Whether working in his businesses, coaching individuals and organizations, or taking part in one of his many outdoor pastimes, Michael is always charting a course and striving to find the best way to get there.

As a multi-faceted entrepreneur, Michael operates using a three-part “navigation” approach: creating a vision of the destination and a strategy for getting there, giving others the tools they need and the confidence to use them, then communicating the vision in a way that inspires people and gets them aligned with it. “It’s all about contribution,” he says. “Like camping, you always leave the campsite better than you found it.”

Michael considers it a privilege to coach entrepreneurs in the Strategic Coach® Program. “They’re not sitting on the sidelines complaining that life isn’t the way they want it to be. I’m in awe of the people who are there and the commitment they have to growing as individuals. They’re putting themselves in the room, sharing what they’re up to, and bringing their expertise. We’re all coaches; I’m just the guy standing at the front.”

Entrepreneurship has always been a part of Michael’s life. His father ran his own business, and Michael says the priority his father placed on his relationship with the family while working toward his success was an inspiration.

When most children were first learning to drive, Michael got his pilot’s license, and went on to earn licenses for many different types of aircraft, including helicopters.

He grew up to become what he calls a “serial entrepreneur”—always inventing his own jobs and challenges. He studied economics, business, then law, but ultimately joined forces with a pair of businessmen after seeing how they managed to bring his friend’s business back from the verge of bankruptcy. For the next several years, he travelled across Canada, getting businesses out of trouble and into profitability—from a fish processing plant in Newfoundland to a heavy equipment manufacturing operation in British Columbia.

“I learned a lot about business,” he says, “but I lived out of a suitcase, and there was one period of time when I didn’t see my house for about three months.”

Married at the time, Michael decided it was important to end the continual travel and be close to home, so he turned his long-time interest in real estate into a new business. This venture grew into a large, thriving company, but the demands of running such a big operation ultimately seemed like a loss of freedom to him. “I didn’t own it anymore; it owned me,” he says.

Trying to figure out what to do next, Michael took a friend’s career course. He not only enjoyed the course, he also saw an opportunity in it. He brought his skills to his friend’s business, The Right Mountain, and together they took it to a new level.

The Right Mountain is a career counselling organization that helps individuals find out more about who they are and where they might excel. They also work with businesses to develop teamwork, leadership, and company culture, and have produced two successful books, one on the topic of career change, Where Have I Gone Right?, and another on the meaning of success, The Right Mountain, which has sold more than 60,000 copies and been translated into eight languages.

Throughout Michael’s various entrepreneurial ventures, his childhood friend Gary Mottershead, who is also an entrepreneur, kept telling him about the Strategic Coach Program, but each time Michael answered, “Later, later.”

On one of their ski trips, Gary finally said, “Look, just do it because I’m recommending it. Trust me.” Michael signed up the next week.

“Over the first three years, I doubled my time off and more than doubled my income,” Michael says. “The Coach gave me guilt-free time off. I learned that my business is here to serve me. That was freeing for me.”

“The financial rewards have been great and the time off has been great, and all those things helped while raising a family.” One of Michael’s daughters has been inspired to become an entrepreneur too: She secured her real estate license and reached her goal to qualify for the Strategic Coach Program at the age of twenty-one.

In addition to The Right Mountain, Michael continues to look for new opportunities to create value in innovative ways through another of his companies, the Redvest Corporation. “It’s like being an alchemist,” he says. “Everybody else sees lead, but we can turn it into gold.”

If he’s not working, Michael is probably outdoors. In the winter, he snowboards, snowshoes, and skis. In the summer, he spends time on Georgian Bay kayaking, canoeing, and sailing. This passion for the outdoors led him to devote time to the Georgian Bay Association, which works to preserve and protect the beauty of an area recognized by the UN as a unique biosphere reserve. He’s also involved in the Trails Youth Initiatives, which helps inner-city children become contributing members of their communities.

Throughout Michael’s adventures in leisure and in business, navigation has been a constant theme. This metaphor keeps him connected to his vision of a bigger future and gives him the flexibility and freedom to handle whatever comes his way. “You can’t direct the wind,” he says, “but you can always adjust your sails.”

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[Download] PDF version of Michael Reddy’s Coach Story.