There once was a man that had an annoying squeaky floor. Every time he walked across the TV room, this floor squeaked and creaked.
Frustrated, this man called over a neighbor that was good with woodworking. The neighbor couldn’t figure out how to stop the squeak and recommended a handyman.
So, the man called a local handyman. The handyman came over and walked around the room. He tried everything, but couldn’t fix the problem. He even handyman recommended pulling up all the carpet and redoing the subfloor. Then, of course, offered his services to do that.
This man didn’t want to pay the expense of redoing the floor. Frustrated, he waited. He continued for months with that damn annoying squeaky floor.
Six months later, he had enough. He searched through Google and found a “master carpenter.” The master carpenter came. Just like the handyman, he walked around the room. But, he also took measurements, moved the furniture around, and even rolled a ball across the floor.
All of this seemed a little curious to the man, but hey … this guy’s a master carpenter. And, if what the master carpenter is doing fixes the squeaky floor, then so be it.
Finally, the carpenter finished studying the room. The carpenter asked the man to grab the hammer and a single 10d plywood nail out of his toolbox. The man walked over and selected the tools as requested by the carpenter.
Then, the carpenter knelt and pointed to a specific spot on the floor. “Now, nail right here, but slightly angled towards the back window.”
The man was a little surprised at the carpenter’s request. But, went ahead and hammered the nail through the carpet, but angled towards the back window.
When the man finished hammering, they both stood up and walked around the room — no more squeaking or creaking. The Master Carpenter reached into his pocket and handed the man a bill.
The man didn’t understand. He said, “Wait a minute, you came here, walked around the room, and told ME to hammer the nail. I did all the work. How can you charge me when I did the work?”
The carpenter replied, “You didn’t hire me to hammer the nail. You hired me to fix your squeaky floor. You hired me to tell you EXACTLY how and where to hammer the nail.”
If you want a better career or to improve your leadership skills, don’t rip up your entire floor. Learn precisely where and how to hammer your nail.
When you hire an Executive Coach, you aren’t hiring him/her to hammer your nail. The power of an Executive Coach rests in his/her ability to observe your situation, goals, habits, and current actions. Then, provide you the resources, tools (hammer and nail), and location of EXACTLY where and how to hammer your nail.
We hold you accountable, but it’s up to you to take action. If we solve everything for you, it won’t help in the long-run. You won’t learn and improve.
How can I support you?
Sincerely,
Stewart Swayze
ABOUT STEWART
Hi. I’m Stewart Swayze, I’m a Career Transition and Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs. I release new videos every week on those topics. If your interested in developing your career or marketing your business, view my YouTube Channel below.
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