Prime Minister Lee (now known as Minister Mentor) had a vision of Singapore being hailed as an economic miracle and unabashedly micromanaged his island to make it a reality.

At the heart of the matter was ease of doing business—and that started with immigration controls, baggage retrieval, and the speed with which one could get settled downtown. Lee, often referred to as a “big man on a small stage,” never intended to become a leader. He dared to see and hear the call to leadership when he returned to Singapore from Hong Kong in World War II and found the then British Colony in a state of disaster with food shortages, housing shortages, and a dearth of economic problems, including no natural resources. Lee, who joined a political party which ultimately achieved independence from Britain, became the first officially elected Prime Minster of Singapore, leading from 1959 to 1990.

Lee’s first act of governance was to invite his political colleagues to a meeting at the Istana Palace, the old colonial governor’s house, a gleaming white, bungalow where they engaged in dialogue about a vision of an Impossible Future for Singapore that entailed transforming Singapore from a “Third World to a First in the World.” Lee and his ministers then stood in this future 20 years out and develop a national strategy that would move them from here to there.

Lee managed this miraculous transformation in Singapore’s economy, while maintaining tight political control over the country that had teetered on the brink of chaos, sometimes bordering on the extreme. It is still illegal to chew gum in Singapore. By the mid 90’s, due to PM Lee’s vision, determination, and action, Singapore is the number one financial center, the number one industrial leader, the number one oil refiner in Asia. Further, its GDP (average household income) is number five in the world, long ago surpassing Britain, its former colonizer.

Lee points out that leading a country to an Impossible Future is only possible when leaders stay intensely focused on both the longer-term goals and the immediate ones. Most western politicians, like most CEOs, are focused only on the immediate goals as determined by the press (Iraq, Iran, North Korea) and by the mid-term and full-term elections, or the stock market. As a result, they tend to only focus on short-term goals, and often fail to accomplish something significant.

Another factor in reaching an Impossible Future, says Lee, is leadership stability. In Western governments, according to Lee, we have “revolving door leadership.” If someone becomes President or CEO, they have to learn to lead a country from scratch and come up the learning curve almost overnight. Lee’s long term in office allowed him to both learn how to lead a country over time, accomplish what he really needed to accomplish, as well as mentoring his successors.

When Lee stepped down from his Prime Minster’s job in 1990, ceding power to Goh Chok Tong, he served as a Senior Minister. He currently holds the specially created post of Minister Mentor under his son Lee Hsien Loong, who became the nations’ third Prime Minister in 2004. The shift in Lee’s role from a leader, which allowed him to take charge of a fractious island, to a coach and monitor was not just a change in form for Prime Minister Lee, but a real transformation.

Lee has had to learn to check his substantial ego at the door and focus on developing the next generation of leaders, rather than building a nation as he did in the past. “In my current role, I cannot direct any Minister or direct any policy. I can only mentor them based on my background and years of experience.” Lee often spends evenings with his son the Prime Minister and his Deputies, coaching and mentoring them until the wee hours of the morning on reinventing Singapore once again.

Interestingly enough, the need for Lee to transform himself as a leader occurred precisely at the time when Singapore needed to transform its economy in order to sustain the gains of the past 30 years. His number one priority is to coach and mentor the next generation of Singapore leaders to find a new act. The old one, whose signature was manufacturing and operational excellence, isn’t cutting it anymore. High GDP is driving Singapore toward a professional service firm economy and high tech from contracting and manufacturing. For example, one Singapore worker costs the same as three in Malaysia, eight in Thailand, thirteen n China, and eighteen in India.

Through Minister Mentor has many TPOVs—“Lead from a revolutionary vision; take evolutionary steps,” “Make Singapore Better By Design,” “Leadership is how fast you act when things go wrong”—he is prone to asking provocative questions. “How can we as leaders used to holding power in our hands not be limited by the people we have wound up being, in order to foster creativity and innovation and ensure Singapore’s prosperity?” Lee also regularly mentors leaders from Beijing to Bangalore, and other capitals on how to maintain political stability while achieving rapid economic growth.

The cost of the program is $5500, but you can still get the 2007 price of $5000 if you pay in 2007.

The 6-month Certification Program is a great opportunity to be coached by Robert Hargrove in the Masterful Coaching methodology. Take advantage of the hundreds of people Robert has coached in both their business and their leadership breakthroughs. Have the experience of Robert standing behind you as you make the journey to becoming a masterful coach. Tap into Robert's immense "toolbox" as he coaches you in working with your own clients.

The Certification Program consists of 2 days with Robert and bi-monthly calls for the following 6 months to prepare for and debrief your client coaching sessions. Your results will be validated by client feedback and certification given at the end of that time if certain criteria is met.

The Masterful Coaching Approach is based on the premise that extraordinary leaders develop in the process of producing extraordinary results and starts with the question: "What is the Impossible Future you want to create?" This methodology is time-tested and infailable in helping people to produce breakthrougths in their business, as well as breakthroughs in their leadership ability.

To transfer the Masterful Coaching methodology, Robert has distinguished 12 Classic Coaching Conversations that a coach has with his or her client over a year's time.  In the 2 days with Robert, you will be introduced to these 12 conversations and be able to engage with him on how you might apply them to your own client's situations. You will walk away being able to use the MC methodology the next day in your own coaching practice.

This program is especially designed for:

• people who want to start a new career as a coach
• people with value-added expertise who want to be certified as masterful  coaches
• coaches who want to break into coaching C-level executives or take their coaching to the next level

To find out more or to register, please call me, Susan Youngquist at 617-953-6230

First of all, I think Masterful Coaches tend to be both highly effective people and highly compassionate people.

