How do you react when a client shares a perspective that fundamentally contradicts everything you believe about fairness, justice, or human dignity? In that moment, you face a choice that could define this session AND the entire coaching relationship. We need to know how to respond when our deeply held beliefs collide with our client’s worldview. Our focus for today’s show is relevant and timely because it is a reality we face more than ever in this polarized world. It is a challenging aspect of professional coaching, and we need to be prepared to navigate this divide. We are discussing practical tools and a framework for maintaining your professional integrity while honoring your client’s integrity and growth. Join us to learn more!

Show Highlights:

• The reality of today’s polarized world: We are more and more likely to encounter clients with deeply rooted differences in values than our own.
• 4 key themes in navigating these values challenges:
• Focus on process over content to maintain coaching effectiveness.
• Use curiosity as the bridge when perspectives diverge.
• Develop the emotional regulation to stay present in the face of discomfort. 
• Cultivate our own self-awareness to recognize when our values might be interfering with our client’s journey.
• Coaching is about the client’s agenda—not the coach’s agreement with that agenda.
• Our job, as a coach, is to balance, support, and challenge that agenda.
• Genuine curiosity transcends judgment and opens possibilities.
• Stay present and remain focused in each session; recognize when your personal triggers are activated.
• Use self-awareness to benefit the client.
• Notice the red flags when your emotional reactions compromise your effectiveness.
• Understanding client-coach compatibility and boundaries
• Ethical considerations to think about regarding race, bias, gender, religion, etc. 
• The core value of humanity in the ISS
• Practical tools for self-reflection (Download my assessment guide to help.)
• Using collaborative (not judgmental)  language about the client-coach partnership
• The coaching mindset in action: Be open, curious, flexible, and client-centered.
• Don’t be afraid of vulnerability and authenticity!
• Your own self-awareness is non-negotiable!
• Mindset is everything.

Resources:

Connect with Meg

Coach’s Self-Reflection Guide

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT. 

External professional achievements, as remarkable as they are, do not always translate to internal fulfillment. There can be a disconnect, so it is essential to take a closer look at success. My guest is joining us from Singapore, and she knows what success is all about! We are covering topics like the paradox of success and holistic well-being. Join us to learn more!

Nancy Ho is a renowned life strategist and personal transformation facilitator with over 26 years of experience helping high-performing professionals, executives, and business leaders achieve both external success and inner fulfillment. Nancy specializes in leadership development, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, integrative self-care, executive presence and influence, and change management. She empowers individuals to overcome internal barriers, embrace vulnerability, and unlock their true potential by designing innovative workshops and providing personalized coaching that fosters authentic growth, resilience, and lasting change. With a holistic approach, Nancy guides clients toward sustainable well-being and peak leadership performance, enriching both their personal and professional lives. She is a featured co-author of Jack Canfield’s book, Success Redefined, as she wrote a chapter titled “The Paradox of Success: Hidden Struggles of High-Performing Professionals.”

Show Highlights

• Redefining success: What is success?
• Nancy’s personal journey to find success
• Striving to find professional achievements and personal satisfaction–and wanting to make a more significant contribution
• Understanding the paradox of success
• Going inward to find alignment and your bigger WHY
• Strategies to find your WHY: (Nancy’s 5-Step Roadmap for Fulfillment)
• Introspection–Identify your core values.
• Individual improvement–Seek continuous growth, no matter your age.
• Integration–Strive for work-life integration, not balance.
• Interpersonal investment–Nurture relationships that truly matter.
• Intrinsic investment–Grow from within and stay current. 
• Finding a different energy to influence and inspire through knowing your WHY
• Nancy’s key takeaway: “What really makes you happy–makes you feel good?”

Resources:

Connect with Nancy Ho: Website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Success Redefined.

Connect with Meg:

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT. 

Have you ever been tasked with leading a team, only to discover that managing people is nothing like you expected? Have you witnessed talented individuals underperform while you are struggling to gain buy-in on essential initiatives? Are good people leaving your team when you don’t understand why? If any of this sounds familiar, today’s episode is exactly what you need to hear. My guest has cracked the code on the psychology behind team performance, and he’s here to change how you think about leadership forever. You’ll learn the three pillars of building high-performance teams, 11 essential leadership traits, and what makes storytelling your most powerful leadership tool. You’ll also discover the difference between being a manager and being a true leader. Join us!

Manny Fiteni is the CEO of My Growth Corporation and a pioneering leadership strategist with over 30 years of corporate experience specializing in transformative personal development. His core methodology is “the mind congruency,” which he uses along with other innovative platforms. Manny is an author and international speaker who inspires global audiences, equipping individuals with tools for lasting personal and professional transformation. His approach is grounded in real-world applications, delivering measurable results across various industries.  

