Spotlight On:
Joanne McLean & Nicki Weiss

Company Name:
Soulzatwork and Sa1esWise

Find them at:
www.soulzatwork.com
and
www.saleswise.ca

Can you have big fun with big pharma? Walk with grace and dignity away from a failed conference presentation? Imagine a way to incorporate styrofoam heads into an ORSC exercise? Joanne McLean, President of Soulzatwork, and Nicki Weiss, President of Sa1esWise, sure can. These dynamic women, whose businesses are both based in Toronto, exemplify how the principles of ORSC can build a strong and successful partnership between solo entrepreneur coaches.

Their work with leaders and teams in the technology, healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and non-profit sectors ranges from one-on-one coaching to sales training, leadership training, and team coaching. Their collaboration begins with the sales call and continues through to the de-brief and follow-up report. “We lift each other up,” says Joanne. “We serve the client better because they have a highly functioning team--us--who co-creates with them. The work of team coaching is challenging and alive, in the moment. Frankly we never do this work alone – ever.”

They have dreamed big and accomplished great things since they began practising six years ago. Joanne, in partnership with fellow coach Sarah Robinson, received the Prism Award for coaching in organizations for work done with Ovarian Cancer Canada. Nicki, for her part, dreams of having her collaborations with other coaches written up in the Harvard Business Review.

Over the last three years of working together, Joanne and Nicki have watched their practices grow and their relationship strengthen. Joanne explains, “Our relationship takes precedence over the client we are serving. Our relationship with each other is number one. And we have had this tested from time to time and it gives us great opportunity to have the tough conversations with grace.” Nicki agrees. “We are good models, not only for other entrepreneurs, but also for our clients.”

What factors led to the success of your practice?

Joanne: Perseverance, focus, willingness to learn, collaboration, pushing myself through challenging times, passion, and being of service to others.

Nicki: An ability to engage people in the work I do, being good at selling, being driven to spot needs and create solutions, persistence, fast follow up, being easy to work with, marketing my business in ways that make me visible, offering a LOT of free services, creating an internet presence (writing a monthly e-newsletter, a niched and optimized website, placing articles on high traffic sites, etc.), intentionally identifying niches and strategic alliance partners (which allows me to be visible in my niches), hiring the right coach who kicks my butt, collaboration, speaking at conferences, hosting teleforums, focus, learning how to run a business, continuous learning about all kinds of stuff, belonging to a high-powered networking group, being generous, knowing that it would take a long time to build a business and being patient, not getting scared when times are slow, hiring assistants, and working long hours.

What is the best piece of advice you received?

Joanne: My mother told me to keep walking. And always walk with grace and dignity, no matter what situation you are in.

Nicki: Neither a borrower nor a lender be. And – pay cash. Both from my dad.

How does creativity play a role in your practice? Describe something creative you’ve done.

Joanne: I think creativity provides a light to our clients. It allows them to lift themselves out of their heads and get into their hearts and create from there. We do all sorts of crazy things in our sessions to bring levity. We have brought styrofoam heads (ones used for wigs) into our sessions and asked the clients to ‘put their heads’ on the shelf for the afternoon and be willing to play! We have had our team clients create a dream and celebration collage; the leader keeps it in the office to remind them of what they are wanting to create with each other.

Nicki: We are very good at interpreting ORSC activities and making them relevant for our clients. Joanne and I are also really good at figuring out fun and profound ways to make it safe for our clients to reveal themselves and help them operate in more powerful ways. For example, one of our teams wanted to learn how to become more influential in their organization. We designed a workshop on metaphors and had them create metaphors for their most difficult situations. All of them had HUGE successes, including influencing the CEO to see a situation differently. The CEO even started using their metaphor in his communications.

Tell us about something you’re particularly proud of.

Joanne: Having created and operated three successful businesses in my career. And presently what I'm most proud of is co-creating work with Nicki Weiss and Sarah Robinson. We have collectively built and currently sustain team coaching with 11 teams.

Nicki: I am proud of many aspects of my business and my life. I am very proud of the collaborative work I do with Joanne and others. I am proud of the results our clients are experiencing. I am proud that my business is healthy, thriving, and profitable. I am proud that my relationships with my family, colleagues, friends and clients are strong. I am proud that I’ve been able to keep up a fitness regimen in spite of the long hours that I work.

Tell us about a failure you learned from.

Joanne: In the last year, a partner and I spoke at a leadership conference, where our session essentially became a bust, and ultimately the feedback was terrible and could have been humiliating. The advice from my mother was reinforced that day – just keep walking with grace and dignity. And the world keeps turning.

Nicki: Last January, I launched a series of 24 teleforums (what was I thinking?????). I barely broke even (and probably lost money if I count the hours I put into creating the teleforums), killed myself with work, did a piss poor job of scheduling, and created needless stress. I learned to take it slower, do things in smaller steps instead of year-long steps that I couldn’t back out of, and leverage work that I’ve already created.

Where do you see the field of relationship systems coaching going in the future?

Joanne: I'm not sure how to answer this except to say that the world is so hungry for this work and we are all poised to contribute from whatever vantage point we stand – teams in organizations, families, couples, communities, governments, countries…

Nicki: Team development work has been around for a long time. I think if relationship systems coaches can sell the work and do quality programs, they will see success…and the field will grow.