Imagine that one simple, humbling question could change the trajectory of your career forever. By simply asking his clients, “What would you do if you were me?” today’s guest, John Saunders, uncorked the guidance he needed to excel in his role as a Wall Street SVP and sales team leader. He joined me to talk about parlaying his wisdom into a book and his career as a coach. MEET JOHN SAUNDERS John Saunders spent many years as a Wall Street Senior Vice President, sales team leader, and award-winning sales executive. He followed his passion for helping others grow and founded coaching and consulting company, Forward Advisory Solutions. He’s also the author of The Optimizer: Building and Leading a Team of Serial Innovators. KEY TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE: John’s career in sales and how he took it into overdrive How John pivoted to becoming and author How a pitch meeting led to John’s new career as an author coach Why we sometimes need to look inside, rather than outside, to overcome limitations KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM MY TALK WITH JOHN Look inside. John is fond of saying, “The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves.” If things are not going right in your life or career, look inside and identify what you can change. Oftentimes after accepting responsibility for outcomes, we can get past our limitations and excel in our lives and careers. Align structure and story. When writing a book, you must start with a solid structure for what you want to write about, but it is important to balance that structure with a compelling story to keep readers engaged. Solicit feedback. John helps authors get published by helping them navigate a structured process involving pre-selling, beta readers, and editors. The pre-sale is an important component as it serves as a proof of concept. Once a project gets the greenlight and an author starts developing content, they are asked to share their work with those “investors” along the way. During this humbling process, the author learns what works, what doesn’t work, and can create a stronger, more marketable book. WHERE TO BUY THE OPTIMIZER: BUILDING AND LEADING A TEAM OF SERIAL INNOVATORS Amazon | Bookshop.org HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH JOHN Website: https://www.johncsaunders.com/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcs-optimizer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jcs_optimizer/ MEMORABLE QUOTE FROM JOHN “Creation is an incredibly powerful force, and if you want to find something interesting to do in life, immerse yourself in something and create something out of that. You'll find a great outcome from that.” If you liked this conversation, please tell a friend about it as well as like, rate, and review Uncorking a Story wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.