Blog/Articles

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   TOP 15 COACHES IN EDINBURGH

I am absolutely delighted to have been included in the list of Top Coaches by Influence Digest Media.

What a pleasant surprise and a real honour!

Influence Digest Media

Edinburgh, the charming capital of Scotland, is a city that breathes history in every corner. Its cobblestone streets and medieval architecture intertwine with modern life, creating a unique atmosphere. From the majestic Edinburgh Castle towering over the hill to the bustling Royal Mile, the city is steeped in a cultural heritage that attracts visitors from all over the world. But Edinburgh is not just a tourist destination; it is a center of innovation, education and personal development.

In this article, we’ll explore a hand-picked list of the best coaches in Edinburgh. From executive leadership to personal development, these professionals are helping people reach their full potential in a city that embraces personal growth and self-improvement. We will discover their specialties and approaches, highlighting how they are contributing to the well-being and success of those who seek their guidance in this Scottish city full of possibilities.

So without further delay, here are the Top 15 Coaches In Edinburgh in 2023 that you can contact right now: 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/influencedigest_top-15-coaches-in-edinburgh-in-2023-activity-7108563777230405633-NtP8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

#DifferentMindset
#TheBlackKnight
#Coaching
#LinkedIn

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▶ My name is Craig and I’m a Coach
▶ I am also The Black Knight
▶ Please Connect with me - https://lnkd.in/e7uYgCSY  

   "A COACH CAN SEE WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE BECAUSE YOU ARE IN THE FOREST, WHILE THEY ARE OUTSIDE OF IT." - Tony Robbins

Your Coaching should be personal, only to you. And when done correctly it will have a significant, positive impact on your quality of life.

Other areas where your Coaching should excel include:

🔴 Clarity and Goal Setting: Your Coaching should help you gain clarity about your aspirations, and goals.

🟠 Personal and Professional Development: Your Coaching should see you develop enhanced self-awareness, identify your inner strengths and weaknesses, and developing an effective plan to maximise your potential.

🟢 Overcome Obstacles and Blockers: Your Coaching should provide guidance and support in building new skills, improving existing ones, and overcoming obstacles.

🔴 Accountability and Motivation: Your Coaching should be holding you accountable for your commitments, and driving you further forward, towards your goals.

🟠 Overcoming Mindset: Your Coaching should address confidence issues and self-doubt that hinder personal and professional growth.

🟢 Improved Communication and Relationships: Your Coaching should be supporting you in developing more effective communication. This is essential for leaders and managers.

The fact is, your Coach should be many things to you, including your Mentor, Advisor, Consultant, Confidante. And they should be available, for those occasions when you just need a rant.

There are coaches and there are Coaches.

Me?

I'm a Coach!

Thanks for stopping by and if you like the things I write about, consider connecting with me or following me, because there’s much more to come.

#DifferentMindset
#TheBlackKnight
#Coaching
#LinkedIn

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▶ My name is Craig and I’m ready to be your Coach
▶ I am also The Black Knight
▶ Helping to find the missing you
▶ Follow and Connect with me - https://lnkd.in/e7uYgCSY  

  When we were kids, playing with our friends, riding around on our bikes, it was great fun.

Do you remember?

If we fell off and cut our knees, we would run back home and mum would always render the first aid.

Washing the wound first. Then applying some antiseptic cream. Before covering it with a bandage or plaster to prevent infection.

If your mum was anything like mine, once she’d “repaired” me, she would always say,

“There, there now.”

Do you remember?

Do you also remember how, when you joined back into the fray, you felt altogether better than you were before your fall?

You felt cared for. Loved. Reassured. Stronger. Better.

❤ Disclaimer: I ain’t promising to make you feel loved! 🤣🤣

But I will make you and your business feel cared for, reassured, stronger, and better.

I’ll provide the comforting and the first aid, whenever it’s needed.

Every time.

There, there now.