Show Highlights:

• The difference in management and leadership
• Three pillars of building a high-performing team: environment, true leadership, and mind congruency
• Understanding mind congruency in terms of your operating system
• Using storytelling as a way to overcome barriers and resistance
• True leadership traits:
• The power of us
• Team first
• Mindset
• Consultation
• Open door
• Active listening
• Back them
• Improvement
• Integrity and honesty
• Cut your losses
• Observation
• Manny’s key takeaway: “Look in the mirror to see how you are operating. Awareness is the key.”

Resources:

Connect with Manny Fiteni

Website, LinkedIn, and Mind Growth 360

Connect with Meg

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT. 

Have you ever wondered why that “perfect” discovery call didn’t convert? Today’s episode covers sales, a topic that makes most coaches break out in a sweat. Most of us don’t know what to do with sales or how to approach selling to achieve success. I’m delighted to welcome today’s guest to share his wealth of knowledge and valuable insights. He teaches us how to shift from fear-based selling to service-based relationship building. Join us!

Jacob Hicks is a keynote speaker and coach with over a decade of experience transforming people’s lives and businesses. He has a special knack for identifying the elements that drive lasting success with systematic approaches that help build lasting engagement.

Show Highlights:

• “Fearless selling:” What it means
• Fear, rejection, and the stories in our heads
• The numbers that tell the truth about sales interactions
• The value we give when we come from a place of service
• Using Jacob’s 5 touchpoints to provide value in specific scenarios
• Systems and processes hold the key to your game plan.
• The power of a handwritten note/card
• Using a CRM to manage interactions with automation
• Examples of a drip campaign using newsletters and mini-courses
• Feeling better about rejection by changing your mindset to one of abundance
• Sell by making connections and providing value
• Consistency is essential!
• Jacob’s takeaways: “Your mindset is huge. Be consistent. Try new things and follow the 80-20 rule.”

Resources:

Connect with Jacob Hicks: Website, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Connect with Meg:

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT.

What if you could strengthen your communication and change the way you ask questions by switching one small word? In today’s episode, you’ll discover how replacing “why” questions with “what” and “how” can revolutionize your coaching conversations. Host Meg Rentschler explores the neuroscience and psychology behind the questions we ask, revealing that “why” questions trigger defensive responses, while “what” and “how” can activate curiosity and exploratory thinking.

Show Highlights:

• The neuroscience behind different question types—and how they trigger us
• The problem with “why” questions
• The power of “what” and “how” questions to invite us into adult-state activation
• Exploration instead of explanation 
• Solution-focused questions vs. problem-focused questions
• NLP principles that support “what” and “how” questions
• “Why” questions have their place, but be cautious not to be judgmental and critical.
• The problem with automatic “why” responses
• Transformation techniques:
• The question-translation practice
• The ego-state awareness practice
• The solution-focused reframe
• The future-pull technique
• Examples of “what” questions to help a client with clarity
• Examples of “how” questions around processes
• Examples of “when” questions that involve timing
• Practical steps to transform your questioning techniques:
• Start small.
• Practice the pause.
• Trust the process.
• Meg's challenge to you this week

Resources:

Get your free resource, The Coaches’ Power Questions Cheat Sheet.  Click here!

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT.

Today’s episode could be life-changing as you discover the secret to success that may have been in front of you the whole time. You can rewire your autopilot setting that controls 95% of your daily thoughts and actions. Buckle up to learn how to be fully aware, conscious, and choice-driven about how you want to show up in life. Join us!

At age 50, John Mitchell wasn’t as successful as he thought he should be. To rectify that, he turned to Think and Grow Rich, the world’s most renowned success book, read by over 150 million people. The author, Napoleon Hill, says there is a secret to success, but he only gives us half the secret. Through his careful study, John uncovered the FULL SECRET and a 12-minute daily technique to apply it. The result was a 25-fold increase in his $200,000 income! John’s methodology, based on neuroscience, is an AI-driven algorithm that personalizes the success formula for each individual. John teaches his groundbreaking system at the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business, one of the top five business schools in the country. He also serves as the mental coach for UT’s 18 head athletic coaches and many others around the country. John shares his powerful system in his book, The Missing Secret of the Legendary Book Think & Grow Rich. 

Show Highlights:

• John’s story of finding financial success and becoming a teacher
• The first half of the secret to success–and John’s journey to find the other half
• The false belief about success (that John believed for 50 years!)
• “What you envision in detail, with emotion, daily, is what shows up in your life.”
• The results of John’s 12-minute daily technique:
• Immense control over your life
• Confidence
• The right actions
• Are you fear-based and reactive?
• John’s challenges in creating clarity
• The conscious mind vs. the subconscious mind
• The importance of having your emotions engaged for success
• John’s key takeaway: “The most significant thing I learned in my life is that 95% of my daily actions are unconscious.”
• Learn to work smarter, not harder!

