Viveka.  ●  Issue 05
The Craft
What Do People Say About You When You're Not in the Room?

Katja’s Note

Some of the most important opportunities in business begin with a conversation you're not part of.

Someone mentions a challenge. Someone else remembers a person who could help. A name is shared, an introduction is made, and a relationship begins.

I've spent years working inside organizations where reputation and trust carry enormous weight. And one thing I've learned is that being excellent at what you do is only part of the equation. People also need to understand what makes you excellent, and when to recommend you.

This is particularly important for coaches.

You can have extraordinary credentials, years of experience and a genuine ability to transform people's lives. But if someone who knows your work struggles to explain what you actually help people achieve, opportunities can pass you by.

That's why professional positioning matters. Not because you need a clever tagline, but because clarity makes it easier for other people to advocate for you.

Think about the last time someone recommended a professional to you. Chances are, they didn't recite their qualifications. They told you why that person was worth speaking to.

So here's a question worth asking:

If someone recommended you tomorrow, what would they say you do exceptionally well?

And would their answer reflect the work you most want to be known for?

What if the greatest measure of your success isn't how long someone needs your guidance, but what they become capable of doing without you?

Before becoming an executive coach and Vistage chair, Bernhard Kerschbaum was CEO of a $30 million manufacturing company. One of the stories that stayed with him wasn't about business growth or strategy. It was about a machine operator.

Over four years, that individual progressed from the shop floor to team leader, supervisor and manager, eventually stepping into the VP role Bernhard himself had vacated. Years later, he became CEO of another company.

For Bernhard, this is what it means to “love to uplift.”

Great leadership isn't simply about getting the best performance from people today. It's about recognizing their potential, developing their capabilities and giving them the confidence to grow into responsibilities they might never have imagined for themselves.

His approach draws on the concept of levels of work, looking at how far into the future someone can think, make decisions and operate independently.

As Bernhard explains:

"I can push people up, and I can see how far they go, and then give them a little breathing room and push them again."

But perhaps the hardest part of developing others isn't helping them grow. It's knowing when to let go.

"If you feel you cannot let go, if you say I have to control everything, then that certainly isn't the right person to work with me."

There's a powerful lesson here for the coaching profession.

Are we developing people who become increasingly capable, confident and independent? Or are we unintentionally creating relationships where they continue to depend on our guidance?

The most meaningful impact of coaching isn't always measured by the length of an engagement. Sometimes it's revealed years later, in the decisions someone makes, the challenges they navigate and the people they go on to develop themselves.

And that brings us back to reputation.

The people we help grow may eventually move beyond us. But the impact of those relationships can travel with them.

Perhaps the strongest reputations aren't built through what we say about ourselves, but through what others become because of our work.

Bernhard Kerschbaum is an executive coach, Vistage chair and former manufacturing CEO. His philosophy of developing people who can eventually outgrow their leaders offers a powerful perspective on lasting impact.

Read the full feature: The Best Leaders Build People Who Outgrow Them

Referrals can look like luck from the outside. Most of the time they're a reflection of how easy you've made it for someone to describe you.

A few questions to sit with:

Try this this week

Write the one sentence you'd most want a past client to say about you. Then ask one past client or peer to tell you, in their own words, what they'd say to someone considering working with you. Notice the difference between how you describe your work and how others experience it. That gap may reveal your greatest opportunity to sharpen your positioning.

Turn your relationships into opportunities.

Referrals are one of the most powerful ways to grow a coaching practice. Make sure your Viveka profile is ready to support the connections and introductions that come your way.

Add Your Referrals to Your Profile Here

If you'd like a companion to this exercise, the 10 Best Practices for Coaches in 2026 guide covers testimonials, positioning, community, and long-term trust.

Looking back: Become a Category of One

On September 30, Laura Berman Fortgang led Become a Category of One with the Viveka community. It belongs in an issue about referrals because people can only pass along what they can name. Three ideas from the session stayed with us.

1. Your brand is a feeling, not a logo. Colors and a logo are brand assets. The brand is how people feel about working with you. Laura's example was a coffee chain: "I do not like their coffee, and yet I like their brand." That feeling is what a client carries into the conversation when they describe you to someone else.

2. Say the result in one sentence. People don't buy your process. They want to know what happens if they work with you. If a past client can't repeat your result in a single sentence, a referral has nothing to hold onto.

3. A method makes you easier to pass along. Laura's advice is to study your most successful clients, find the pattern, and give it a name and a beginning, middle, and end. "When you create a method, you are in essence replacing yourself. And it's the only way your business can scale." A named method is also something a colleague can recommend without having to explain you.

Her closing image stayed with us too: becoming "the red umbrella in a sea of gray."

Catch the replay: coach.viveka.world/masterclass/laura-berman-fortgang

A Free, Two-Hour Live Healing Experience

What happens when we move beyond thinking, analyzing and trying to figure everything out?

On Saturday, November 21, at 12 PM ET (5 PM UK), we're welcoming Molly Ann Fairley, spiritual teacher, psychic healer, channeller and director of the School of Psychic Studies, for something a little different.

With more than 30 years of experience, Molly will guide us through an experiential session exploring intuition, energy healing and the possibilities of working beyond the analytical mind.

The session includes a live demonstration, group healing and an opportunity to experience Molly's approach firsthand.

For coaches who spend so much of their time holding space for others, this is an invitation to receive.

Two hours. Live. Completely free.

Come with curiosity, an open mind and a willingness to explore.

Reserve Your Free Place →

This is an experiential spiritual wellness session, not medical or psychological treatment.

If you've been reading Beyond The Session without a Viveka account, this is a good moment to start.

Every coach we feature here is part of the Viveka Coach community, and so are the masterclasses we host. Create your account and build your profile, and you'll be in the room for the next one.

Get started at coach.viveka.world

Reputation travels through people. The harder question is what happens when your work is something people struggle to describe.

Next issue, we sit down with Molly Ann Fairley.

For coaches building a practice, the question isn't how to be heard by more people. It's how to be understood well enough that someone else can say it for you.

Join us every Thursday at 12 PM ET for a free, live walkthrough. See the platform in action, explore the possibilities and ask your questions.

Reserve Your Free Seat →