Course Description

I’ll let you in on a secret: tools and systems-based business coaching mostly doesn’t work. I know because I trained in one of the best systems in the world and saw its limits firsthand. Those limits drove me to psychology and spirituality to understand why.


I’m talking about vision statements, job descriptions, org charts, marketing plans, etc. These are things that leaders think they need but rarely have. And if they have them, it makes no difference because they didn’t do the inner work to make it effective.


It’s a classic example of the confusion between content and context. For example, the reason visioning gets results for so few people is not because of what they write. It’s because they avoid challenging themselves and changing personally in the process.


Anyone can write an optimistic guess of the future. Writing a clear declaration of what you want that comes from your soul and emotionally impacts others is vulnerable, risky, and courageous. But just like going through the motions in a workout, it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking you act like a leader when you don’t.


I see it every day.


Since 2003, I’ve seen hundreds of vision statements from my clients. None of them ever hit the mark on the first draft. Some people take months to even face the real challenge. The majority never go through the internal process that it demands.


It's the same way your form isn’t perfect the day you learn an exercise. It’s not an event, it’s a process. You must commit to the practice of it, and allow it to develop over time. You give yourself over to it. You live it. You let it shape you into the person you’re destined to become.


The follower wants to create a document and be done, but a leader knows that a vision is a process that unfolds and deepens every day. 


A leader allows a process to change them into a more powerful person.


A follower wants to stay the same and have their outer reality change without having to feel uncomfortable.


Which do you think is more common in our world? Which are you?


This course is the culmination of twenty years of experience working with business owners. I’ll show you how to create systems that actually work, which is mostly about following directions and receiving feedback. That’s the content–the easy part.


The more difficult and much more important part is the context. I’ll guide you through how each of these systems is actually an invitation to transform as a leader, a process you must undergo for the tool to actually make a difference in your life or business.


This course is especially, but not only, for business owners. Anyone who works will benefit. We will cover the nine key systems for any organization, each one of which statistically increased the odds of reaching profit targets by 6.6% in a 2013 study. They are:

  1. Written Vision

  2. Written Values

  3. Business Metrics

  4. Org Chart/Position Agreements

  5. Ideal Customer Profile

  6. Written Marketing Plan

  7. Marketing Metrics

  8. Revenue Plan

  9. Repeat Sales Plan 

Again, I’ll not only show you the key elements of each of these vital tools. That’s uncommon to find, but still not enough. I'll lead you through the internal process each one of these tools demands you undergo in order to actually get results.


This is far too much material to cover in a single Clear and Open quarter. This course will be my summer and fall offering, delivered in two parts. We will spend about two sessions on each tool, with plenty of room for direct feedback, coaching, and Q&A.


Prior to this course, the only way to get this information is by working with me 1-1. I hope you won’t miss this opportunity.


Part 1 begins June 24, 2021 and runs nine consecutive weeks through August 26. Part 2 runs for 11 weeks, begins September 9, and ends November 18. There will be a total of 20, 1-hour sessions meeting live on Thursdays at 11:15 am PT. Assignments follow each session and recordings available the following day.


You can purchase this course alone or save money by becoming a dojo member and get access to all online courses.

Josef Shapiro

Since I first trained as a business coach at EMyth in 2002, I’ve been a change agent for thousands of business leaders and managers. Coaching is a fast-growing industry, but it's also very young. I'm a perennial student and never satisfied with the pace of human change because I think we can do better. For me, it’s an unsolved mystery and the needless suffering inside workplaces around the world hangs in the balance. It affects us all. Learn more at clearandopen.com.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    1. Introduction: We're All Resisting

    • Introduction: We're All Resisting

    • Introduction: We're All Resisting

    • Assignment

  • 2

    2. The Clarity Of Vision

    • The Clarity of Vision (7.1.21)

    • The Clarity of Vision (7.1.21)

    • Assignment

    • Article: Stock Language

    • Article: The Opportunity Cliché

    • Vision

  • 3

    3. Visioning From Your Soul

    • Visioning From Your Soul (7.8.21)

    • Visioning From Your Soul (7.8.21)

    • Assignment

  • 4

    4. The Dubious Origins of Values

    • The Dubious Origins of Values

    • The Dubious Origins of Values

    • Assignment

    • Values

  • 5

    5. Values Part 2: The Most Common Barrier to Living an Examined Life

    • Values Part 2: The Most Common Barrier to Living an Examined Life

    • Values Part 2: The Most Common Barrier to Living an Examined Life

    • Vision Example

    • Assignment

  • 6

    6. Quantification

    • Values Part 3: Why Straight Talk About Values is Taboo

    • Values Part 3: Why Straight Talk About Values is Taboo

    • Key Strategic Indicators

  • 7

    7. The Courage of Facing Truth

    • The Courage of Facing Truth

    • The Courage of Facing Truth

  • 8

    8. Victimhood, Org Charts, and Position Agreements

    • Victimhood, Org Charts, and Position Agreements

    • Victimhood, Org Charts, and Position Agreements

    • Organizational Strategy

    • Position Agreements

  • 9

    9. The Root of Responsibility Issues

    • The Root of Responsibility Issues

    • The Root of Responsibility Issues

  • 10

    10. What Marketing Really Is and Why You'll Love It

    • What Marketing Really Is and Why You'll Love It

    • What Marketing Really Is and Why You'll Love It

    • Introduction to Marketing and Demographics

  • 11

    11. Applying Demographics, Criteria for Maturity, and Destiny

    • Applying Demographics, Criteria for Maturity, and Destiny

    • Applying Demographics, Criteria for Maturity, and Destiny

    • Geographics

    • Psychographics

  • 12

    12. Intro to Positioning

    • Intro to Positioning

    • Intro to Positioning

    • Positioning

  • 13

    13. Aligning with Truth as a Competitive Advantage

    • Aligning with Truth as a Competitive Advantage

    • Aligning with Truth as a Competitive Advantage

    • Assignment

    • Key Marketing Indicators

  • 14

    14. Exploring Your Hunger For Truth

    • Exploring Your Hunger For Truth

    • Exploring Your Hunger For Truth

    • Assignment

  • 15

    15. Introduction to Facing Reality (Budgeting)

    • Introduction to Facing Reality (Budgeting)

    • Introduction to Facing Reality (Budgeting)

    • Assignment

  • 16

    16. Financial Management vs. Accounting, Budgeting Time, and Stuckness

    • Financial Management vs. Accounting etc.

    • Financial Management vs. Accounting etc.

  • 17

    17. Redefining Sales as Relationality

    • Redefining Sales as Relationality

    • Redefining Sales as Relationality

    • Assignment

  • 18

    18. Repeat Sales

    • Repeat Sales

    • Repeat Sales

    • Assignment

  • 19

    19. Leaders Live in the Unknown

    • Leaders Live in the Unknown

    • Leaders Live in the Unknown

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