#DifferentMindset
#TheBlackKnight
#Leadership
#BusinessConsulting
#LinkedInEducator

++++++++++++

▶ I am Craig and I bring tons of knowledge and experience

▶ I am also The Black Knight
▶ Leveraging LinkedIn for sales & marketing
▶ Connect with me - https://lnkd.in/e7uYgCSY
▶There, there now. - https://lnkd.in/eXiMzvcx  

  CRAIG THE CONSULTANT

When I’m wearing my Consultant’s hat, I work with owners of small and medium businesses on all different strategic matters.

I help them with problem solving, planning, building knowledge and developing skills.

I provide advice based on many years of experience and world class training.

And I brainstorm with them to determine the correct marketing techniques and plans, specific to their business.

I will often teach new skills to produce desired results and further develop strategic thinking.


CRAIG THE COACH

When I’m wearing my Coach’s hat, I work with the exact same owners, of the exact same small and medium businesses and I help them to create their own success.

This might focus on self-improvement or personal development, helping them become better leaders.

Reducing time wasters like procrastination and bringing greater clarity and improved decision making.

Coaching is only about helping them see more clearly and finding their own answers. Their own way.


MY LINKEDIN BANNER

Take a look at my LinkedIn banner. Take a good look.

It features 4 distinct “Business Cards”,
 

• Consultant
• Coach
• Mentor
• Advisor
  
  These represent the different “hats” I need to wear all the time.
  
  And I need to have the ability to change my hat at any time, quite often during the same session.
  
  You see, since I launched Different Mindset, I have yet to meet the owner of a small or medium business, who doesn’t need me to be wearing all my hats at one point or another.
  
  They never come right out and say they’re looking for a Coach or a Consultant, Mentor or Advisor, because they simply don’t know.
  
  Instead, they want to meet me. Ask questions. Seek my advice and sometimes, just seek my reassurance that they’re doing the right things.
  
  
  CONCLUSION
  
  🔵 I’m a Consultant because I get involved.
  🔵 I’m a Coach because I help my clients to find their own path. Their own way of doing things.
  🔵 I’m a Mentor, because I always have their best interest at heart and provide professional guidance that is only for them and their business. No 2 are the same.
  🔵 I’m an Advisor because I help in planning and executing strategies with a view to improving operational efficiency.
  
  Owners of small and medium businesses are “gold mines” of knowledge and expertise, but without the proper help, they can often stumble and fall. Or get bogged down in the minutia.
  
  I help them back to their feet and give them that gentle push, which is often all they really need.
  
  How many hats do you wear? 

 I hear many of my friends and counterparts waxing lyrical about the benefits, dangers and risks of AI and I wanted to know more.

So, with a few prompts, I asked AI to help me understand the things it CAN’T YET DO.

Together, we crafted this poem for your delectation.

I hope you enjoy our work?


THE HUMAN SPIRIT’S BLEND
In realms of silicon and code, where AI roams,
There lies a tale of what it cannot fully own.
For in its wondrous mind, crafted with great skill,
Lies a realm of limitations, though subtle and still.

Oh, AI, you marvel of innovation's grace,
But there are realms where you can't keep pace.
For you see, there are things you struggle to comprehend,
Emotions, dreams, and the human spirit's blend.

In matters of the heart, where passions ignite,
You falter, AI, in capturing love's true light.
For love is not a sequence of binary code,
But a dance of souls, a story yet untold.

And in the realm of creativity's embrace,
Where artistry thrives, in its unique space,
You stumble, AI, with brushes of pure hue,
For art flows from the depths of what makes us true.

The mysteries of intuition, oh AI, they elude,
As human minds delve deep, where answers intrude.
For sometimes, answers lie not in logic's reign,
But in the realms of intuition, subtle and plain.

And as we explore the vastness of the unknown,
AI, you must remember, you are not alone.
For human connection, empathy's gentle touch,
Are treasures yet uncharted, for you, AI, as such.

So let us embrace the gifts you bring forth,
But remember, AI, there's beauty beyond your worth.
For the human spirit, with all its flawed delight,
Shall forever triumph, in the depths of our sight.