Resources:

Connect with John Mitchell

Watch John’s 9-minute free video at www.themissingsecret.org!

LinkedIn

Connect with Meg

ENROLLING NOW FOR THE FALL MENTOR PROGRAM beginning in September. Click here!

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT.

It is critical that we, as coaches, strive for cultural awareness in our work. One of the most important aspects of coaching is the richness of our differences and perspectives, and often, the voices that are heard the least are those that can teach us the most—if we only listen. We are exploring this important topic in today’s episode. 

Ingrid Hu Dahl is an author, speaker, and leadership coach. She has written, filmed, and directed two short films exploring identity, representation, and the mixed-race experience. Her advocacy for underrepresented voices and the importance of inclusive coaching are at the heart of her memoir, Sun Shining on Morning Snow, which focuses on leadership, coaching, and personal connection. Ingrid is a TEDx speaker and the founder of a coaching and consulting business for emerging leaders. Inspired by her mother’s passing, her work emphasized the need for coaches to create space for clients’ experiences, challenge biases, and promote curiosity in conversations while encouraging individuals to reclaim their power and live authentically. Certified by the International Coach Federation and the Center for Creative Leadership, Ingrid’s body of work is centered on connection, kindness, and inclusivity. She lives in Sausalito, CA, with her wife and their dog. 

Show Highlights:

• The book-writing journey for Ingrid
• The traumatic impetus for her next steps was the loss of her mom to cancer.
• Holding space for your unique story and experiences
• Ingrid’s path to advocacy for underrepresented voices
• Using curiosity over judgment and assumptions
• The dangers of “righteousness”
• Ingrid’s tips for coaching for inclusion: slow down, start with the basics, and listen to understand
• Operating within a social system of power and oppression
• Reclaiming your personal power
• Ingrid’s key takeaway: “You have one life to live, so choose your truth and live it fully.”

Resources:

Connect with Ingrid Hu Dahl: Website, Instagram, and Sun Shining on Morning Snow book 

Connect with Meg:

ENROLLING NOW FOR THE FALL MENTOR PROGRAM beginning in September. Click here!

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT. 

You’ve experienced success, and you are the person that others come to for answers. The problem is that sometimes this very success becomes a trap, stopping us from dreaming new dreams and taking on new challenges. Today’s conversation dives deep into permission. What does it mean to give ourselves permission to be a novice again and to start small when we are used to thinking big? How can we permit ourselves to step into the unknown when we are already successful problem solvers? Today’s show will be incredibly valuable for you! Join us to be inspired to break free from whatever is holding you back from your next level of success. 

Mitch Matthews is a success coach, speaker, and serial entrepreneur. Since 2015, Mitch has hosted the Dream Think Do, a podcast with the perfect title to sum up what he’s all about. He’s interviewed Olympic athletes, NY Times bestselling authors, and top business leaders, all while helping entrepreneurs and coaches dream bigger, think better, and do more. The podcast is rated #1 by the Huffington Post and is in the top 1% of all podcasts. As a speaker and elite success coach, Mitch has spent the last 20 years helping organizations like Nike, United Airlines, NASA, and Disney. His training program has helped thousands of life coaches from around the world build successful and profitable businesses they love. Most importantly, Mitch is a husband, dad, and lifelong learner living a highly caffeinated life with his family in Des Moines, Iowa. 

Show Highlights:

• The dangers of success for high achievers
• Permitting yourself to dream big again
• Being “bored out” vs. “burned out”
• The “brain’s bodyguard,” the amygdala, and how it reacts when we try to be a novice again (Take the Annual Novice Challenge!)
• Feeling small again after feeling very big
• Getting clear on your “leap number”
• Identify your tribe: Who do you know?
• Collaboration and competition: “Your competition is not another coach; it’s the couch.”
• Mitch’s #1 takeaway: “What if”?

Resources:

Connect with Mitch Matthews: Website, Dream Think Do podcast, and LinkedIn.

Discover 44 Proven Ways to Find Your First Life Coaching Clients (And Keep Them Coming) Guide

Faith & Focus: 11 Prayers for Building a Coaching Business You Love Guide

Connect with Meg:

ENROLLING NOW FOR FALL MENTOR PROGRAM beginning in September. Click here!

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT. 

Mid-level managers are sandwiched between C-suite executives and everyone else in their companies. Coaching them presents unique challenges to meet them where they are while helping them expand their lens through creative options in a very competitive coaching market. We are exploring these relevant topics and focusing on the work of mid-level managers, often referred to as the “unsung heroes” of the corporate world. Join us!

