Tell me about your vision.
I'm going to start at the point in time when I decided to enter coaching as a
profession. This is going back about 11 years and I was an HR person for 35 years,
30, more than 35 years in my career.
And at that point in time, I was entering my late fifties and no designs on
retirement. And the thought was, what do I do next if I'm not going to retire?
So I hired a coach myself and about the third meeting I had with that person, I
looked at him and I said, I want to do what you're doing. And that's when that
journey launched for me. Now that I'm in it, I absolutely love it, the
connections I make with people such as yourself and others. And so my vision
with that is I think like many people, how can I have impact on lives? How can
I move the bar just a little bit for people that I interact with? If I come
across somebody who's scoring themselves as a seven on a scale of one to 10, how
can I help them get to an eight or nine? So have impact on this earth, one person
at a time.
Thank you for sharing that. You kind of explained where your vision came from.
Um, but if what would you say is of what your bias, what you do?
I have a gift for two things, a memory, uh, which is like a steel trap, which
can sometimes be a blessing or a curse. It can be a curse in marriage because I
remember too many things and it's hard for me to forget. So I have to work on
that. But when I'm developing relationships with people, uh,
relationship is the other thing and connection comes from finding an area of
commonality. For example, before we went live today, you mentioned you're from
central Texas. I had gone to the vision pro website and saw that Jackson and I
presume you were based out of new Braunfels. I've passed through new
Braunfels many times in my life. We can talk about sleep and sleep and sleep
my life. We can talk about slitter bomb. We can talk about the unicorns.
There's commonality that's there. So my why is leveraging what I know about
people and the commonality to build trust, to build relationship and to help
that person get to where they want to be.
Thank you for sharing that. That is powerful.
That is so powerful. What you just mentioned here.
So if I were to rephrase the same question and ask you again, what gets
you out of bed
every morning? Why do you keep doing what you do? Is it because of
I mean, I don't want to put words in your mouth. I want to say what you want
to say about it.
On Monday and Wednesday mornings at five o'clock, I have a spin class to
lead at six o'clock. So my alarm clocks getting me up to go do that for
personal exercise. But also I get paid a little bit of money to do it. But
again, connection with people. If I can push them hard enough and help them
step forward as far as their exercise routine, I can do that.
That's a success for me. And on top of that, having some fun and enjoyment
along the way. Getting to know them, getting to know what they want. So two
days out of the week, that's what's getting me up. The other days, is
there a client that I need to prepare for today? Is there a client that I
need to debrief myself about that we covered some territory the day before?
That I want to look at again? In my third occupation that I haven't touched
on, where I work for ESPN in the sporting world, it's getting prepared
for an event. And I do the statistical part of it. So it goes along with
working with the talent, the play by play, the color analysts. So what is it
that I can add from a statistical standpoint, from knowledge to enhance
this production, so that we interest our audience and get them excited about
the product that we're conveying to them, which is a sporting event. So those
are a variety of things that get me up in the morning. And every now and then,
I get lucky enough, I can just sleep in.
Thank you for sharing that. Let's talk about the business side that you were
mentioning. I'm assuming, I mean, you've been doing this for about 11 years now,
right? I decided to become a coach 11 years ago. I've been coaching for about
eight. And how long have you been your brand and your business that you sent
us? It's on your website. How long has that been in place?
That was from the beginning also about eight years ago when I conveyed the
Seed Silver Coach brand.
So when you're helping these people and making an impact, what keeps you going?
What I strive for with my clients is a breakthrough, an aha moment, where
through the questions I've asked to the conversations we've had, I see
something start to, I can see it, whether we're in person or mostly remote as
you and I are today, I can see something happening. And I'll ask them that.
I'll say, is something going on here right now from what we've been talking
about? And they'll say, yes, I just discovered something about myself, what
I want to do about a particular situation, how I want to move forward.
And then the follow-up question is, when are you going to be able to do
that? So the accountability aspect kicks in. But before that, the
breakthrough, the aha moment, that's gold for me to see that and to feel
some level of responsibility in helping to bring that about in the person.
Thank you for sharing that. If I were to ask you, Kirk, where are you going
with your vision? I'm writing a book currently entitled Thoughts for My Kids
and Other People's Kids. So you'd look at the surface and say, well, that's
about my kids and my grandkids. But we're all somebody's kids. And so the
audience is broad. It's primarily targeted towards Zs and millennials.
Because I can remember that time 30, 40 years ago, being at a crossroads,
maybe being a little bit lost and wanting somebody to take me by the hand
and help me out. And I had some people that did that for me at that time.
But still a lot of dangerous waters for me to navigate. I want to be a
source for not only those individuals, but anyone who's at a crossroads in
relationships, in vocation, in life, that maybe there's a tidbit there that
can be shared that will be helpful. So that's one vision. The other is
to continue to build new relationships with new clients, preserve and keep
exciting the existing ones, but also in the new ones. What have I learned in
the past in coaching and in other aspects of my life and career that I
can apply going forward in the new situations that I face? So it's a
strong vision I want to share with this book. And secondly, how can I continue
to be a better coach?
My next question for you, Kurt, is what is your goal for being on the show?
I want people to hear our dialogue first and maybe pick up on something that
intrigues them, that arouses their curiosity and says to them, I'd like to
talk to this guy a little bit more. Maybe just to get to know him. But maybe
I've got something that I need to approach right now that I need a partner
who can help me, who can encourage me, who can be positive and also provide
accountability. So again, a couple of different things on that connection,
the ability to be heard.
My next question for you, Kurt, has two parts to it. First part is why do
leaders hide from funding their vision? And the second part is how do leaders
lean into funding their vision?
I think the answer to both of them is fear. I'm afraid that it may get rejected,
that it's a vision that people may mock and think is not genuine. And we come
down to self-confidence, self-esteem sometimes with that. I've been burned
before. I don't want that to happen again. I don't want to put myself out
there. And then there's timidness that goes with that as far as funding. Is
anybody really going to support me in doing what I'm doing? It's kind of a side
story on that. I'm in the midst of writing my book right now. And we play
this imposter syndrome in our own minds sometimes of I'm seeking testimonials
for the book. And I've very carefully thought about who I would like to
support it, have comments about it. But there's a little bit of humility in
going to people and saying here is something I've done, a product I've put
together. Would you say something in endorsement about it? And so that little
devil on your shoulder says who are you to write this and to ask people to
support this? But the better angel is there saying no son, you've got
something to say. Ask people. And to my delight so far, Harry, so many people
have come forward and they've had such kind and endearing things to say. I'm so
glad I took that step forward. Testimonial being a form of funding, if
you will. Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to
Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes
continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have
more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an excellent time
building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.