On the one hand, I am motivated as a coach by helping people realize goals and aspirations that they previously found difficult or even impossible. On the other hand, I am motivated by my experience of empathy for people’s pain and suffering.

Buddha expressed it well with his three noble truths: 1) Life is suffering; 2) Experience other people’s suffering as your own; 3) Your work in this world is to eliminate suffering. The people who I am most inspired to coach are the ones with a big dream, together with the willingness to experience personal suffering in its pursuit.

Think George Washington crossing the Delaware with frostbitten feet. Think Abraham Lincoln’s depression after being defeated for his senate bid against Stephen Douglass. Think Nelson Mandela on Robben Island prison in South Africa where he became a symbol of the end of Apartheid.

In developing powerful and profound coaching relationships, first find the dream, second find the pain, third allow yourself to be moved. Yes! I can help.

Masterful Coaching is the world leader in Executive Coaching. Our CEO, Robert Hargrove, is recognized as the leading guru of Executive Coaching and has personally trained dozens of world-class coaches for coaching engagements for $100,000 per year each.

In recent years, more and more professional people throughout the world have contacted us because they want to become coaches. Many are already in a coaching and counseling profession, but want to take their skills to the next level and help people create futures, rather than just fix problems.

• A strategy consultant who realized the right answers are not enough and told us “I want to become a Masterful Coach who can get the answers implemented.”
• A top Boston lawyer who decided he wanted to start a second career as a Masterful Coach when he realized big law firms would pay money to have talented, high potentials coached.
• A leading psychologist who decided that she would much rather talk to people about their goals and aspirations than listen to them complain.
• A Superintended of Detroit schools who realized he wanted to coach teachers to do a better job rather than manage student discipline, whether there was heat in the building, etc.
• A financial advisor who wanted to coach clients ongoingly, not just sell mutual funds in an after dinner meeting.

In order to help, our company is launching a new service…The Masterful Coaching Certification Program. By taking this program, you can become a certified Masterful Coach. The certification can also become the foundation for becoming part of the Masterful Coaching Global Coaching Network or for becoming a Masterful Coach Certifier by opening a franchise in your own region of the world.

We are now offering a three-month special promotion for this program. The price for this six-month certification program is $5000, but if you qualify for the program, you can take the certification course for $3900.

For further information, please contact me, Vivian, at vivian.song@masterfulcoaching.com, or call us at 617-739-3300.

The reason? I like helping people reach their goals and aspirations or master dilemmas and problems…and I don’t want to limit myself or my organization to mega corporate issues.

On any given day, I am asked to give advice on both personal and professional issues from people as close as Boston or as far away as London, Paris or Seoul, Korea.

I talk to CEO types, HR managers, doctors, educators, restaurant owners, contractors, PhD candidates in search of a job and Green Card, professional coaches, even restaurant owners and taxi drivers.

After leading personal transformational workshops with over 30,000 people and coaching 100’s of executives on their professional challenges, I seem to have developed the ability to provide advice that gets right to the heart of the matter. One CEO I coached described it as having a big impact in a short amount of time.

For example, here are some of the issues I have offered words of wisdom on in the past couple of weeks:

• From a big company COO: Robert I’ve got an itch to scratch, I want to become CEO of this company. I have to master the political chessboard. Help!
• From a Chinese Hot Pot Restaurant Owner: Robert, I spent a million dollars opening this restaurant and the city wants to put a road through my place. What should I do?
• From a vice president of a big company: I am married with kids. I had an affair and got the girl pregnant. It’s tearing me up inside. What should I do?
• From the CEO of a $20 million family business: I work 24/7. Yet my three brothers aren’t pulling their weight. Should I stay or leave?
• From a recently graduated Asian female PhD: Robert, I am on the last months of my H1B Visa. How do I extend it or get a Green Card?
• From a Professional Coach: Robert, I am coaching a marketing manager who goes off like a blast furnace every time his employees make a mistake. How should I coach him?
• From an Actuary in an insurance company: Robert, I really want a raise. How do I talk to my boss?

Sometimes a coach can give you one piece of advice that can make all the difference. I don’t want to boast, but I am sometimes told: “That was the best piece of advice I ever got.”

I am planning to build a new website, MyAdvisor.bz, but in the meantime, I will be offering Advisory Services through this website. The advice will be given over the phone, in most cases, and or by email.

As I am launching this as a new business that will potentially involved other coaches, I can guarantee you that the cost will be quite affordable. The cost is $200 per hour, but I can often provide effective advice in less than 30 minutes.

I will listen to your problem; provide you with a Teachable Point of View based on my experience as a masterful coach with people in over 20 countries and in 35 industries; and then work with you to develop a Template for Action.

Usually the advice falls into three categories:

Business Advice: You want to create a Winning Business? Here’s how to break out of the no growth morass.

Professional Advice: So you want to become CEO or start a new career? Yes, we can help you master the political chessboard.

Personal Relationship Advice: Struggling in your relationship with your significant other or maybe your boss. Let’s talk about it.

Some of the Teachable Points of View that I find powerful for people are:

• Stand in people’s greatness (great for coaches)
• There is always a path forward and everything is transformable
• Find something to admire in your boss
• It only takes one person to turn a relationship around
• Look for a “blue ocean strategy,” don’t compete in a bloody red ocean
• Don’t get so our in front of the parade that they don’t know you are there
• Operate from view point of responsibility, don’t be a competent victim
• Change comes slower than you expect, develop patience
• Stand in the future that you want to create and take action today to realize it
• Transform rut stories into river stories (that take you forward)
• Don’t take it personally

I am really excited about this, so give me a call to try it out at Masterful Coaching MyAdvisor Services and set up a phone appointment today. 617-739-3300. If you are not totally satisfied, we will give you your money back or more time, no questions asked.