Loretta Stagnitto is a certified executive coach and president of Loretta Stagnitto Leadership Associates, an online coaching and training company specializing in leadership development for executives, mid-level leaders, and high-performing teams, along with workplace wellness and mental health first aid. LSLA provides individual and group-based leadership development based on its trademarked “I Know System” and the “Assess. Act. Achieve” methodology. With over 20 years of executive coaching experience, Loretta empowers professionals at all levels to drive their development and team growth. She offers C-suite-level insights and fosters new work approaches, enabling leaders and teams to enhance inspiration, operations, and collaboration, ultimately strengthening relationships, developing talent, and accelerating organizational change. 

Extensively experienced in healthcare, tech, finance, and biotech, Loretta has coached in diverse corporate and start-up settings. The 2020 pandemic spurred her focus on workplace anxiety and burnout, leading to expertise in related remedies. Through her non-profit, Invest in Mental Health, Loretta provides free or low-cost adult and youth mental health first aid certifications to a variety of communities. The non-profit is dedicated to breaking the stigma around mental health disorders. To help encourage and build advocacy for women’s leadership, Loretta serves as a guide for CHIEF, the nation’s largest membership-based executive coaching organization for executive women. Loretta has raised two amazing adult children with her husband in their northern California home, and her hobbies include biking, indoor rowing, Pilates, weight-training, silent walking, and sewing. 

Show Highlights:

• The biggest challenges for mid-level managers, the “unsung heroes”
• Loretta’s theory on what coaches can do for mid-level leaders
• Creative solutions for mid-level leaders (because companies are not investing in them):
• Short programs delivered in smaller bites
• A convenient, online coaching program 
• Putting cohorts together for peer group coaching and camaraderie
• The impacts of coaching within organizations around self-awareness, proactive feedback, communication, and self-advocacy
• Shifting perspectives around empowerment, awareness, and choice—to see ourselves differently and do things differently
• Assessing The Stress Factor--and how it shows up for leaders
• Positioning coaching as an investment, not remediation
• For external coaches: Position yourself for profitability with differentiation strategies such as a niche focus, collaboration, and investment.
• Loretta’s focus on burnout, anxiety, and wellness in the workplace
• The bottom line for coaches: Loretta’s advice to coaches about working harder, figuring out your clients’ problems, and being creative in developing solutions in a competitive market

Resources:

Connect with Loretta Stagnitto: Website, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Connect with Meg:

ENROLLING NOW FOR FALL MENTOR PROGRAM beginning in August. Click here!

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT. 

Are you a purpose-driven coach who wonders why you’re staring at an empty calendar? Are you unsure about getting those first crucial clients? If you’re caught in the frustrating cycle of needing experience to get clients and needing clients to get more experience, you are not alone. More importantly, you are closer to breaking through than you think. Join me in today’s solo episode to uncover the key to a new coach’s biggest mountain to conquer: landing those first few game-changing clients. We’re diving into this essential topic right now with practical strategies you can implement today. Your first client is waiting for YOU!

Show Highlights:

• Make a mindset shift around the “experience paradox.”
• Three permission slips to give yourself:
• Permission to be a beginner
• Permission to start before you feel “ready”
• Permission to charge for your value
• Concrete action step #1: Write down one instance when you helped someone create a solution for an issue. 
• Strategies for inviting clients into your space:
• Think of your warm market as your gold mine.
• Determine your three circles of influence. (“You cannot be a secret and a success at the same time.”)
• Build your Know-Like-Trust factor by providing value. Be clear and specific!
• Use your warm market as an opportunity to offer barter coaching.
• Concrete action step #2: Identify 10 people in your warm market who need what you offer or might know those who do. Reach out to one person today.
• Using the Beta Client Approach:
• Position yourself as someone launching a beta program for your coaching methodology. (This reframes your newness as exclusivity.)
• Take on a limited number of beta clients for a specified time frame.
• You can build your client base and clarify your offering to achieve exceptional results. 
• Concrete action step #3: Consider your ideal client and develop a simple beta program tailored to your coaching niche.
• Building credibility without experience: Where to begin:
• Leverage your training and certifications.
• Share your personal transformation story.
• Connect your professional background to coaching.
• Gather micro-testimonials from informal helping situations.
• Create consistent, valuable content. 
• Concrete action step #4: Create your own credibility stack. (Check out SCS 336, What’s Your Value Proposition?)
• Meg’s 7-day challenge: Are you up for it?

Resources:

Connect with Meg:

Explore past episodes and other resources at www.STaRcoachshow.com. 

Explore the STaR Coach Community and see what’s available there for you!

Visit the STaR Coach Show YouTube Channel! Subscribe today! Join our live show taping on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm CT.