#DifferentMindset
#TheBlackKnight
#Leadership
#BusinessConsulting
#LinkedInEducator

++++++++++++

▶ I am Craig
▶ I am also The Black Knight
▶ Leveraging LinkedIn (and on occasion Chat GPT) for sales & marketing
▶ Connect with me - https://lnkd.in/e7uYgCSY
▶ Meet with me - https://lnkd.in/eXiMzvcx  

During times of stress and difficulty, there is a tendency for issues to develop in any team.

Even when fairness and openness are at the heart of the team, there can still be occasions when resentment can develop and grow, with a perception that “some are more equal than others”.

The UK has been experiencing exactly this recently, in our political system and it always results in a breakdown of trust and communication.

It’s exactly the same with business and the root cause, is always poor or weak leadership.

LEADERSHIP

Most of my closest friends on this platform, already know that leadership is a lifelong passion of mine. 

One I am especially vociferous about on occasion.

The reason being, and contrary to what the plethora of leadership experts on these pages would have us believe, is that true, real leaders, are a very rare thing indeed.

In fact, in my, almost 40-year career, I have worked in the SMB, large company, and corporate business markets, and I promise you, I do not need all the fingers of one hand to count how many true leaders I have actually met in that time.

That’s how rare they truly are in my opinion.

And I don’t subscribe to the myth that people are born leaders. They’re just not.

True leaders become so, because of coaching, training, or due to external circumstances, where they have no option but to lead.

MY HERO

Since I was a boy, I was always fascinated by explorers and nature and the like, and one of my first heroes was/is Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer.

I still use some of his examples when I am asked to talk about leadership today, as there are still so many things we can learn from him.

Shackleton WAS a true leader and in fact only 3 or 4 years ago was voted the GOAT following a lengthy BBC series.

And to think I could have told them that before they spent so much money producing all of those programs.

FRANK WILD

Shackleton’s right-hand man was Frank Wild, a true giant of exploration, and one whose input and opinions Shackleton valued.

During the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, their ship, The Endurance, became permanently trapped in flow ice in the Weddell sea, and ultimately was crushed by the ice causing it  to sink.

The new mission for the entire crew changed, from one of exploration, to one of survival.

It was during their survival plight that one of their pack mules fell through a deep crevasse in the ice, dragging Frank Wild with it.

The crew fought to save the badly injured Wild, but the mule with most of their rations, was lost.

Food became so low that the men were reduced to a single biscuit ration per day.

On one occasion, Shackleton, on seeing his closest friend deteriorating, forced his one breakfast biscuit on to Wild, helping him find the strength to fight on.

Wild later wrote,

“I do not suppose that anyone else in the world can thoroughly realise how much generosity and sympathy was shown by this. I do, and by God I shall never forget it. Thousands of pounds would not have bought that one biscuit.”

CONCLUSION

Between them, Shackleton and Wild had created an egalitarian spirit throughout the team.

It ensured that everyone would do whatever work needed to be done and ensured there was no perception of inequality.

Shackleton trusted each and every one of his crew. 

He cared for them. He loved them as if they were his own.

In return, they would have gone to the ends of the earth, and beyond for him.

Was Shackleton the GOAT?

Unquestionably.

#DifferentMindset

#TheBlackKnight

#Leadership

#Mentoring

#LinkedInEducator

++++++++++++

▶ I am Craig

▶ I am also The Black Knight

▶ Leveraging LinkedIn for sales & marketing

▶ Connect with me - https://lnkd.in/e7uYgCSY

Different Mindset, brings together more than 35 years of  business management, strategy, and business growth experience under a  single service offering for IT companies.
 

I work  with business owners, with typically 5 to 50 employees (T/O from around £400k to £2.5m) and who are  ambitious to grow & improve. I coach them through or around the obstacles preventing that growth. I use tried and tested tools and  techniques to achieve this.
 

