« Someone you should meet

We recently had the opportunity to interview Preston True of Accomplishment Coaching. To learn more about Preston, visit his profile page or better yet, drop him a line and get together face-to-face.

Name: (What do your friends in business call you?)  Preston.  Thanks for not asking what my wife calls me.

Industry/Profession: (How do you make money?)  I am a professional leadership and life coach.

Family: (Single? Married? Kids? Pets?)  Married to Natalie.  Henry (6), Georgia (3), Cutter (dog).

Live/Work: (What city do you live in? work in?)  Royal Oak Michigan

Clients: (Companies, people or industries you currently serve?)  Creative (writing/marketing), accounting, remodeling, landscaping, financial planning and information technology.

Competitors: (Who do you bid against?)  None.  That may seem arrogant and, in my opinion, the coaching industry is rather unique.  We (coaches) believe so strongly in abundance rather than scarcity that we rarely consider one another competition.  Coaching relationships are very intimate and I find that my clients and I discover one another.  “Selling” coaching is often a recipe for disaster – been there, done that.  “

Prospects: (Who do you want to sell to?)  Entrepreneurs and management teams who are in highly technical businesses (accounting, law, engineering, IT).  Entrepreneurs because I love working with risk-takers.  Management teams as I’m fascinated by the dynamics of how individuals come together as a “team” to produce (or not produce) a specific result.

Advantage: (Why do your clients choose you over the competition?)  You’ll likely get a more accurate answer by asking them.  And if you’re putting a gun to my head… it’s likely they see something in me that’s missing in them (leadership, communication skills, ability to create more frequently than react)

Networking Groups: (BNI, SNG, LBN, Chambers, LinkedIn, etc)  I belong to: a) Motor City Connect, b) Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce, c) Greater Royal Oak BNI, d) LinkedIn

Why does it work for you?: (Why are you a member of that group?)  I give first, and then make specific requests.

Secret Weapon: (What is your networking key to success?)  Simply being with people.  I’ve given up the notion that I need to “get something” from others.  It’s what I can offer them that works best – sometimes it’s an introduction, other times it’s an arm on which to steady themselves.

Favorite Hobby: (What do you do on your day off?)  Read every self-help book on the shelf, hang out with my family, play ice hockey.  Some days they’re not in that order…

Favorite Entertainment: (What is your favorite TV show, book, movie and/or music?)  Favorite TV show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  Favorite Book – Overall = Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx, this month = The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz.  Favorite movie – Mr. Magorium’s Magic Emporium.  Favorite Music – anything blues, with an occasion Dead bootleg.

Favorite Charity: (Where do you lend your time, talents and contributions?)  Ashley’s Friends (a children’s bereavement counseling organization), Shrine Catholic Church (specifically the Shrine Career Networking Group and a men’s book club), Shrine Catholic Grade School committee.

Favorite Quote: (What’s your inspirational motto?)  “Your life is an occasion.  Rise to it.”  Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Magorium.

Passion: (Outside of work, what excites you?)  Is anyone under 18 going to read this?  “  My passions outside of work = my family, my church and church community, my hockey, my reading, my writing, the human spirit.

Ask: (Who specifically are you looking to meet?)  The following companies and people:  Airfoil Public Relations (Lisa Vallee-Smith), Altarum Institute (Patricia Ferguson or Jeffrey Moore), Clayton & McKervey (CPA firm), and Compuware (Donna Ventimiglia).

What’s your greatest accomplishment?  Personal = becoming a husband and father.  Professional = holding the record in my coach training organization for highest revenue and number of clients while a participant in the program in it’s eight year history.

What’s next for you?  Two new corporate clients seeking a significant and empowering shift in their leadership culture – from reactive to creative.