Examples: Woodrow Wilson’s failure to get the United Stated Congress to ratify the League of Nations, Jimmy Carter’s struggles with driving through a national energy policy to relieve us from dependence on Mid East oil, Bill Clinton’s failure to pass a national health care program. The same kind of things happen in corporations every day.

If you want to become an extraordinary leader and an effective change agent, you may discover some invaluable lessons in James MacGreggor Burns new book, “Running Alone.” Burns shows that almost every President from JFK to Ronald Regan and from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush have failed in many respects to achieve their mission because of a phenomenon he calls “narrowing the base.”

Burns point is that for leaders to have an impact, it takes more than getting elected and depending on one faction, such as Bill Clinton did with healthcare reform in depending almost exclusively on liberal Democrats, or as George W. Bush has done with right wing Republicans. As John Naisbitt has pointed out, change doesn’t come from one force pushing on something, but from many forces pushing together.

For a president, CEO, or director of a non profit to bring about transformational change rather than transactional improvement, it requires broad based support from many quarters. Burns points out that the reason FDR was so effective in passing his New Deal legislation was because of the Great Electoral Coalition of 1936 that included Democrats, Southern Republicans, Labor, business and so on.

It is interesting to note that JFK ran his electoral campaign with his family and friends, ignoring the rest of the Democratic Party, with FRK often refusing to help fellow Democrats in their electoral campaigns. As a result, Kennedy was not able to bring in on his long coat tails a powerful Democratic majority in Congress and he ended up having to tread carefully when it came to passing his legislative agenda, such as getting federal aid for education.

Other presidents such as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, and even George W. Bush specifically ran as Washington outsiders, which helped to get them elected, but in other ways hampered their effectiveness. In most cases, instead of seeking to broaden their base of support, they narrowed it to a few staunch supporters—left wingers, right wingers, PACS, etc.

For them, taking a stand often looked liked just digging in their heels and thumbing their nose at the opposition. Witness George W. Bushes, “I don’t care what you think” attitude toward the Democrats and his dwindling support for the war on terrorism.

It is my observation that many business leaders suffer from the same problem as our politicians. They get hired as CEO, VP, team leader, or whatever, develop a series of change initiatives, and then rather then creating a broad base of support, they narrow it.

For example, some may say, “If I can get the CEO to support this, these other guys will just have to go along with it; they will have no choice.” Unfortunately for them, rarely does it turn out that way. The CEO is usually politically savvy enough to know not to drive an idea through unless it has the support of the board, executive committee, etc.

Perhaps the underlying lesson is that a visionary leader is not enough, nor is being a top performer who can move mountains through sheer might. Making a difference in your world depends on learning to master the political chessboard. And the first step toward mastery may be to embrace the opposition, especially as change comes not from one force pushing on something, but many forces pushing together.

The Chinese have more than 4 billion people, and more restaurants—hundreds of millions not only in China, but in every country in the Global Village. There are several reasons for this: 1) we all love Chinese food and 2) restaurant work, followed by construction, is one of the main vehicles for the Chinese Diaspora—legal and illegal.

Growing up in the Boston area, my parents would take me to a Chinese restaurant once a month or so, and always order the same thing. 1) Mushroom Chow Yoke, 2) Chicago Chow Mien, 2) Beef and Broccoli. After the dishes were served, the customer in those days would take a little of each dish onto one’s plate and then mix them all up like a big mound, which my mother called “Mushy Kushy.”

Then we would kick-it-up a little bit with Duck Sauce and Hot Mustard. As you may know, most of the above dishes are strictly American inventions and not served in China—especially Mushy Kushy style.

Since those days in Boston’s Chinatown, I have become a world traveler to China and other destinations in Asia, which has made me a Chinese food aficionado. I have to say that Chinese food, either in a gourmet restaurant in Shanghai or a New York take-out restaurant compared to food in American restaurants is usually invariable not only very good, but very quick and very cheap to boot.

For example, in the summer I live in Ogunquit, Maine. A pound and a half boiled lobster costs almost $33, and takes almost 20 minutes to cook. By contrast, in Boston’s Chinatown, you can often get three and a quarter pound lobster with ginger scallion for $30. The lobsters are cooked ginger scallion style and often arrive at your table in less than five minutes flat.

The best part is that unlike most American and other ethnic restaurants, I almost never leave a Chinese restaurant thinking, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” – sick to my stomach. I usually walk out of the restaurant feeling strong, healthy, and ready to conquer the world.

As I am often in search of a good Chinese restaurant, I have developed certain selection criteria. My mother’s rule of thumb still holds true today. If there are lots of Chinese people eating there, it is probably a pretty good place.

Ask friends, people on the street: What is best Chinese restaurant in the area? I did this in San Francisco Chinatown and discovered the fabulous R&J Lounge, one of the best Chinese restaurants I have ever been too, featuring the local dish Giant Crab Ginger Scallion.

If you are not in the mood to talk to strangers, select a Chinese restaurant in your area and look at the menu posted on the wall. If they serve things like Lobster Ginger Scallion, Do Meeoow (peapod stems) a delicious vegetable, or Spicy Salty Squid, you have a reasonable chance of being in the right place.

However, before you enter the restaurant, look at the red carpet in the entrance way to the restaurant. Is it clean and new or does it look blackish, gummy and decidedly dirty? If so, turn and walk away and look for another place, as this is a sure sign of a non hygienic environment.

Also watch the attitude. Are the wait persons charming, polite, and at your service, offering a suggestion or two, or too absorbed in cleaning empty tables, rude, and arrogant? There is a small place I like in Boston called “Little Shanghai,” where the owner/wait person not only serves up delicious soup dumplings that squirt when you bite into them (Sha-Lom-Bau), but bows when taking the order or bringing food to the table.