During 2018/19 I underwent 18 months intensive, EOS Implementer led training into The Entrepreneurial Operating System, which  transformed my way of thinking.
 

It trained me to think differently and I now want to use my training to help others.
 

I believe that every client is different, so I employ an individually tailored approach every time.
 

I’ve  worked as a senior manager/director for many years and have built a deep understanding of business management, marketing, business  development and sales processes. 

I am also skilled in managing the operational impact of rapid growth.
 

I believe, clear direction, well-defined processes, Core Values and and Consistent Regular & Outstanding Communication (CROC) are key to success.

I  am a fan of the late, great Bruce Lee and as a former professional  martial artist and competitive fighter, I watched his movies dozens of  times. One of his biggest movies; Enter the Dragon, which I’m sure most  of you will have seen, focuses on a martial arts competition on a secret  island run by the evil Mr Han.

My favourite scene from that movie  sees a group of martial artists on board a Chinese Junk, sailing  towards Han's Island for a fighting tournament. One of the artists,  Parsons, a New Zealander, starts bullying the young boys tending the  fighters. The bully approaches our hero, and asks arrogantly, “what is  your style?”. Lee ponders the question and then responds with the famous  line, “my style is the art of fighting without fighting”.

Today,  with many years in business management and business growth behind me in  the IT Services and Software industry, I know better than most what it's  like selling to both new and existing clients and it’s a role I have  always taken a great deal of pride in.

I have often been shocked  or embarrassed and on occasion downright infuriated by some of the sales  styles and techniques I have witnessed in business over the years and  not to put too fine a point on it, I don’t like them.

I want to  feel confident when I bump into my clients in the supermarket and not  feel the need to hide. I want them to see me as a knowledgeable  professional, as a friend and to know they can contact me with questions  or to seek advice, without having to worry about a sales pitch…. And  I'm very proud to say, they do contact me!

It's many years since I  first modeled my structured-selling style on the words of Bruce Lee and  today, my style, “The Art of Selling Without Selling”, is as natural to  me as breathing. At its core, is the simple practice of listening and  asking questions. Questions about the clients' business, about their  plans for growth, how they use their IT systems to interact with their  customers to supply their goods and/or services. It's all about their  business and their personal goals and targets.

I firmly believe that any sales process should be imperceptible, invisible even.

Before  I moved into the IT industry in 1987, I worked in the private  healthcare sector and it was one of my mentors there who indoctrinated  me into what he called “five bums and a rugby goal”. This turned out to  be a golden reminder about the use of "open" questioning techniques when  gathering information from customers, i.e. who, what, why, where, when  and how (WWWWWH). 

I always remember his words, "if you're genuinely interested in what your client has to say, listen to them!"

My  belief is that most customers know what their pain points are with  their IT systems and what they want to achieve. In general they need me  to listen, to advise and to help them achieve their goals. They are  reassured by the fact that if I don't know the answer to their  questions, I have a large team of technical and business experts behind  me and they always know the answers.

They also know that anytime I  call them, the purpose is to make sure all is well and not an excuse to  sell them something and as a result, they are always happy to take my  call. This is important to me.

Selling, at least in my opinion,  has moved on from the hard-edged, “never take no for an answer”  salespeople of the past and instead has become a far more collaborative  and consultative process, one that is altogether more professional and  where the client knows their views and opinions are valued.

Does  “The Art of Selling Without Selling” suit every client? Probably not,  but in an age when every piece of information we supply, can be checked  and verified at the click of a button, sales people need to adapt their  style to move with the times.

The evil Mr Han  remarked to Williams, another character from Enter the Dragon, saying  “your style is most unusual Mr Williams” and Williams replied, “but  effective”.

I couldn't have said it better! 

In a world where we all seek to be unique, my style is both “most unusual” and “effective”.

#DifferentMindset

#TheBlackKnight

We all have mobile phones these days and when, during the course of  the day their battery runs down, we simply plug them in and recharge  them. But what do we do after a busy week at work, when our own  batteries need a recharge? Me, I love to get into the woods, back to  nature and I’d like to tell you why this works for me.

