𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀
It’s not just about scaling your business.
It’s also about scaling you.
From Fortune 500 companies to fast-growing startups, I’ve coached leaders at every stage. Today, my mission is focused: helping first-time founders scale themselves as fast as they scale their companies.
 
𝗠𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀
Your startup can only grow as fast as you do. As a first-time founder, you’re under pressure from investors, your team, and your family—all while learning on the fly skills that others spend decades mastering. Whether you’re raising capital, hiring your first team, or pushing toward product-market fit, I help you close the gap between where you are and where your company needs you to be.
 
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝘆 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
I bring 20+ years of coaching 10,000+ leaders, founder experience, and cutting-edge insights from neuroscience and behavioral psychology. The result: a proven path to accelerate both personal and company growth. My frameworks help you:
• Transform self-doubt into clarity and influence
• Build and inspire high-performing, durable teams
• Raise capital while staying true to your vision
• Create sustainable success without burnout
• Leverage your existing strengths while closing critical skill gaps
• Grow yourself as fast as your company 
 
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗜 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲
My one-on-one clients are founders who:
• Want tailored, responsive coaching that meets them where they are
• Care deeply about building strong teams and cultures
• Aim to create both impact and enterprise value
• Refuse to accept that success means sacrificing their families, health, or lives outside the company
• Are willing to grow personally and professionally to become the leader their company needs 
 
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁
From doubling revenue to unlocking fundraising rounds to transforming team dynamics, my clients consistently achieve breakthrough results—while building lives they actually want to live.
 
𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁?
Visit www.andrewpoles.com/contact or DM me here.

Andrew Poles

We use the word “complete” all the time.
But most people confuse it with “finished.”

They’re not the same.

You can end a relationship and still be carrying it.
You can be in an ongoing partnership and feel fully clear.

Completion is a function of how you relate to reality - not a status update.
In this clip (from my conversation on the Sleep Is A Skill podcast with Mollie), I break down what I mean by being complete - and why it has real implications for how you live, lead, and even sleep.

Coaching first-time founders to grow themselves and their companies | 3x Founder | 22+ years coaching partners like NASA, Dell, Schwab + 10,000 people worldwide

What does insomnia have to do with integrity?
More than most leaders realize.

I once worked with a man who had slept 1–2 hours a night for years. His health was at risk. After doing deep completion work in his relationships and life, he slept 8–10 hours for the first time in decades.

There’s a connection between how complete you are and how well you sleep.
And more than that - your sleep may be a lagging indicator of how powerfully you’re living and leading.

If this resonates, I unpack it further on the Sleep Is A Skill podcast with the amazing Mollie Eastman, episode linked below.  

Sometimes it’s not a sleep issue.
It’s a leadership issue.

#Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #SleepIsASkill #FounderHealth #Integrity

This is the part of leadership most spreadsheets can’t capture. When behavior stops making sense, there’s almost always unseen pressure in the room.
What stands out here is the refusal to confuse kindness with lowering standards. Real leadership is keeping the bar high AND removing shame from the climb.
Culture isn’t what you say you value - it’s how safe it feels for people to be human while doing hard work.

3 Exits | Founder @ Humble | Strategic Partner @ Loud | Follow for Self Improvement, Growth Strategy & Being A Better Human | Entrepreneurship Coach & Mentor

You have no idea what people are dealing with.
Not even close.
And that’s ok.

Because you just have to be kind.

The person who snapped in your meeting might have a kid who’s struggling.

The one who “doesn’t care anymore” might be keeping a marriage together with duct tape.

The quiet one who missed a deadline might be dealing with a parent who’s fading, fast.

Work makes it easy to pretend everyone is a machine.

Metrics. Output. Deadlines. Slack green dots.

👉 But leadership is what you do when the spreadsheet stops explaining the behaviour.

Bad leaders get this part wrong: 

They think kindness is a personality trait.

It isn’t.
It’s a professional skill. 
And it’s different to being NICE.

Kind isn’t soft.
Kind is controlled.

Nice avoids the hard chat.
Kind has it, without making the person feel small.

Nice lowers standards so nobody feels uncomfortable.
Kind keeps standards high and removes the shame from getting there.

I learned this the hard way building companies from nothing.

⚠️ When you’re under pressure yourself, your instincts get ugly, and you start to:
Push harder. Watch closer. Assume the worst.

It feels “productive”.

It’s usually expensive.

Because people don’t leave jobs first.
They leave the feeling of being misunderstood.

So if you want a practical way to lead like a grown up, try this:

Before you judge the performance, check the pressure they are under.

BUT, a simple “You alright?” is not leadership.
Anyone can say that.