If it’s a take-out restaurant, skip the menu and look in the window. You will usually see Chinese chefs with white paper hats preparing food, which is fine, but if you see someone inserting chemical red die # 3 soaked spare ribs into a grill oven to be used as appetizers, turn and run as fast as your feet will carry you. This is a sure sign of being served Americanized Chinese food and an FDA approved chemical feast.

Ok, here are some of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the Boston area and elsewhere. Each one of these is a cut above every other Chinese restaurant I have eaten in. (Write and let me know some of yours.) Each of these restaurants is as good or better than anything you will find in China.

• Peach Farm Restaurant. Tyler Street in Boston. This is a family favorite of both my brood, as well as many local Chinese. They feature the Lobster Ginger Scallion, Spicy Salty Squid, and Peapod Stems mentioned above.

• Little Shanghai. Boston Chinatown. This is a gem of a restaurant that, like Peach Farm, is in a basement and easy to miss. Try Sha-lom Bau (soup dumplings), fish with brown sauce, baby bok choy with mushroom.

• Little Q Hot Pot Restaurant. Quincy, Ma. This is a great treat. It’s sociable, delicious, and relatively inexpensive (great for a party). Sit down at a table with a hot pot in the middle and you will be served spicy broth or herb broth together with the freshest beef, lamb, noodles, vegetables. Cook the food in your hot pot and then dip it in the condiments. Wow!

• Sichuan Gourmet. Framingham, Ma. This may be the best Chinese restaurants I have been to in the USA, albeit a bit spicy. Try Beef Casserole, the excellent Kung Pao Chicken, sliced hot peppers and pork.

• Uncle Cheungs. Framingham, Ma is just across the street from SG above. I love the Shanghai Meatballs.

• Peking Duck House. Flushing, NY (near Shea Stadium). It is hard to tell you are not in China in Flushing. I found this great Peking duck place while strolling down the street. The Peking duck is served with scallions and pancakes. Yum!

• R&J Lounge, San Francisco. This slightly upscale, but noisy place is a real find. Amazing King Crab Ginger Scallion.

• Din Tai Fong, Taiwan. This is one of Taiwan’s greatest attractions. It is a Dim Sum and Dumpling place that has the lightest, freshest, sublime dumplings you could ever wish for. You order while waiting outside and the superb staff serves you your food the moment you sit down.

I have been writing that leadership arises in taking a stand that a difference can be made in situations that look difficult or impossible, and until recently, few have risen to the occasion.

But this past month, Ian Paisley, head of the Democratic Unionist Party and Protestant groups, and Gerry Adams, head of Sin Fein and Catholic groups, began face-to-face negotiations that led to a historic breakthrough.

The two announced a breakthrough deal Monday to forge a power-sharing administration by the end of May, a long-elusive goal of peacemaking, since the Good Friday Meetings.

The two foes, who previously negotiated only via third parties, sat across from each other at a table in the main dining room in Stormont Parliamentary Building in Belfast, but reportedly did not shake hands.

The historic icebreaker came on the day that Tony Blair set an “unbreakable” deadline for a Catholic-Protestant administration to be formed. "We're very hopeful that progress can be made," the Sinn Fein Chairwoman Mary Lou McDonald said as the talks began between Paisley (80) and Adams (58)—long sworn, bitter enemies.

If there is any leadership lesson that can be learned from this story, it is that even those who are sworn enemies want to leave a legacy and can thus find it within themselves to subordinate their egos to a higher cause.

Perhaps another lesson is that all the posturing and defensiveness that goes on in the absence of communication accomplishes little, while if we sit down and talk to someone we might rather avoid, we often accomplish a lot.

Also sitting down face-to-face - however distasteful the idea may be -  is a much better way to resolve conflict than going through a third party.

I was to meet with the Global Talent Development Chiefs of each of these companies. Chances are, if you are an executive coach and you call the CEO of big company looking for business, you will be shifted to this department in short order.

As I got off the 32nd floor in the burled wood elevator in one of these august companies, a secretary escorted me through some glass doors to meet the Talent Managers. As I stepped into the office, I saw a sign on the door that said, “Training Department.”

In a lot of companies, the “Talent Development Manager” is just a new handle for what used to be called the Training Manager—typically one of the least empowered people in the company.

We have discovered that in most companies, the Talent Manager’s role is pestilence avoidance—another words, to keep out the hordes of consultants from cold calling senior management 24/7.

Like the Training Manager of yore, their main job is to play gatekeeper. Send us your resume. Don’t call us. We’ll call you. This can all be linked back to the fact that most business executives see leadership development as a separate activity to be delegated to others.

Now as most Talent Managers are often ex-psychologists who have never had to produce business results, coaching (like training) of executives is seen as providing leadership lobotomies (remediation of problem behavior), rather than leadership excellence and bottom-line results.

When I visited Morgan Stanley, I was told by the Leadership Development folks that they are taking a very different approach. First of all, every key business unit has a CEO, and the CEO has a second job that they are accountable for that is called “talent development.”

For example, one of Morgan Stanley’s business unit leaders is also the Talent Development Executive who used to be in charge of Morgan Stanley Asia. He heads up a burgeoning new area at the Investment Bank today.

The BU Leader/Talent Development Manager works in close partnership with Talent Development colleagues (subject matter experts in HR). Yes, part of their job still includes vetting coaches.

I was told that because Morgan Stanley investment bankers have the opportunity to make millions of dollars a year depending on how many deals they do, talent development is closely linked to getting business results, not just a remedial activity.

Further, as time is money, the bank sends very few people off to executive development programs at Harvard Business School to be entertained by professors or to the Center for Creative Leadership for a psychological intensive.