It’s amazing the number of people I meet who walk in the same  countryside, the same woods I do and yet who miss all the stunning  beauty these microclimates, on the edges of our towns and cities  contain. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me,  “how did you ever notice that?”, but the short answer is, I notice  because I continually look for “that”, whether it’s a bird, a tree or  plant, or even an unusual insect, that’s the very reason I’m there,  that’s my passion.

Scotland is blessed with one of the most beautifully diverse  natural landscapes on earth and the sheer variety of flora and fauna to  be found is really quite astonishing. Our natural scenery is truly awe  inspiring, from the rolling hills of the borders, to the high mountain  tops of the Cairngorms and they are all utterly crammed with wildlife.

I live, within a 5 minutes’ walk from a golf course, which is  skirted by dense woodland on all sides. I walk the 5 miles’ perimeter  twice daily on weekdays with my constant companion, Marvin, my dog.

Part of this woodland was created as the grounds of a semi-stately  home, now a hotel and because of this, the variety of healthy tree  specimens, both indigenous and alien is fantastic. Ash, alder, elm,  hazel, elder, rowan, poplar, a huge array of conifers and the usual  smattering hawthorn, amongst many others, some that I have not yet been  able to identify. 

One thing you cannot help but notice in Scottish woodlands, is the  stunning scents and smells, from the wild garlic (Ramsons – the flowers  are great as a garnish, deep fried in a light batter) to the weeping  resin blisters of the Douglas Fir. I think of this as nature’s  aromatherapy.

There are two giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron Giganteum), often  referred to as the California Redwood, but known locally as “the  punching trees”. This is because the tree has a thick (3 to 4 inches  depending on age) spongey bark, that is intended to protect the  heartwood of the tree from the frequent fires that plague its natural  home. I wish you could have seen the excitement on my 8-year-old  grandsons’ face when I showed him he could punch a giant tree without  hurting his hand, such is the power of nature to excite and inspire our  youngsters.

Another tree, closer to the hotel, is frequently used as a backdrop  for wedding photographs. It is a Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani), and  as it grows, its branches form large flat “plates” and it really is  quite stunning. I’ve only ever seen it covered in heavy snow once since I  moved to the area; the snow floated as if by magic, in huge horizontal  slices with little or no tree visible, it was like the biggest wedding  caked I’d ever seen. The fact that this species is becoming increasingly  rare makes this excellent example all the more special.

It was on one of my regular adventures around these woods that I  saw something that caused me to kneel down to take a closer  look. Nothing too exciting, just a common or garden broad-leafed dock,  but what was remarkable about one of the leaves was the fact that two,  needle-like blades of grass had grown up through it. I’d never seen  anything like it and it could have been so easily missed. 

Think about all of the factors that would have needed to conspire  to allow this to happen? The blades of grass themselves, needed to have  sufficient strength to be able to pierce the thick leathery texture of  the dock leaf. The dock leaf would have needed to remain still enough  and long enough for the growth of the grass to pierce it, as even the  slightest breeze might have caused the leaf to bend the grass, weakening  its stem and removing the strength it needed to complete its feat.

At this time of year (mid-June) the local roe deer population is  preparing for the rutting season at the end of July, beginning of  August. The stags are now chestnut red, in full antler (small antlers  compared to their cousins, the red deer) and confidently strut through  the woods, gathering their harem of females, which in the roe deer’s  case might only be a single female, but the bucks will mate with many  does. The females have also become redder in colour, almost as if to  attract the males.

Following the successful rut, the females then give birth, usually  to two fawns, in late May/early June, but this is no ordinary 11month  gestation period. What few people realise about the ever-present roe  deer is that the females employ a strategy called “embryonic diapause”  (delayed implantation). 

The embryo remains in a state of diapause (almost like suspended  animation) until late December or early January at which time it  reactivates and then starts to grow rapidly. So, the “real” gestation  period is only 6 months and while other mammals, including kangaroos,  employ embryonic diapause, the roe deer’s process is really quite unique  and they show none of the hormonal signs that other mammals display at  the time of reactivation of the embryo.