📌This is leadership:

1.	Ask a better question
“What’s taking up headspace right now?”
It gives them a door that isn’t dramatic.

2.	Offer a real option
“Do you want time, help, or privacy?”
Most people just need one of the three.

3.	Separate the person from the work
“You’re not your output. Let’s fix the work.”
That one sentence changes everything.

4.	Adjust the load, not the standards
“What do we de-scope for 7 days?”
Pressure without control creates mistakes.

5.	Protect them in public, coach them in private.
If you correct someone publicly, you teach the whole team to hide.

None of this is “being nice”.

It’s how you keep good people good.

Your culture isn’t your values on a Notion page.
It’s how safe it feels to have a bad week around you.

So yes, you seriously have NO idea what people are dealing with.

Lead like you know that.

-
♻️: Repost to inspire.
➕: Follow Charlie Lass.

Most founders don’t get stuck because things are hard.
They get stuck because of the story they tell themselves about why things shouldn’t be this way.

Loss. Missed signals. Bad hires. Broken trust.
The pain is real — but the suffering is optional.

This week I'm sharing about how leaders unknowingly trap themselves after setbacks, and how dropping one word can unlock clarity, resilience, and forward momentum.

If you’ve been carrying something heavy lately, I hope this offers you some needed clarity.

Sadness: Yes. Suffering: No. Over the last few weeks, several founders I coach have been moving through loss. Not just personal loss — though that’s b

Open article: The “Should” Trap in Leadership by Andrew Poles • 4 min read

When Ken Cox and I were talking recently on the Clicks and Bricks podcast, we kept circling back to something that doesn’t get talked about enough in business:

Your company grows at the speed of your own growth.

Not just revenue.

You can still be making money and feel something in the business has stalled.

Energy drops. Culture gets stale. Decisions feel heavier.

I’ve lived that.

In my first business, I thought learning business meant learning tactics. Strategy. Sales. Operations.

And yes — you do have to learn the “game.”

But what I didn’t understand then was that every ceiling I hit in the business was connected to a ceiling in me.

Fear I hadn’t dealt with.
Conversations I didn’t want to have.
Identity I hadn’t owned yet, or hadn't generated the courage to let go. 

Ken asked me about authenticity and about “next right actions.”

For me, performance really comes down to that:

What is the next right action of integrity here?
Not the most comfortable action.
Not the one that protects your ego.
The one that’s actually right.

That’s where growth happens.
And when that shifts, the business shifts.

If you’re a founder, especially early-stage, I think you’ll appreciate how deep this conversation goes. 

I'll put the link to the full episode in the comments.

Most founder tension isn’t about strategy.

It’s about what no one is saying.

When something is clearly impacting performance–but everyone is pretending it’s not–trust erodes, capacity drops, and the team feels it.

This is about how to name the “boulder in the room” without creating drama, shame, or overcorrection.

If you’ve ever:
-Avoided a hard conversation at the top
-Worried about overstepping vs. under-supporting
-Felt silent tension on your leadership team
-Tried to protect the business without adding pressure

This is for you.

A founder asked me this week how to support a co-founder going through a deeply disruptive personal situation. You know the kind. Sleep off. Nervous s

Open article: The Boulder in the Middle of the Room by Andrew Poles • 5 min read

Your calendar is lying to you.
Not because you’re incapable - but because it’s built on optimism, not reality.
If your day assumes you’ll get everything done, with no interruptions, no fatigue, no tradeoffs… that’s a fantasy, not a system.
You don’t need better memory.
You need a structure that maps real work to real time - and forces honest choices.
High performance starts with a calendar that tells the truth.
Where is yours overpromising right now?

I help coaches & creators transform their voice into a system that grows their audience, revenue & influence without more hours, powered by AI

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.
𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭. 😉

Here’s the real story.

I once built a fast-growing coaching business.
Big momentum, big rooms, everything moving fast.
On paper, it looked unstoppable.

In reality, it had a fatal flaw:
**the entire thing depended on me.**

Every message.
Every decision.
Every fire.
Every ounce of momentum.

If I paused, everything paused.
If I breathed, the business held its breath.
I wasn’t just the founder…
I was the engine, the operator, and the emergency brake.

Add to that trusting the wrong people at the wrong time, and the machine collapsed harder than anyone expected.
It forced a painful reset and gave me the principle I now build by:

**Never create a business that collapses when you take a breath.**


𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐈 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 💫

I help **established coaches** who are secretly carrying their entire business on their shoulders.

