Are you Immune to Business Development?

Many coaches find building their business challenging, if not downright painful. They know what they need to do—network enthusiastically, follow up with initial contacts, develop a compelling website or blog—but they don’t seem to be able to follow through consistently, if at all.

So how can you get better at business development? First, identify the root cause of why you don’t consistently do what you know you need to. You can do that by creating an Immunity-to-Change™ (ITC) map. We designed this mapping process so people can see that even when we have a sincere commitment to move in a new direction, we simultaneously and unconsciously hold competing commitments that lead us to act inconsistently. These two forces work in opposition with the net effect of no change.

We call this an “immune system” because we believe the mind, like the body, has an immune system—an invisible, ceaseless dynamic that exists solely to protect us. However, our immune system can get us in trouble when it makes mistakes. Then it “protects” us from the very awareness we need in order to thrive. The lever for releasing this system starts with identifying hidden beliefs, and continues with systematically testing these and replacing false or overly restrictive beliefs with more realistic ones.

Here are three suggestions for creating a meaningful map for yourself:

• Hold a learner’s mindset by being honest with and kind to yourself.
• Find someone you trust to talk with about your various map entries.
• Consider a first version of your map as a draft, since sleeping on it and letting things marinate often reveals deeper insights.

Once you are ready to overturn your immune system, remember that you are working to change your mind, not simply your behaviors. You can track your progress by noting what you are learning about the accuracy of your hidden beliefs. This will become clearer in the example below.

Let’s turn to Ron, an experienced coach, to illustrate how he used the ITC process to develop a thriving coaching practice within one year.

Question 1 (Column 1)

“What is the one thing that if you got better at, would lead you to be more effective or more satisfied?” 

You may want to answer that question in the context of developing your business. Write your answer in column 1 of the table.

Ron’s answer was, “To be more aggressive in self-promotion.” Ron got great feedback on his work. He couldn’t understand why he wasn’t doing more to reach new clients.

Question 2 (Column 2)

“What behaviors work against your goal?” 

We want you to take a fearless inventory, being as honest and thorough as possible. Write your answers in column 2. Ron wrote:

• I don’t speak up when a good situation arises.
• I don’t follow up with potential clients and people who express interest in my work.
• I wait for others to involve me in the opportunity.
• I wait for others to suggest me as a resource.

Typically, this inventory leads us immediately to make promises and plans to change those behaviors. We want to solve our problem as soon as possible. But that approach leads most of us right back to where we started—knowing what we need to do but being unable to follow through. The ITC process invites you to more thoroughly understand the problem and to consider that these behaviors may actually serve you well by accomplishing other “hidden” or unconscious goals.

Question 3 (Column 3)

Imagine yourself doing the opposite of the behaviors you just named. What worries or fears come up? 

Write these in the top half of column 3.

Ron did some soul-searching before writing:

• I’ll be perceived as arrogant.
• I’ll be thought of as pushy.
• I’ll be thought of as self-promoting.
• I’ll put myself in the position to discover that I really am an importer and can’t deliver!

Surfacing these worries can help us see our hidden goals.

Question 4 (Column 3)

Imagine that you don’t just have those worries or fears but that a part of you is actively committed to making sure they don’t happen. What are you committed to not having happen? 

For each of your worries, write “I am also committed to not…” in the bottom half of column 3. Finish the sentence with each worry.

Ron wrote: I am also committed to not …

• appearing arrogant.
• appearing pushy or self-promoting.
• being seen as an imposter if I don’t keep myself under the radar.

Identifying these commitments usually makes us feel uncomfortable. (If you don’t yet feel uncomfortable, go back and see if you can identify yuckier, more self-protecting worries.) However, it also helps us see why we behave as we do, even when we know better. Ron understood why his prior efforts to motivate and remind himself to speak up didn’t last long. Ron understood his “immune system.” He could see that despite the fact that he genuinely wanted to be more aggressive promoting himself, he also had a goal to not promote himself.

These two forces, both generating lots of energy, worked in opposition with the net effect of keeping Ron in the exact same place—immune to change. To shift this stuck dynamic, Ron needed to find out if he’d exaggerated this danger.

Question 5 (Column 4)

In order to protect yourself like this, what must you be assuming is true? What beliefs do you have that are keeping you immune to change?

Ron wrote:

• I assume that if I self-promote, others will see me as arrogant and pushy.
• I assume that there is always a possibility that I will overpromise and underdeliver, and if that ever happens, I will have lost my integrity and people won’t trust me.

Are Ron’s assumptions 100-percent valid? Or might he be overgeneralizing their truth? To overturn your immune system, you must actively look for or create data that could challenge your belief system.

Ron decided to test his assumption when he heard about a potential coaching opportunity. He approached the potential client and said, “If you are looking for someone to address the issue of managing change, I am the person you are looking for.” Her response?: “Well, then let’s get together and discuss this.” Ron had taken a risk by promoting himself more aggressively than he had ever done before, and the client was interested. Not only did Ron’s new client not see him as arrogant and pushy, she let others know how impressed she was with him and how much she looked forward to working with him. “I was speechless and dumbfounded,” Ron told us. “It was one of the most amazing conversations I had ever experienced about my work and reputation, and it was an extremely powerful lesson. That conversation has led to many other opportunities and an unprecedented escalation in my business.”

Ron was able to change his behavior successfully and become a much more effective promoter of his business because he understood the beliefs that had held him back and began testing them to learn they were not true.