I perked up when they said this, because I have been told repeatedly that the best part of a week of executive education at Harvard were the professors jokes and the food. I have also secretly held CCL in thinly disguised contempt—yes, execs get some useful 360 feedback on their leadership behavior but…where’s the beef? ROI!

I told the bankers that Masterful Coaching takes a contrarian approach and we’re totally aligned with where they were coming from. We believe that leaders need to be developing other leaders, coaching takes place in the domain of accomplishment not therapy, and success is measured by ROI vs. behavior modification.

After the meeting with Morgan Stanley, I visited ABC (Disney Entertainment) where the Talent Managers were clearly advocating linking leadership development to business goals.

While they may not yet have the same level of executive sponsorship as Morgan Stanley, the signs were all there that a paradigm shift was in the wind. Coaching is often seen as helping executives win in the ratings oriented business of TV vs. just helping them conform to the corporate leadership competency list.

Being offered a coach is seen at Disney as “a good thing” rather than a bad thing (such as a last gasp effort before being show the door). Finally there are many executives who clamor for coaches who can be a thinking partner and trusted confidant. The job of Talent Management is to make sure that the coaching delivers ROI.

Perhaps this is a sign of a shift in the wind through the corporate world. Inshallah. If God wills it.

Stuart turned out to be a fascinating and intriguing individual to work with—if he were not a rabbi in the tradition of the great Rabbi Soloveitchik, he might easily be mistaken for a Fortune 500 business executive. His conversations would run from the Bal Shem Tov words of wisdom to Jack Welch’s leadership style, from the Talmud to Blue Ocean Strategy, from the work of Rabbi Soloveitchik (who ordained over 2000 rabbis) to The Fifth Discipline, The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.

Stuart was certainly ambitious; he wanted to become “Head of School” (grades 1 to 12) at the Bal Shem Tov School  where he worked as an elementary school principal. Having said that, his ambition often led him into a state of perpetual angst and anxiety, as well as worrisome behavior. It wasn’t long after I began coaching Rabbi Slammer that I began to feel as if I was smack dab in the middle of a Woody Allen movie.

Stuart’s main hurdle to vault over was something I call the “Kvetch Factor.” What’s the Kvetch Factor? Imagine Woody Allen going on in his sing-song voice about how his mother’s high standards (nothing’s good enough) traumatized his sense of self-esteem, or how his psychologist emasculated him by questioning the size of his penis, or the how the studio manager cut his 30 page script to 3 pages, and so on. Oy vey!

Admittedly, Stuart’s continual kvetching was less Freudian than neo-Dostoyevskian or Rodney Dangerfield in nature. “I can’t believe what the Board just did to disempower me,” “The Head of School didn’t return my phone call,” “I gave the assistant principle a bad Performance Review and now she is out to get me.” “I shouldn’t have sent that email to the board, almost demanding a promotion. Now what should I do?”

The visible angst that would appear on Stuart’s face as he fretted over these concerns caused me to feel compassion for him. Having said that, I found his continual kvetching very annoying to say the least. Stuart would begin our coaching sessions by talking about his goals and priorities than default to kvetching about the state of his life in the Bal Shev Tov School World.

For example, one day he came to me visibly upset about the Board refusing to shorten summer vacation due to snow days. I would interrupt and say, “Stuart, I love you and you’ve got great potential as a leader, but digging in your heals about something that is bound to be unpopular isn’t going to do you a damn bit a good, and by tomorrow you will probably act out in ways that get you in trouble. You have got to learn to manage yourself better.”

We tried everything to get him to “master his mind,” starting with me interrupting him every time he started to kvetch. “Stuart, stop talking about what’s wrong with you, what’s wrong with them, and what’s wrong with the school. Start talking about what positive action you can take.” Yet as I couldn’t be there all the time with Stuart, I encouraged him to practice self awareness. I asked him to wear a rubber band on his wrist and to snap it hard every time he found himself kvetching.

It took at least a year of coaching conversations about his goals and aspirations and kvetching patterns before we made any progress. The conversations started to be 80% goal and execution oriented and 20% kvetching, rather than the other way around. Then in perfect synchronicity with the growth Stuart was making inside himself, opportunities for growth started to show up in the world around him.

He was contacted by a head hunter who opened some doors for him. He was offered positions to be Head of School in Los Angeles and Montreal, and finally in another big school in New York with 1100 students. He took that job and today a much happier Stuart and his family are planning to move to the Big Apple and beyond. I want to wish Stuart all the luck—“muzzle” (Yiddish expression) in the world. It has been great knowing you.

My personal This Ole House Project in Waltham, Ma is taking place just a few miles from Brandeis University where Professor Abraham Maslow, noted psychologist, developed his psychology of self actualization.

It is interesting to point out then that I have led or coached many Baby Boomers whose aspirations and motivations were very high on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; few who were primarily interested in putting bread on the table.

I learned over the years leadership methods for inspiring, empowering, and motivating Boomers to take on an Impossible Future and make a difference by appealing to their higher needs. “This job will allow you to fulfill your leadership potential,” I would tell them. “You have an opportunity here to make a difference.” I didn’t have to talk to them much about the size of their paychecks, as many of the people I worked with over the years were multi millionaires.

Having said that, when I stepped from leading (coaching) executives of Global 1000 corporations to managing contract workers in my World is Flat Project, I had to find a whole new way of interacting with people. I found that people didn’t care much about inspiring visions and values, and the conversations certainly were not about job satisfaction.

The conversations I engaged in with my Chinese, Vietnamese, Peruvian, and Dominican workers were primarily on the first rung of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—safety and security—and focused almost 100% around money. So rather than show up as a transformational leader talking about vision and values, I would revert to plain old transactional leadership.

