Jamie Cunningham

He/Him

I'm a father of two beautiful girls (Kate 16, Lexi 12). I'm a dreamer and an action taker. I'm someone who enjoys being around great people and just as happy spending time on my own. I'm increasing my connection with nature and myself and looking to bring this into my work.

My traditional title is Business Coach but I feel that does not fully explain my work. My work involves helping business owners to build profitable elegant businesses. An elegant business is one that serves it's customers, it's people, the planet and key stakeholders through efficient design and execution. It operates with ever decreasing friction and continually strives for the flow state. It gives more than it takes.

I have a hard time putting clean words to this question so bear with me. My purpose is to deepen my connection with myself, nature and spirit and help others who are willing (business owners through my work), to do the same.

My business is ready for a pivot. To date the coaching has only danced around the edges of including spirituality/connection and I'm working on how to bring it more fully in without swinging the pendulum too far. I recognise I to am a student in this work and want to craft my message and toolkit such that it attracts business owners who perhaps are a few steps behind and want to join the adventure.

I have explored many aspects/methods of deepening connection/healing from Lakato traditions to myofascial release therapy to journey work to psychedelics. I can see a place for all of them and I'm curious to see how I might be able to curate some kind of experiential event that gives people the opportunity to make a shift.

I think the future of my business involves partnerships either formal or informal that can bring skillsets that add to mine. Perhaps these partners already have such events? I know my strengths so it's a case of getting clearer on the vision to get a better idea of who the right partners are.

I suspect the wicked problems of our world can only be solved through higher consciousness. Humans act (mostly) in alignment with our needs and values which only change when we come across problems we can't solve with our current value set. I draw a lot of this thinking from Spiral Dynamics.

I see an opportunity with business owners who have already reached a level of success. They are prime candidates and leverage points for creating change. This group of business owners who have financial security and a level of status have done so through hard work driven by seeking achievement and a sense of freedom. But having earned that in some way, they still feel an emptiness that is unexpected.

It's these people that I believe can have an exponential impact on our world through what they do next. They have resources and skills and in most cases influence on many people whether that be their teams, suppliers, financiers or their extended networks. I'm excited to be a small cog in a much larger wheel that can help shape and guide the actions of these change makers.

It's a newish space for me to work in. To date (the past 20yrs) most of my clients have been those looking to achieve that level of financial success. I now have some long term clients who while are still growing their businesses are well beyond the point of struggle who might be candidates for some of this new work but I don't really know the next steps. I have ideas but it's unclear.

Added to that my marketing needs to change so I'm not attracting those that need to make money but those who are more interested in the inner journey. I know the principles of how to do this, but am still working on my own internal clarity about the business direction/model/scope before I can start on the marketing message To be clear, I want my work to still involve growing businesses (I find this very intellectually rewarding) but it must be driven from the inner work of my clients not just the desire for more on the outside.

It's blending the inner work more concretely into my client work and exploring how to bring experiential learning into my offerings. I've run small scale event before but nothing on the scale or with the intimacy of what I have in mind.

Also seeking partners that will be involved in delivery (at the level I'm thinking) will be new and will stretch me. I've been in business partnerships before and very happy for others to do the work but for the past 8yrs have been a solo operator. In that time, certainly the past 4yrs, my business has been essentially idling as I've focused on getting some things clear within me. I'm now coming out of the cocoon and ready to play a bigger game than I have to date. It's very exciting and also a little daunting :)

Surprisingly it was deciding to separate from my wife which has only happened in the last few months. It might be an odd example but it was a moment when I let go and released myself from the fear that has made me hold onto something that was dying. Being at peace with it and the journey leading up to that moment has shown me the importance of being true to myself and not getting caught up in the 'what will people think' or other 'what if' type dramatisation.

I'm an aspiring farmer, avid mountain biker, musician, author and gardener. I love animals (we have horses, dog, cat, cattle, chickens and rats ... and I'm sure that list will continue to grow) and almost anything to do with the outdoors. I struggle with the paradox of loving technological innovation and the disconnection it can and is causing in our world. I can talk philosophy for hours and love debating/exploring topics that are sometimes socially taboo in an effort to widen my understanding. I try to live by the principle of Radical Responsibility and it's a daily challenge :)

I'm looking for a few things.

1) To gain clarity on my direction and to be pushed outside my comfort zone to make it happen.

2) to help see my blind spots

3) to continue to increase connection with what we can't see. And

4) elevate my thinking/creativity. My work with clients involved the 10X philosophy to shift paradigms and think in new ways. I'm not sure I always live this in my own world.

Receiving feedback without becoming defensive

Balancing being hyper focused on achieving a task and being present and patient with others.

Developing ways to stay true to myself when life is calling me in other directions.

Ask me what commitment I am willing to make to myself. Test or probe if you sense there could be more and i'm looking for an easy out. Commitments to myself are more powerful than commitments to others (is that saying something?

Lack of action. If I'm not taking action, it means I'm unclear or fearful.

I want clarity on my business model/offering in it's new form and a way to test in the market i.e. a small scale event.

I want the new offering to be taken up by a small cohort that reflect the new ideal client profile.

The partnerships I'm a part of and the community of business owners we've built together. We'd be celebrating the amazing work these business owners are doing and the impact it's having on our world in big and small ways.