A coaching lesson from today.
In business — and in life — your values don’t show up when things are smooth.
They show up when things are inconvenient.
I promoted a speaker who offered a 30-day money-back guarantee. Some of my students couldn’t pay in USD, so they trusted me to pay on their behalf — which I did.
Later, two students requested a refund from the speaker.
That meant I had to request the refund on their behalf. I followed up almost every three days, but even after two months, there was still no refund and no meaningful response.
Honestly I got a little pissed off, because I trusted that person too.
At that point, the situation stopped being about process or timing.
It became about responsibility.
As a coach, I hold this belief: When someone places their trust in you, you own the outcome — even if the issue isn’t directly caused by you.
So I refunded my students from my own pocket, before I received anything back.
Was it ideal financially? No.
Was it aligned with my standards? Absolutely.
Because coaching isn’t just about teaching principles.
It’s about embodying them when it costs you something.
Today, the speaker finally refunded me.
But the real win had already happened earlier — trust was preserved.
The lesson I want to pass on is simple:
If you want to build something long-term, you must be willing to do the right thing before it’s comfortable, before it’s fair, and sometimes before it’s profitable.
That’s how trust is built.
That’s how safety is created.
That’s how leadership is lived.
In life we always should play the long term game. That's how we have longevity in the business.
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