Here was one typical riff: “Come work for me today and do a good job and I will pay you $100, give you a free lunch and bring you back to work for me tomorrow, and maybe the day after. If you don’t do a good job, I will fire you by noon time, let you buy your own lunch and never bring you back again.” One potential worker's reply, "I will do the best job that I can, and if you do not like it, f... you and I will find another job." And with that, I knew we had a deal.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am renovating a house in Waltham, Ma on 7 acres of land that used to be owned by Swiss figure skaters, Frick and Frack, who were renowned for being able to contort their legs and arms on ice into the most bizarre positions. I am told by a local contractor that they built an ice skating rink on a part of the property that is now grown over with trees.

When I first started the project, a local plumber told me that the house was a “tear down” and it would cost me at least $60,000 just for the plumbing. That to me was a battle cry. I was determined from that moment on to prove that this arrogant, over priced, fat-ass plumber was all wet.

I recalled Thomas Friedman’s book “The World is Flat” which said that workers from any part of the world can compete with Americans for a fraction of the price without barrier to entry. If the concept of “outsourcing” works for big corporations, why not for small business and homeowners?

Ever since that regrettable meeting with the plumber, I have been working with a global, “World is Flat” assembly of contract workers who I found through Chinese newspapers, Craigslist.com, and the Home Depot Parking lot. We finished the inside restoration of the house and are now engaged in restoring the outside. The total cost of the job I guess will be about $80,000 (plumbing no more than $1000).

This included installing 45 new windows, fixing water damaged ceilings, painting the entire house, replacing all the outside window trim, installing a new kitchen with gorgeous marble counter tops, sanding the hardwood floors, building a new bathroom, restoration of a decrepit sun porch, construction of huge balcony on the outside, and a 1001 other items.

My motley crew of Chinese, Brazilians, Vietnamese, Columbians, Peruvians, and so on, have put that fat, overpriced plumber with a Boston accent to shame. Here is a specific example about that guy that pissed me off. When we first started working on the house, I needed to get running water working in at least one of the bathrooms. The plumber, who I will call Wally, came over and told me that the main source of the problem was a broken pipe in the basement.

He said he would fix the pipe for a fixed price of $250 dollars. Wally fixed it and left, but the water still didn’t run in the sink and the toilet. When I told him that, he responded that it was a fixed price contract and the normal price for fixing a pipe. Getting running water in there was going to require fixing the main valve for a cost of $1500 or more.

I called one of my Chinese friends who looked in the Chinese newspaper and called a construction company. About four guys showed up about 90 minutes later, fixed the main valve, got the kitchen sink going and not only restored water to the downstairs bathroom, but to the upstairs as well by replacing a pipe or two. Total cost: $150.

The interesting thing about my world is flat workers is that they are all generalists, not licensed specialists. The average guy can do carpentry, plumbing, electrical, painting or whatever. While I had one problem with one group (a new bathroom floor that wasn’t level and had to be redone), I would chose my motley crew over that professional plumber and his cronies any day.

Moral of the story: If you are a big corporation, small business, home owner, and you have a dream that requires buying products and services that would be unaffordable at US (European) prices, consider going “The World is Flat” route. The chances are there is someone out there who can help you realize your dream by offering you quality products and services at a price you can afford.

I can remember sitting at a Renaissance Conference almost five years ago before the war in Iraq began, listening to army generals with the wisdom of Solomon offer deep caution about going into Iraq. “Beware of the law of unintended consequences,” they cautioned. “Going to war will create a breeding ground for terrorists with a chip on their shoulders, as well as kindle secular disputes.”

It seemed to me so obvious that declaring a war against Iraq would result in more terrorism in the world—and it has, together with tremendous loss of life of both USA military personal and Iraqis people. On the day I wrote this the headlines I read: 100’s killed in Iraq by blasts, 104 US forces killed in April.

The Bush administration has created a phenomenal disaster. In the months to come, the President will no doubt receive all kind of advice about how to resolve the situation: regional diplomatic conferences, power sharing deals, partitioning of the country, plans to increase or diminish the number of USA troops there.

While experts may brilliantly argue each of the above alternatives, they seem to be blind to one key factor—the expectation of a rational, cooperative reaction from the Iraqis. According to one CIA official, the level of violence has become satanic.

As the violence increases, the center cannot hold (whether you look at the center as the USA military or the Iraqi government) and the pressures on the Iraqi people are mounting. For example, it is impossible to get your teeth fixed in Baghdad as all of the dentists have left. On the eve of the second USA invasion, who would have thought this would have been one of the unintended consequences.

The average Joe’s quest for survival is causing normal people to act like extremists and actually strengthening warring tribes. If you are a resident in Baghdad, the most logical response is to seek protection from one of the militias, Al Qaeda if you are Sunni, the Mahdi if you are a Shiite. No matter how many troops we send it, it will be years before we see any real progress.

Like the war in Iraq or not, the purpose of which was to end terrorism appears to be lost. What good is a nuclear submarine, tank, or platoon of soldiers against a terrorist ready to blow himself up in a marketplace because he sees this as a way to a better afterlife or hates the occupation of his country.

The Bush administration needs to face reality and declare that the war in Iraq cannot be won (and certainly not the peace) by military means. Instead of thinking about how to win, the President and his team need to brainstorm how to creatively withdraw, while still holding the line against Islamic extremism. For example: bring the troops home, but maintain Special Forces in Iraq with a quick strike capability, poised to attack against Al Qaeda operations on a regular basis.

The long and the short of it is that I don’t much like getting on airplanes and staying in business hotels and renting cars…and Marta kind of made my day go a lot better.

The meeting with Bill went, well, peachy. He is on a lateral leadership assignment designed to build a world-class supply chain for GP that will save the company a substantial amount on costs on an annual basis.

The challenge has been to find solutions that are based upon building on the strengths of business profit centers, while at the same time, benefiting the corporation with cost savings associated with center-led, shared services…in this case, logistics services.