You love what you do, but if you’re honest:

• You *are* the marketing
• You *are* the follow-up
• You *are* the content team
• You *are* the delivery
• You *are* the whole backstage crew

And you’re tired of being the system instead of having one.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐄 ⚙️

My obsession: helping coaches build businesses that do **not** fall apart when they rest.

Because freedom doesn’t come from hustle. It comes from:

• Structure
• Clarity
• Clean operating systems
• Automation that removes weight instead of adding noise

You deserve a business that supports you — not one that consumes you.

𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄 🚀

I’ve lived the exact breakdown you’re trying to avoid.

I scaled fast.
I carried everything.
I made mistakes.
And I rebuilt from zero, slowly, intentionally, with simplicity and systems.

Now I help coaches scale to $20–50k/month by installing the three operating systems their business is missing:

✔ Outreach OS
✔ Follow-Up OS
✔ Delivery OS

Structure is service.
Simplicity is power.
Stability is maturity.

𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 🌍

A father rebuilding with intention.
An athlete who thrives on discipline.
A builder who loves clarity.
A coach who believes trust is earned through action.

𝐋𝐄𝐓’𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓 ✉️

If you want a business that keeps moving even when you rest,
send me the word **SYSTEM** and I’ll share the roadmap.

Olali Zigah

As someone who built a 7-figure coaching business, lost it, and is now rebuilding the right way, after 2,000+ hours studying AI and automation, here are my 3 biggest lessons on what actually scales.

1. RECLAIM (0-5K/month) 🔧

Stabilize & Organize Your Business
Before you automate anything, you need a foundation that works.
Most coaches try to scale chaos.
They automate broken processes.
Then wonder why nothing converts.

Here's what you need first:
□ Automate Outreach OS — not your messages, your pipeline
□ Define content pillars — 70% education, 20% stories, 10% offers
□ Streamline delivery — systems for onboarding, sessions, follow-ups

This phase isn't sexy.
But it's the difference between guessing and knowing what works.

💡 Key insight:
You can't scale what you can't measure.
Get organized before you get ambitious.

2. BUILD (5-30K/month) ⚙️

Your Scalable Coaching Machine
Now you're ready to build repeatable systems.

This is where most coaches burn out or go lazy.

They either:
→ Manually grind every touchpoint (burnout) 😵
→ Automate everything with AI bots (ghosted) 👻

I spent 2,000+ hours studying AI automation.
Tested every tool that promised to "10x my pipeline."

Here's what I learned:
The right move isn't full automation.

It's assisted intentionality.
□ Automate client acquisition — use Outreach OS to organize, not replace, human touch
□ Automate content repurposing — one insight becomes 5 assets
□ Automate follow-ups — smart sequences, not spam

🎯 Key insight:
AI should enhance your capability, not replace your judgment.
Manual + Strategic > Automated + Lazy.

3. SCALE (30-100K+/month) 🚀

Replace Yourself & Grow Smart
This is the phase where you build leverage.

Not by working more.
By building a business that works without you.
□ Hire key team members — replace your time with talent
□ Launch new products — group programs, courses, certifications
□ Create automated funnels — turn content into client acquisition machines

📈 Key insight:
Scaling isn't about doing more.
It's about doing less of what only you can do.
The goal?
Your business produces results even when you're not in the room.

The Truth About Automation ⚡

After 2,000+ hours studying AI and automation tools, here's what I know:
Automation without systems = chaos at scale.
Systems without execution = theory that doesn't convert.
Success = Execution.

Stop overthinking.
Start scaling.

♻️ Repost to help another coach who needs this.

P.S. Join me live today at 𝟲:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 𝗚𝗠𝗧
(𝟭:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 𝗘𝗦𝗧 / 𝟭𝟬:𝟬𝟬 𝗔𝗠 𝗣𝗦𝗧)
for AI in Action — practical tools to save time, boost productivity, and increase creativity with Global Talent Solution Hub.

→ Register here: https://lnkd.in/ehvSc8Jz

PPS: thanks Alicia Teltz for the tip 😉

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The Coaches Scaling Lab is a private community where coaches and consultants learn to reclaim 20+ hours a week and scale their business with structure, automation, and AI.

We teach and build together — one system at a time — focusing on the three pillars of sustainable growth:

Reclaim your time by automating the repetitive work that drains you

Build your business around structure, leverage, and clarity

Scale your impact without adding more hours or stress

Inside the Lab, members access:

AI-powered automation systems tested in real coaching workflows

Weekly live implementation sessions

Plug-and-play templates for content, onboarding, and follow-ups

A collaborative environment to co-create the future of MindVault, the flagship AI platform built for coaches

🎯 Mission: Help 1,000 coaches reclaim their time before they scale.

