills that complement what they do.
*Note: Just because 'Coaching Skills' only accounts for 20% in the 'Advanced' example versus 80% in the 'Beginner' example, that doesn't make the Advanced Coach worse at coaching - it simply highlights that this coach has a much broader skill set to bring to the table, as well as the specific skills of their coaching.
What I'm describing here is a little counterintuitive.
I feel that most people believe that a 'specialist' becomes more specialised by doing more of what they already do.
There's some truth to that.
But look around you. Now more than ever, we are seeing 'specialists' who don't just do their job but also show up in the world as: podcasters, educators, YouTube creators, content creators etc.
They have acquired skills unrelated to their specialism to spread the word of what they do, attract more people, and thus - become more well-known as a 'specialist'.
Starting to make sense?
Keep this in mind…
There's a limit to how many skills you will be able to acquire.
Especially if you want to understand them at a level that impacts how you operate on a daily basis.
It is impossible to acquire all the skills that could positively impact what you do.
The goal isn't to acquire skills for the sake of it.
It's to acquire skills you can stack on top of the ones you already have in pursuit of your goals (or 'Mission' - to stick to the James Bond analogy).
How to Skill-Stack
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there is an agreed-upon system for stacking skills effectively.
It's part science, part art, and mostly trial-and-error.
(Let's be honest!)
That being said, here's how I have approached the idea of 'Skill-Stacking' and have found some success with…
1) Lead with your interests
When I started as a PT, health and fitness was my life.
I lived and breathed it every day.
I wanted to know and understand ALL of it.
This was my starting point.
I acquired a set of skills related to this area and that's what allowed me to become a PT and want to help others make use of the skills I had acquired.
But this is just Level 1.
I still had other interests - business, tech, sport, psychology, finance (I'm quite a curiosity-driven person!)
So, in the pursuit of completing my first mission, building a PT business, I set about using my interests to acquire more skills that would help.
The one that stood out was 'Business'.
Yes, it's an obvious place to start but it also happened to be the one I was most excited about.
Had 'Psychology' been the one I was most intrigued by, I would have started there.
2) Build a Curriculum for Yourself
When you first start acquiring a new skill or set of skills, you don't really know where to start.
In that case, stay broad within that topic.
For me, this initially meant reading and listening to biographies and autobiographies of successful business people.
If I remember rightly, the earliest ones I consumed were Richard Branson & Steve Jobs (how cliche' is that!)
Using these as a foot-in-the-door to the world of business, I was able to uncover topics within 'Business' that these guys were amazing at, and quite clearly, and I wasn't!
One area that I felt these two had in common was Sales/Marketing.
Richard Branson was a master of getting media attention to shine a light on his brand.
Steve Jobs was a storyteller who made complex tech you never knew you wanted, feel like something you couldn't live without. The most famous example being "A 1000 songs in your pocket" - the line he used to introduce the world to the iPod.
With hindsight, I can see that I used my broad introduction into the world of business to uncover some of the first skills I wanted to go and acquire.
These were Marketing and Sales.
Focusing here, I was able to acquire skills that I could immediately stack with my 'Fitness' skills to do a much better job of selling my services.
Note: In going down these narrower rabbit holes, you then stumble across other related topics and skillsets e.g. human psychology, the art of persuasion, objection handling, rapport building, active listening etc.
3) Mould Your Environment
This is an extension of Step 2 and somewhat of a bonus step to speed up your results.
The idea is to mould your environment to impact what you learn sub-consciously vs. consciously.
Let me explain…
Setting yourself a curriculum e.g. "I am going to sit down for an hour a day and go through a sales course" - that's conscious learning.
However, I feel we have an ability to supercharge this learning by what we take in subconsciously.
To do this, you have to mould your environment, so that you are taking in these topics and skills even when you don't consciously mean to.
You do this by…
…cultivating what you follow online and aligning it with the skills you want to learn.
…changing the type of things you listen to or watch
…spending time around people that are great at the skill you want to improve in
You want to create an environment that feels like you're getting better at those skills via osmosis.
4) Create Opportunities to Practice
You can read about lifting weights all day but the only way to get stronger is to start lifting.
Same goes for the skills you acquire.
You have to get out there and use them.
For example…
I decided at the back-end of 2024 that I wanted to improve my writing skills and long-form content.
I took a course and simultaneously announced that I would be releasing a weekly long-form newsletter - the one you are now reading!
This allowed (even forced) me to learn and implement as I went.
Before I knew it, I'd finished the course and had published several long-form pieces of writing, and in doing so, got into the habit of doing it weekly.
You can do something similar.
Create a reason to put your new skills in to practice.
Like my example, it could be something you do for free.
If you wanted you could weave it into the service you currently offer and use that as your method of practice.
Summary: How to Skill-Stack
Lead with your interests
Build a curriculum for yourself
Mould your environment
Create opportunities to practice
If you take your core skills and use this blueprint to systematically add a couple of new skills each year, you'll be unstoppable.
How many people do you know (personally) that are doing that!?
This is how you win.
This is how you carve out a path for yourself that others can only dream of following.
It's how I have crafted an approach to coaching Fitness Business Owners that no one else can copy.
I have my initial PT and S&C skills (as well as all the related nutrition & lifestyle elements), my 9+ years experience of a gym floor PT, and a collection of other skills I use to tailor my approach (Sales, Marketing, Lead Gen, Business Systems, Technology, Automation, AI Integration, Problem Solving).
So let me ask you a question to end our conversation today…
Would you like some help in building a Business that stands the test of time and will allow you to adapt to the ever-changing landscape?
A business that allows you to thrive as an individual, grow on a personal level, and give you the flexibility to impact the loved ones around you.
If so, fill out this form and I'll see if I can help.
P.S. I like to stack my coaching skills with tech skills - in case you hadn't noticed ;-D