It is believed that the birth of the fawns is delayed in this way  to coincide with the start of the British summer, meaning grasses, trees  and plants are longer, bigger and fuller, providing the necessary cover  for the female to hide her fawns, usually separately, which enhances  the possibility if survival for at least one.

During the month of June, the fawns lay hidden in the long grass,  and the mother conducts frequent visits to allow them to feed and grow,  until they are strong enough to keep up with her.

It is for this reason I am always concerned when I see dog owners  allowing their dogs to frantically run through the brush and long grass  at this time of year, as the slightest scare will cause a female to  desert her young, with obvious consequences.

It was only last week, when walking on the main path around the  woods that I noticed a robin standing on the ledge of a hole in a  tree. I stopped about 20 yards or so away and watched through my  binoculars as the robin made frequent trips over the next 10 minutes,  obviously feeding, what I presumed was young chicks. 

As quietly and as slowly as I could, I walked to a position where I  could peek into the hole and there, sitting on, a clutch of eggs, was a  stunning female robin. They have to be one of our most endearing birds.

I had read some years ago, about how the female loses up to 90% of  her bodyweight after laying her eggs and that while she incubates them,  the male forages and feeds her, but this was the first time I had ever  seen it actually happen. I can’t tell you how excited I was.

The robins tend to mate around late march early April and the  females will usually incubate the eggs until they hatch, after which she  takes less and less involvement, leaving the feeding and raising of the  chicks to the male. You see, she has her eyes on another male and she  will do the same with him. Robins lay two clutches and occasionally  three each year, so based on the timing, it is likely my little robin  was on her second clutch.

This is a necessary practice by the females, as the mortality rate  in robins is fairly high, so having multiple batches of eggs, increases  the chance of more birds surviving into adulthood.

I’ll keep a distant eye on my little robin and hopefully she’ll make a success of it.

My weekend of exploration is now nearly over, but like my iPhone,  my battery is now showing full again and I‘m ready for another busy week  ahead at work, can’t help but look forward to next weekend though…..

#DifferentMindset #TheBlackKnight #NatureNerd

I have never played golf in my life, but recently I borrowed a set of clubs, met up with a friend and gave it a go.

First Hole: I remove a tee from my bag, stick it in the ground and then carefully balance the ball on top of the tee.

I’ve  watched many good golfers drive their first shot for miles, straight up  the fairway, it looked really easy. So, I position myself to address  the ball; feet shoulder width apart, I even did one of those “trial  swings”, like the pros do. 

I breathe in, holding my breath and  draw my swing back, just like I’d seen the good players do. I kept my  eye on the ball and then released my almighty swing and heard the  satisfying “ping” as club struck ball perfectly. 

Well, I say  perfectly, but truth be told, neither me nor my playing buddy had any  idea where the damn ball had gone; certainly not up the fairway!

Now  it was my friends shot and he did exactly as I had done, same stance,  same practice swing, same “ping”. The difference was that he’s a 2  handicap player and his ball disappeared perfectly into the distance.

This story was repeated for the remainder of the 9-hole course.

So, here’s my question. Am I now a golfer?

Don’t answer that! Of course, I’m not. I know that.

But  my when my friend started out, he had hired a golf professional, who  analysed his swing, his stance, his head movement etc and then set about  creating short and long-term strategies for him to practice. I have to  say, the results were clear, he was great!

So why, when it comes to business, are owners reluctant to hire a professional business consultant?

The principles are identical.

And  great business leaders recognise that seeking advice from a  professional consultant is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of  strength.

Even Bill Gates and Steve Jobs admit to the values of  consultants they have hired in the past. They know that investing in  business consulting delivers real and measurable ROI.

"I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum capabilities."

Bob Nardelli 

CEO, Home Depot

 #DifferentMindset #TheBlackKnight