Founder & Host — The Coaches Scaling Lab (by Mindgine AI)

I help expert coaches turn their voice & IP into a branded AI Coach, built in 7 days.

Not a chatbot.
A system that teaches, sells & supports like you, 24/7.

Your tone
Your content
Your legacy, scaled.

👉 DM “Mindvault” to activate yours.

Founder & Strategic Content Partner for 6–7 Figure Coaches | MindVault by Mindgine AI

Provided AI consulting for Now In Store's eCommerce SaaS platform, optimizing digital and printable catalog solutions. Enhanced system performance, integrated new features, and supported clients in maximizing retail and wholesale sales.

AI Consultant

Founder and Chairman

Official member

•	Consistency check databases on the risk of default. 
•	Calculations of default probabilities in compliance to Basel I, II and III 
•	Data auditing on defined scopes (e.g Aerospace, Project Financing) 
•	Logging files in default and explanation of methodologies LGD (Loss Given Default) in trade 
•	Presentation to a group of 10 people of the Project Financing perimeter
•	Writing a user guide for newcomers.

Credit Risk Analyst

I help coaches reclaim 20+ hours a week by automating the manual chaos so they can scale with clarity, calm, and freedom | Founder @ Mindgine AI | Creator The Coaches Scaling Lab and MindVault

English

French

German

Portuguese

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Systems Architect for Coaches | Fixing growth bottlenecks from client acquisition to delivery | Mindgine AI & The Coaches Scaling Lab

Two words that kill more careers than failure ever will.
“I know.”
I said them constantly. To mentors. To my wife. To myself.

I “knew” how to build a business.
I “knew” how to scale.
I “knew” what I was doing.

Turns out, that confidence was a cage.
Not because I was wrong about everything.
But because I stopped listening.

Here’s what years of building, failing, and rebuilding taught me:
The moment you say “I know” you stop growing.

The moment you start measuring you start changing.

The moment you stop caring what people think you start living.

Mel Robbins  calls it the “Let Them” theory.
Let them judge your moves.
Let them misunderstand your journey.
Let them have their opinions.

Because while they’re watching, you’re building.

I spent 2 years chasing shortcuts and performing confidence.
Automating everything. Saying yes to everything. Measuring nothing.

The shift came when I got honest with myself about three things:
→ I don’t know everything and that’s actually my edge
→ What I measure improves what I ignore disappears
→ Other people’s opinions are their problem, not mine

Success doesn’t protect you from humbling moments.

Nothing does.

The only question is whether you let them teach you or whether your ego writes the lesson off as “I already knew that.”
I chose to stay teachable.

That one decision changed everything.

If this resonated, do me a favor:
♻️ Repost to remind someone who needs it today.

And follow Olali Zigah for more posts  about what it actually takes to build with clarity, not just confidence.

Being visible means being misunderstood.
And I'm finally okay with that.

Let them.
This message from Mel Robbins hit different this Friday:
"Let them talk. Let them judge. Let them misunderstand."

When you decide to show up publicly
People will form opinions on 10% of the story. 
They'll interpret through their own lens. 
They'll fill in blanks with assumptions.

That's not a bug. That's the feature of visibility.

I used to think I needed everyone to understand.
Now I know better.

The people who matter? They see the full picture.

My health. My relationships. My real work.
That's what I'm protecting this Friday.

Not my reputation. Not public opinion. Not half-told stories.

Comment PEACE if you've learned that being understood by everyone isn't the goal.

The right ones always know.

PS: if you haven't grab the book, go get it!

#1 NYT Best Selling Author of The Let Them Theory | Host of Award-Winning The Mel Robbins Podcast | CEO, 143 Studios | Co-Founder, Pure Genius Protein

I have some huge news to share… The Let Them Theory was just named:

Best of the Year Audiobook on Audible in the US, UK, AU and CA
Best of the Year Well-Being Audiobook on Audible.

The audiobook version of The Let Them Theory has a special place in my heart. It’s that much more intimate and personal and I get to share extra stories and insights as I read the book to you.

Thank you for listening and sharing The Let Them Theory and making it one of the top audiobooks of the entire year! I am so so grateful for you.

And since the holidays are coming up, I wanted to remind you that The Let Them Theory is the perfect gift for the people you love.

And Amazon and Audible have made gifting the audiobook easier than ever - just hit the “Give as a Gift” button right underneath where you typically click “Add to Cart.”

If The Let Them Theory made your life better this year, consider passing that peace forward. 💚

Thank you for supporting this book. Thank you for sharing it.

And thank you for making this audiobook one of the best of the entire year!!!!

#BestOfTheYear

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