Thomas Stricker is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with him. He impressed us with his passion and wisdom.

He is a seasoned professional with a distinctive coaching philosophy shaped by a diverse career. Starting with a passion for working with people, he transitioned from church and civil service to co founding a successful branding agency. Beyond the professional success, life altering experiences, including a near fatal car accident in 1992 and a spiritual rebirth in 2016, have deeply influenced his coaching approach, emphasizing inner work and transformative growth.

His coaching isn’t just a profession, it’s a calling to facilitate genuine transformation, helping individuals and teams find fulfillment and purpose in both life and work. As a strategy consultant for over 25 years, he advocates not just for change but for metamorphosis, rooted in understanding one’s original identity. This revelation, he believes, triggers a profound desire for alignment, catalyzing a lasting transformation.

He has unique approach customized to each individual. Using tools like the KEYS Test and Visionboard, efficiently guides clients on a journey of self discovery, providing clarity on identity, relevance, and actionable steps. At the team level, this approach fosters a deeper appreciation for individual contributions, enhancing collaboration with increased enjoyment and impact. Here is what he said.

Meet Life Coach Thomas Stricker:

Name: Thomas Stricker

Pillar: The Spirit, The Mind

Who is this coach for: Anyone who wants to understand more about themselves, about their purpose, potential, and how to move forward in life.

How they can help: By using various tools and techniques like the KEYS Test or a Visionboard, just to name a few.

First of all, how are you and your family doing after these Pandemic times?

We are fine, thank you!

The pandemic has affected us, but it has not had a negative impact on our family in terms of health or distractions due to different positions on the vaccination, the origin of the virus, the media coverage or the political (re)actions.

Love and respect are much stronger forces than differing opinions.

How did the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?

I see a lot more insecurity, uncertainty and fear of taking risks.

Nobody knows the near future.

We have lost a lot of hope, confidence and optimism.

And some people are even more careful about what they share, and their trust in other people has suffered.

It is harder to have open conversations and harder to get a contract that is medium or long term.

We are all much more short term oriented.

But it also has a positive side: we are more aware of the present and we have learnt to react more flexibly to new situations.

What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?

Trust your inner compass and intuition.

Don’t let others decide what you think and feel.

And: there is a tomorrow.

And it might not be as bad as you think at the moment.

Do not stop creating your future and taking action.

The Origin:

Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?

I have always been interested in people and working with people.

I worked with children and young people in the church and did my civilian service in a home for boys with behavioural problems (at that time in Germany you could choose between military or civilian service).

At the same time I attended business trainings at the weekends because I was also interested in how to run a business.

In 1998 I started a branding agency with my brother and brother in law.

I have always enjoyed working as a team, serving clients, recruiting new people and building teams, as well as building an organisation of up to 40 people.

Coaching has always been part of my responsibility when working with young people.

Seeing the potential in young people, creating opportunities for growth, training and guiding people in their careers and life choices has been an important part of my life.

While growing our own business, consulting was another area I worked in.

As a strategy consultant, I have been helping clients with branding, identity, culture and leadership for over 25 years.

Today I always try to combine the two different approaches.

And since a few months I am even expanding my knowledge and skills by doing another training on co creative transformational coaching.

What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?

I was almost killed in a car accident in 1992.

I know what it means to have a second chance at life and to honour life.

It changed me a lot.

But being reborn in soul and spirit in 2016 has had an even greater impact on me.

On my relationship with God, myself, my wife, my children and my family, friends and colleagues.

It was a real reset in my life and a supernatural experience.

I am living much more in the here and now, I have set new priorities in my life and I have regained a deep connection with my emotions and my trust in God.

There is much more awareness, love, joy, peace and freedom in my life than ever before.

Of course, this was also a journey of “inner work” with some highs and lows.

But I definitely don’t regret it.

The Coaching Style:

How do you innovate with coaching your clients?

There is a difference between change, transformation and even metamorphosis.

Most people want a change of circumstances but not a change of mindset, behaviour and culture, which requires transformation.

I find that if you start coaching with a revelation of your original identity, your DNA, it opens up not only a deeper understanding but also a desire to live according to who you are.

This is a better starting point for a transformational process because it causes a much deeper resonance and releases more positive energy, motivation and purpose.

What’s unique about your coaching approach?

Find your treasures first.

Not only is it more fun, it also releases your intrinsic motivation.

And it focuses your attention on something you already have.

I just help you to discover and use it.

If it is helpful, I can also advise and support teams and organisations and help to improve collaboration.

What benefits do your clients get after working with you?

