There's a coach who changed how I think about transformation forever.
His name is Werner Erhard, founder of The Landmark Forum.
Until recently, they were the largest live event self-development company in the world.
(We're talking 500 events per month globally.)
But his methods were pure savagery!
Years ago…
I witnessed it firsthand at one of his leadership conferences...
One of the attendees had to repeat back 4 simple sentences that were written on the board.
Sounds easy right?
But Werner wouldn't let him go until it was PERFECT.
5 hours later...
We were still watching this poor guy struggle.
Everyone in the room was thinking "just let him go..."
But Werner didn't care.
He didn't care what time it was...
He didn't care if people missed their trains home...
He didn't care if sessions ran until 1am...
His attitude?
"Not my problem.”
No refunds.
No complaints accepted.
No exceptions.
Was it brutal? Yes.
Would it work in today's world? Probably not.
But here's what's interesting...
That night, I went to sleep with those sentences BURNED into my brain.
I literally couldn't forget them if I tried.
And it changed my entire view of what's possible in coaching.
Because while we don't need to be THAT extreme...
Most coaches today are way too soft.
We let our clients off the hook too easily.
We accept their excuses.
We don't push hard enough.
And that's the real problem.
Because sometimes, the only way through... is through.