Bill has spent the last 6 months or so creating the business case to get his ideas accepted. My coaching involved now getting Bill to shift from a supply-chain wizard to the opposite foot and become a master politician who can drive his ideas through.

I coached Bill on upcoming meetings with the Chairman and the EVP during a stopover at his house, which looks like a petite French chateaux turned into a work of art by his wife Carol, a superb decorator.

“She makes every point a focal point,” Bill said as he pointed out the buffalo head he hunted which sits over the fireplace only a few feet a way from a Chinese-made, black, grand piano.

We sat in Bill’s backyard patio smoking Cuban cigars, drinking a fine triple-malt scotch, and listening to classical music, while continuing the dialogue started back at the office. A good cigar seems to make the conversation flow in an easy, relaxed manner and the scotch makes the conversation positively pleasurable.

“All your life you have been a performer, Bill, doing the boss’ bidding and you have come a long way. Now it’s time to become a master politician.” Bill’s fat little dog, a sausage-like beast not more than 8 to10 inches high howled when I said that.

The hours passed and soon I was back on Marta on the way to catch my 6 PM flight to the airport. Just another long day in the life of a masterful coach.

Instead, I have been preoccupied with the restoration of a 100-year-old house I own situated on 7 acres in Waltham, MA, just outside of Boston. In my next career, I intend to be a gentleman farmer.

Well, if truth be told, I am normally a rather lazy person, but when I put my mind to something, like this project, I become what the late great Peter Drucker called a “monomaniac with a mission.”

I told Mr. Guo (the Chinese contractor I hired to do the job who speaks nary a word of English) that I was operating on what Jacqueline Kennedy called the chinziest budget for the project and would act as the procurer.

I made over 100 trips to Home Depot and Loews to buy tile, toilets, weather-stripping, paint, and everything else imaginable. As a Chinese restaurateur once told me in broken English, “You save money, but you lose your time,” In this case, no truer words have ever been spoken.

Mr. Guo (low bidder) took on the job with a can-do-spirit, but was quickly drained of all enthusiasm when one day he pulled up a porch board to discover four rotten timbers below it and a soggy, moldy crumbling basement foundation below that. “Too much working. Everyday, Too Much Working!”

He complained to my stalwart project manager, Vivian Song, a double PhD in material science, “This house is a swamp.”

I was soon to discover that dealing with the material properties of the house—its bare stucco walls, broken windows, and moldy kitchen—would be the smallest part of this undertaking, and dealing with “Guo,” as all called him, would be the biggest part.

Guo, who appeared to be charming and professional and straightforward at the beginning, proven to be as crafty, canny, and conniving as a minister’s uncle in a Mandarin court.

Getting the job done at the agreed price required on our parts a combination of diplomatic nicety, along with the kinds of threats of annihilation that only someone like Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde could bring to dealing with Guo’s complaints and all too numerous absences.

We went from breaking bread (Chinese doughnuts at the local Beijing Star restaurant) one day to threatening to bring him before the Massachusetts’s Supreme Judicial Court the next to talking about what a great friendship was developing the day after.

A typical scenario: toward the end of the project when we were pushing to meet an agreed upon deadline, I created a list of 28 items that needed to be completed: put the door knob on the back door, touch up the kitchen paint, straighten drain pull handle on the sink, and so on.

Guo, who seemed to increasingly defer doing any additional work, but who wanted to keep his personal relationship with me, had his girlfriend call me on a Monday morning three days after a small snowstorm. “Guo wanted me to tell you that because he’s your friend, he will do the jobs he has agreed.”

“Yet because of the snowstorm, the driveway might be difficult for safety reasons to get up, so the earliest he will be able to see you is Wednesday or Thursday, safety being his consideration.”

I hit the ceiling, “Tell Guo I spent $100 plowing the gravel, albeit hilly driveway yesterday and furthermore, if safety is a concern, tell him that it only takes one minute to walk up the gravel driveway. Further, the heaviest tool he and his 30-something workers will have to carry is a paintbrush.”

To be continued…

At the time I wrote the book, Peter Senge had come out with the Fifth Discipline, a very successful book. In my mind, coaching would eventually surpass the idea of the learning organization, vehicle for building inspired, high -performing organizations, but I couldn’t get anyone else to share in that vision.

The plan in 1995 was to make some noise and maybe drum up some business. However for at least another year, well into 1996, I sat in my office alone. The phone didn’t ring even once. We were so poor at one point we had to sell the computer I wrote the book on to pay the rent.

Still I stuck to my vision, even though well-intended friends told me I should give up and get a job, words that pierced my heart. Then one day in 1996, I got a call from Dorothy Hutt of Bell Canada telling me it was a “brilliant book” and inviting me to Ottawa for a special engagement. This was the ice breaker.

So much has changed since them. The Masterful Coaching business began to catch on landing some Global 1000 type companies in my lap. This gave me the opportunity to gain tons of executive coaching experience and develop the Masterful Coaching methodology.

Today coaching seems to have become an idea whose time has come, with almost every company having an executive whose job it is to make sure their “people strategy” matches their “business strategy,” with coaching being one of the levers they pull most often.

At Masterful Coaching the phone is now ringing a lot more often, not just from executives at companies like Textron, Airbus, Nestle, Marriott, ABB, and Loews, but from people in various parts of the world interested in doing joint ventures.

One JV call (which I previously wrote about) came from Jae Chang Jeong, CEO of PSI Consulting (and M Coaching) in Korea. This JV is aimed primarily at big companies like Samsung.

Another call came from with Frank Marinko, a very successful executive and small business coach from Australia. We are working on a program called “Winning at Business” for small businesses.