They have a very clear understanding of who they are, what is relevant to them, how they have an impact and how to take action for changing their life.

At a team level, they have a much deeper understanding and appreciation of each other’s contribution and can work together with much greater enjoyment and impact.

Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?

Yes, the KEYS Test or the Visionboard are just two of them and a really good starting point for a coaching process.

The Impact:

If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?

Your life has meaning and purpose!

Don’t let lies define your destiny.

Use your potential to do good to others and make a positive impact in this world.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?

It is not about meeting people’s expectations.

It is about growing my character and spirit at my own pace.

And then taking the opportunities that present themselves every day to impact other people’s lives.

It can be small things or big things.

It does not matter.

What you think is small may seem big to others.

And keep trusting God.

You are a loved and valued person with great potential!

Your final thoughts?

I always recommend a free initial conversation to get to know each other before signing a contract or starting coaching.

The same goes for consulting.

Where Can You Find Thomas Stricker?

If you liked this interview and you would love to go beyond your limitations and live your true potential, go to www.sonsandfriends.de and see how Thomas can help you.

If you’d like to connect more personally with him, you can do that through LinkedIn or by sending him a direct message on his Email [email protected]. It was an honor having this ineinterview with him.

Andrew J Calvert is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with him. He impressed us with his innovativeness and wisdom.

He found his path to coaching through a mentor who instilled the importance of reflection and communication. From honing sales skills to navigating the intricacies of leadership and personal development, he discovered the universal applicability of coaching across various life domains and organizational levels.

His mindset played pivotal role in shaping his identity. Confronting limiting beliefs became a transformative journey, and he candidly shares how overcoming his own obstacles laid the groundwork for his coaching philosophy. As an adept coach, he employs a unique approach, blending elements of positive psychology, metaphor, and analogy, creating a collaborative dance with his clients.

He invented the Serendipity Engine card deck, a dynamic fusion of oracle, positive psychology, and reflective prompts, providing clients with fresh perspectives and practical solutions to navigate challenges. His coaching style, characterized by a rich tapestry of influences ranging from Taoism to subatomic physics, sets him apart. Each coaching session becomes a creative exploration, where clients lead, and he orchestrates a harmonious interplay of ideas and insights. Here is what he said.

Meet Life Coach Andrew J Calvert:

Name: Andrew J Calvert

Pillar: The Spirit, The Mind

Who is this coach for: Anyone who wants to calm the noise in the mind, gain clarity, and understand the reasons behind what they are facing and how to move forward in life.

How they can help: By using various tools and techniques like The Empty Chair, Self Determination Theory, and the Serendipity Engine card deck for both reflection and to help offer practices for clients to use between coaching sessions.

First of all, how are you and your family doing after these Pandemic times?

Lucky to say we are doing well, a combination of good living conditions (we live on the edge of the rain forest that is Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore) and a close knit family have blessed us.

We had our struggles but a positive mindset, and each of us having a focus (from studies, to art, to teaching, to coaching) helped us get through those dark days.

How did the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?

The pandemic affected my clients in many ways.

The pandemic magnified many things.

Coping mechanisms like partying, holidays, spa days etc. were no longer available, which laid bare and magnified underlying issues with their careers, marital or social relationships, or even a lack of purpose or meaning in how they were living.

These all resulted in my clients redefining their relationship to the work they performed, the career path they find themselves in and to facets of their life as mundane as the way they commute or the amount of time they spend outdoors.

What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?

1. The power of nature.

I was lucky enough to walk in the rain forest near to my home.

Those walks for 30 to 90 minutes daily, and in all weathers really helped my reflect on my own life, my relationships, my values and beliefs.

If we had not had the pandemic I might never have had the space and time to engage so reflectively.

2. Another lesson was the impact of listening in connecting with other human beings.

Daily I would call friends from school, college, from my time in the US, UK, Hong Kong and beyond.

I realized the power of giving your attention to another, and really listening, how cathartic that can be and how listening deepens connections between us.

3. I also came to be clearer that progress appears in many forms.

And that often the client is making progress but their inner narrative (often not their own voice) tells them what progress they are making is not enough or not a high enough quality.

Helping them explore what their inner narrative is and where it comes from allows them to change the way the see the world and realize greater results.

The Origin:

Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?

I came to coaching through several paths:

A spiritual teacher shaped my journey with questions for reflection and self discovery.

My studies of Eastern and Western religions led to a love of questions (not just answers) and the joy of reflecting on those questions.

On a more practical day to day level, I came to coaching through one of my early bosses, who coached me before and after every training program he had me attend.

