My Story
I have a passion to see people become their best and achieve all of the things they were put here to do.
True Success
After nearly 20 years of work in Corporate America, I have learned how to truly succeed. Early in my career, I thought that business success was mostly about the money I made or the accomplishments I achieved. I have since realized that it is about much more than that.
Let me explain…
We are each designed with individual strengths, gifts, and passions and are uniquely made to do certain things well. I’ve learned the more we tap into those things and find people to serve using those strengths, gifts, and passions the more successful we become. Not because of the money or achievements, although many times those things follow, but because of the great sense of fulfillment and purpose that we experience.
But there is more…
I’ve also discovered that tapping into our purpose and achieving personal fulfillment alone is not the end. I believe there is a whole other level that is available if we know how to access it.
You see, not only were we created with unique individual strengths, but we were created to join those strengths with others. When we do this, we can create a force that can accomplish so much more than we ever could on our own. We were created to be a pat of something bigger than ourselves.
One Body Many Parts
Think of it as a body. A foot in and of itself is pretty amazing. It has 26 bones, 33 joints, and over one hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This amazing body part can adjust to almost any terrain to transport the body practically anywhere it wants to go.
But the body also has an eye that is made up of over two million working parts that can detect and adjust to light in milliseconds. These incredible eyes see the terrain the foot is walking on and can sense danger that needs to be avoided. Both are incredible individually, but together are infinitely more powerful than they are apart.
Our businesses are like a body. They are made up of many different people, each with incredible talents and abilities. But the problem is for so many organizations the full power of their people is not unlocked because most people don’t know the tools to draw it out. I know this because I went through it myself.
In Search Of New Tools
Along my journey of success, I had learned how to become an excellent “foot”. I knew how to leverage my talents to help others and be compensated well as a result. But one day, I encountered a situation where the old tools I had been using to be successful were not enough.
I found myself working hard in my company, serving on multiple boards, and managing a massive project, and that is when everything started to unravel. The stress of my life had become too much and a version of myself began to show up that I didn’t like. I realized that if I didn’t do something, I would have a problem on my hands, so I went in search of some new tools, and what I found changed my life.
My Life Changed
In addition to self-study I was able to train under a world-renown coach and mentor where I learned powerful new tools. I learned about communication, conflict, relational connection, blindspots, self-awareness, how to receive feedback, and more. The funny thing was, I never learned these tools in business school or during any corporate training because, as I’ve come to find out, they are rarely taught in business. During my training, I learned the keys for people to work better together and bring out the best in one another. So, like a body, they work together to achieve more than they ever could on their own and become the best version of themselves.
My Passion For Helping Others
After I implemented these new tools in my personal life, I began to implement them at work and with clients. I then started to tell everyone I knew about what I had learned, mostly speaking to groups at church about their personal relationships and communication. Eventually, one thing led to another, and I was asked to speak at different events both in the church and in business. Finally, after seeing so many people impacted by these new tools, I decided to begin training others to get the same results I did. I continue to work for a wonderful company and serve an incredible network of CEO’s and other Executives, but as my time allows I like to speak and train leaders how to bring out the best in their people.
How I Help People
As stated above, I continue to enjoy my work in Corporate America, where I’ve been for years. However, I also created charleskown.com as my platform to serve leaders who want to unlock the potential of their people. As my time allows, I help them create a culture that everyone wants to work in and truly become one body with many amazing parts, all working together toward a common goal. The reason for all this is simple. I believe that to whom much is given much is required, and I’ve been given much in this area, and this website and my work with leaders is my way to pay it forward. I do this in two ways.
Speaking
I provide keynote speeches at industry conferences and private events. I also conduct in-depth workshops with teams to train them in the elements of creating a healthy, thriving culture.
Coaching
I’ve found that many times, leaders need help applying what they learn from my training. My coaching helps them create a plan and see it through to completion, so they see real results.
I also know that those same leaders were put here for a reason, and I have a passion to see them accomplish everything they were created to do. For that reason, I extend my coaching to more than just helping them develop their people. I also offer success coaching to help them get clear on their next steps in their business or life, develop a plan, and execute on it.
Thank You
Thank you for visiting my site. Due to my current schedule, I only do a limited number of engagements each year as my time allows and I would be honored to serve you and your team through speaking or coaching. If you would like to find out more specifics about my availability or how I help people, check out the speaking and coaching pages on my site.