Next I got a call from Muli Glezer, an Israeli entrepreneur and one of the best networkers I have ever met. Muli introduced me to Noga Kainan, President of the CFO Forum in Israel, whose call is to make Israel one of the fastest growing economies in the world (and who is also interested in a JV).

Still another came from Luis Alberto Zuleta from Columbia, South America, who has started several very successful consulting companies aimed at large corporations there. Luis is like a burst of positive energy.

This month Muli will be visiting me in Boston hopefully to further develop our relationship and perhaps put some ink on the pink (sign a deal) and I will be hosting Luis in February.

I am seeing that there are endless possibilities of combining the Masterful Coaching methodology with the talents, expertise,  and intentions of passionate individuals/ groups world-wide.

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book on Abraham Lincoln entitled “Team of Rivals” is in my opinion a masterpiece and a wonderful companion to anyone who is in the position of coaching leaders. It portrays Lincoln as ambitious and humble, a powerful leader and vulnerable, a master politician and a master of human nature.

The book shows how Lincoln, once elected, turned around and appointed his brilliant presidential rivals Seward, Stanton, Bates, and Chase to his cabinet where they each distinguished themselves brilliantly.

The thing that impressed me most about the book was Lincoln’s ability to take a stand on issues like the Emancipation Proclamation, replacing General McClellan, and pardoning a deserter, but did so in a way that did not make others around him feel belittled or humiliated, even those who tried to publicly destroy him.

Once when a northern politician had offended him by saying he was a dictator and undermining the war effort, Lincoln was very disturbed and spent a good part of the night writing a letter. The next morning he put it in a locked file, “Letter to a Copperhead, unsigned and unsent, A. Lincoln.”

Another favorite story is about the time President Lincoln in the dark days of the Civil War got word through his personal assistant, John Hay that Salmon T. Chase, a former Presidential rival and now his Secretary of the Treasury, was actively plotting to beat him in the next Presidential election. Chase not only spent a lot of time lobbying prominent politicians to back him, he actively stirred up dissent regarding the President’s management of both his cabinet and the war.

Yet despite Lincoln’ s secretary’s admonishment to remove Chase from the Cabinet or at least to chastise him, Lincoln merely chuckled and said, “If Chase’s motivation is to become President, I will not strip that away from him as he is doing a superlative job and great service to the nation in raising money through war bonds to support the Union Army.”

I can almost guarantee that once you read this book when it comes time to take a stand, you will never again speak a harsh word or send the offending party a nasty letter. In so doing, you will transform all your rivals into friends and allies.

Imagine you were a world famous business guru, like Tom Peters, standing up in front of a crown of 1000 people in a $1000 business suit. You fully intend to come off not only as charismatic and talented, but as one of the most intelligent people on the planet.

STOP!!!! This approach is great for talking in front of a big crowd, but is 180 degrees opposite to how you want to show up in a coaching conversation. Instead of using the likes of Tom as your role model when you sit down for a coaching conversation, think about Detective Colombo from the old TV show.

He never wore a $1000 suit, never tried to come off as charismatic, and never tried to prove to suspects how smart he was. Further, his trademarks were his cigar, humble raincoat, and his ability to engage and inquire: “Pardon me sir. I just wanted to ask you one more question.”

I have found that once you tell clients what your coaching is all about, “Impossible Futures, Leadership and Business Breakthroughs,” you are much better off drawing people out and asking questions.

Even though I have the ability to be charismatic and smart, I make a concerted effort in coaching conversations to have a very matter of fact way: “Well, I have listened to what you said, and if you would like to hear it, there is a Teachable Point of View I would like to share with you that may help in your situation…”

• Realize an Impossible Future
• Win in Your Business
• Become an Extraordinary Leader

One of our strategies is Emerging Leaders, Emerging Business, Emerging Markets. One issue is sometimes that Masterful Coaching’s price value proposition doesn’t always match the budgets of smaller firms and currency differentials in emerging markets.

In our effort to democratize coaching, we are now making a special offer for small to medium-size businesses, designed to inspire and empower you to realize an Impossible Future and Win in Your Business.

Step 1. Masterful Coaching Leadership and Company Assessment. $500 We will interview you and do a company assessment on you and your company for a half day. We will look at your personal (organizational) vision, what’s working, not working, what’s missing that if provided will make a difference. We will look at your current ways of being as a leader and how they need to shift.

Step 2. Three-Month Masterful Coaching Program. $3000 We will engage you in coaching conversations once a week for an hour (or two half-hours) for three months. Each conversation will leave you with powerful new perspectives that alter your ways of being and way of thinking about your company, as well a concrete action plan.

Step 3. Extend 9 More Months to a Yearlong Program. The year-long program based on a weekly coaching conversations will take you through the five phases of breakthrough: The first three months are involve Formulation of goals and concrete plans. Next we will help you execute through the Concentration phase, gain Momentum, produce Breakthrough Results and make it Sustainable. Cost $12, 000

1. What is your general background? Passions? Talents? Interests? Position in your company?
2. If you were CEO of your company, what would you do to make a difference and impact results?
3. Are you ambitious? What’s your next step up the corporate ladder? (And after it?) Who or what is the biggest obstacle? What’s missing that could make a difference?
4. Do you tend to think that performance will be its own reward, or have you mastered the political chessboard? Do you need help doing that?
5. What would an Impossible Future for your business be that represents winning?
6. Do you have a Game Plan that tells everyone “this is how we intend to win in this business”?
7. Is your company growing profitably, or stuck in the No-Growth Morass? Are you ready to do something, but feel like you are staring at a wall?
8. In terms of your company, what are the relevant: a) facts? b) issues/opportunities? What’s your “Strong Suit” as a leader? Short suit?
9. Have you used an executive coach? What were the results?
10. What are you doing to develop the next generation of leaders for a global economy?