That process used my existing skills, communication, story telling and my innate curiosity, to become a successful salesperson (an entirely new skill).

My exposure to coaching skills for leaders, sales managers and retail managers helped me see how coaching is applicable in all walks of life and at all levels of organizations.

As I grew in my career, I found that I and my team got better results (both personal and business) if I coached them rather than told or mentored…

Over the years I’ve led team members who have lost babies at 8 months of pregnancy, faced cancer, family members with Alzheimer’s, and also those getting married for the first time, first time parents, starting a new business, moving city or country.

Each situation taught me the power of the gentle question, the offer of support, the gift of listening.

What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?

Great question; my biggest obstacle, has been my own mindset.

How I thought about what I “deserved” in life, my beliefs about my education, up bringing, life choices, all contained limiting beliefs (and ironically all held the seeds of my growth too) and I still work on them with my own coach!

And it is in the realization that my biggest obstacle held the potential for my biggest lessons helped me clarify my what and how of the way I coach.

The Coaching Style:

How do you innovate with coaching your clients?

I developed the Serendipity Engine card deck to work with my clients.

The deck: part oracle, part positive psychologist, and part mirror… allows me to focus my clients on the chronic situations or relationships they are dealing with through a new lens, giving them different ways to approach what has previously had them “stuck”.

The cards also help me provide mediations or practices to help prevent over thinking between sessions.

The use of forcing connections, uncovering unconscious associations and deep listening really help build, and innovate these relationships.

The cards work particularly well with long term clients to help bring a freshness to our conversations.

What’s unique about your coaching approach?

My love of laughter, organic farming, subatomic physics, Taoism, Buddhist philosophy, Christian values, positive psychology and a host of other ideas, philosophies and approaches to life blend with a solution focused coaching approach.

Each coaching session is a “dance” or an improvisation where the client leads and I follow, using metaphor and analogy to help them connect dots and look with new eyes at old and current challenges.

What benefits do your clients get after working with you?

My clients have remarked about their ability to gain greater clarity around the “what” they are facing AND a deeper understanding about the “why” they are facing that situation or challenge.

They also like the ‘no nonsense’ practical plans we co create to help them get moving in the direction they
desire.

One client told me she has been able to quieten the “noise of her mind” so she can, “listen to the whispers of her heart”.

And in those whispers are her dreams, goals and higher aspirations.

Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?

As I mentioned earlier, I use the Serendipity Engine card deck for both reflection and to help offer practices for clients to use between coaching sessions.

I also use a few models, Self Determination Theory is one I use a lot.

The Empty Chair is one technique I enjoy as is the life timeline, which provides the coachee and myself great insights into their values, beliefs and the story they tell themselves.

The Impact:

If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?

I think I’d prefer to have a super ear trumpet to listen to the whole world.

There is so much noise, with so many touting this or that “fix” or solution.

The more someone feels heard, the greater the chance for them to listen to the whispers of their heart!

What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?

How we are all interconnected, the energy we give out as parents, friends, colleagues, vendors, spouses, all reflect on us.

How our thoughts create the world around us, in subtle and not so subtle ways.

Jill Bolte Taylor a brain researcher details her findings tin this Ted Talk.

If our thoughts create our world as Taylor suggests, for me that brings up one of my favorite quotes “whether you think you can, or you think you cannot, you are right!”

Understanding the power of our thoughts has been a great gift and one I still reflect on.

In running my small organic farm, I learned that planning, preparation, and proper rotation are crucial, but that timing, a time to plant, nurture, weed, fertilize, tend, to harvest and to lie fallow, are also important elements for us all.

Understanding there are cycles within us and around us and that coming to recognize and then harness those cycles unlocks incredible potential.

Your final thoughts?

My journey has been a special one, and as I’m fond of saying, “the journey IS the destination”.

Having lived in Europe, Asia and the USA, worked on the land and in office and, worked with machines and people on products and processes, I have been blessed with a range of experiences and skills that allow me to work with my clients to get extraordinary results.

Where You Can Find Andrew J Calvert?

If you liked this interview and you would love to learn how to calm the noise of your mind so you can listen to the whispers of your heart, go to www.andrewjcalvert.com and see how Andrew can help you.

If you’d like to check out his deck of coaching cards called Serendipity Engine, go to https://www.andrewjcalvert.com/serendipityinstructions and learn more.

If you’d like to connect with him more personally, you can do that through LinkedIn or by sending him a direct message on his Email [email protected]. It was an honor having this interview with him.