Plato said it.
“No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth”.
I can vouch, from personal experience, for the wisdom in the long gone Greek’s words.
Funny how so little has changed in a few thousands years, eh?
I do wonder what Plato – or his fellow Ancient Greek philosophers for that matter – would make of the depth of falsity we’re now experiencing in the world…
… let alone the depths we’re imminently to plunge to as AI increasingly permeates all we do.
There’s a message for another time, for now, back to the point at hand.
That point being truth.
A lot of people don’t want to hear truth. Even less are willing to speak it.
In my sector – the self-improvement/personal growth industry – very few of the “big gun gurus” are in the business of truth-telling.
Why?
Because truth telling has commercial consequences.
It’s far more lucrative to tell people what they want to hear – to sugar coat their reality – than deliver the message to serve the evolution of the individual concerned.
The absence of truth leads to no intelligent direction of growth.
Any evolution founded in falsity is no evolution at all. No towering construction can abide if built on rotten foundations – and falsity is rotten to the core.
I mention this because in the last couple of weeks I’ve affronted, disappointed, or perhaps even upset, a number of people who hold me in high esteem.
People I value. People I’ve served.
Why?
Because they were living under a false premise.
A couple of weeks back I sent out a brief message asking a simple, yet revealing question:
Are you still interested in becoming a professionally qualified Coach?
In amongst the responses, plenty came in from individuals I served during my decade-long association with the John Maxwell Team.
Some of my closest friends, most valued clients and dearest colleagues come from that association. Nine of those ten years I count as some of the best of my career to date.
Not all the responses were of the ilk I’m about to share, but numerous were.
For the purpose of this message – and the all important revelation it brings – I’ll reference just one, from a chap we’ll call Benny.
Our exchange began with Benny’s initial response:
“I am a professionally qualified Coach, and growing.”
Intrigued, I replied:
Great, Benny! With whom did you train and get your professional qualification with?
To which he replied:
“I trained with Tony Buzan, Robin Sharma, John Maxwell (including your coaching system as part of JMT), Success resources, and Success Gyan coaches and trainers like T Harv Eker, Blair Singer and alike.
In addition, we have a coaches group where we continually work on improving ourselves to the best practice globally.”
Ah.
It was very obvious to me that Benny wasn’t quite the student of my body of work he seems to think he was.
If he was, he’d know all the names he referenced – aside from mine – are not professionally trained Coaches and do not have the means to train and professionally qualify credible Coaching practitioners.
This statement is not made with any disrespect towards any of the people concerned, or their body of work. On the contrary, I respect the work they do – however, it doesn’t change the truth of the matter, regardless of how unwelcome or inconvenient it might be for Benny, or anyone else.
I don’t claim to train and qualify professional counsellors, psychotherapists, architects or lawyers – because I’m not qualified to do so.
Truth is truth.
Rather than jump straight in with my size nine’s, I first sought to clarify how aware Benny was of what I’ve just shared with you.
Ok, Benny, help me understand where, in what you describe, you believe you’ve earned a professional Coaching qualification?
His response revealed a broadly held yet deeply damaging misconception which needed addressing in order to serve him for the rest of his career.
A truth I’m acutely aware Benny might not appreciate me pointing out… a truth I’m equally aware he might not be willing to accept…
… but when your priority is to serve people rather than serve your own popularity, there is no compromise.
Benny is far from alone in his major misgiving, hence why I’ll share our subsequent exchange in part 2…
… because it will not only serve those who were part of the community Benny and I were in (if, of course, they can handle truth)…
… it also serves anyone in this profession, anyone planning to come into it…
… and anyone wise enough to invest in the genuine experience of the most transformational process known to mankind.
Warmly,
Christian
P.S. Benny’s not to blame for the gross misunderstanding he has. In fact, it’s understandable.
Again, our subsequent exchange will reveal all.
P.P.S. Back, briefly, to Plato’s prophetic societal observation.
Despite none of what I’ve shared above being any different to what I shared throughout my time at the John Maxwell Team, there have been several instances since those days where a few individuals have thrown their vitriol in my direction when confronted with me stating this truth.
Such is life.
I remember one “model citizen” sent me a direct message in Facebook calling me “the devil’s spawn”.
You can imagine how much sleep I lost over that one.
Experience teaches those who prioritise truth – in a society which doesn’t – the value of growing a crocodile skin.
Any critical thinker (or “conspiracy theorist” as they’re so often labelled these days) can testify to that truth.
Warmly,
Christian
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