Trevor Blondeel is the founder of Operations Kickstart, a coaching firm focused on the needs of business leaders in the manufacturing sector. After spending over 25 years in leadership roles in manufacturing plants, Trevor found that he was actually in the “people industry.” This realization led to emotional intelligence (EI) becoming the cornerstone of his work. An alumnus of the Center of Executive Coaching, and a seasoned certified emotional intelligence practitioner, Trevor has published articles and a soon-to-be released white paper on his research in emotional intelligence and its impact on organizational results.
Recently our own Michael Neuendorff, a fellow champion of emotional intelligence, sat down with Trevor to ask him about his coaching work and experience with EI training.
Michael Neuendorff: We’ve been in touch now for a few years and I’ve been following your business and I really like the work that you’re doing. Obviously, we have some parallels in the work we do and the feelings we have around emotional intelligence. In your previous line of work, you led manufacturing plants and you said you found out, years later, that you were actually in the “people industry.” What did you mean by that?
Trevor Blondeel: After years of manufacturing experience, I started to realize that my success was actually measured by the people around me. I realized: you’ve got to show up, you’ve got to engage with people, you’ve got to connect with them. That’s where all the magic happens. I also realized I needed to talk less, listen more, and care a lot more about the people I worked with, and show them that I cared. 
Michael Neuendorff : Wow! This is some super sage advice. Talk a lot less. Listen a lot more. Show how much you care. Yeah, I love that.
How have you been successful in speaking with decision makers to buy into the idea of investing in their people through coaching and training now? I mean what changes their mind, considering they’re busy, under stress, and would rather put it off?
Trevor Blondeel: I get a lot of referrals. People say to me: “Trevor, you really need to help out that place. They’re in a lot of trouble. It’s a difficult culture, having a lot of turnover.” But I’ve learned those are the decision makers I don’t really want to spend a lot of time with because they’re so far on the “other side.” They’re just not ready to change. I must admit I was in that space many years ago before I got some really good mindfulness training.
My approach is to deal directly with the person at the top, either the owner, CEO, or general manager. If you’re in that space and you can build some trust and a good relationship with that decision maker, you’re on your way towards signing that consulting contract. It all comes down to: is this a good fit between my own personality and the culture of that organization or what they want to become? After working with the CEO I’ve acquired some buy-in and trust because I have that relationship. Soon you get the whole organization’s buy-in because they want to hear more about the emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and “how I show up” training that their CEO is experiencing.
Michael Neuendorff: I like that. In the world of sales, we believe it’s always easier to sell to someone that you’ve already sold to or who’s a previous buyer. I really like your idea of working with one person first and creating some change and then letting that change ripple out and create an influential positive effect.
And now let’s build on that thought. Suppose there’s a company leader who would like to try a couple of new things on their own. They want to experiment. What ideas do you have for someone who would like to become a little more emotionally intelligent in the way they show up?
Trevor Blondeel: Let me answer by saying that I love the power of seeing yourself through someone else’s eyes. From another person’s point of view, think about how you’re showing up. How do they perceive you?
Someone once told me: “Trevor, you can’t build Rome in a day, so stop trying.” And I thought: “Am I really like that?” I found that I could be good at getting a lot of things done but sometimes at the expense of other people. That’s not who I wanted to be, but I didn’t see how I was acting like that.
You can’t fix what you’re not willing to expose. Just having that courage to ask somebody and getting some feedback about “How am I doing?” will take you a long way towards emotional intelligence.
Michael Neuendorff: That’s a good challenge to ask for feedback and reflect upon that feedback. What’s something else you can think of for a leader to do? 
Trevor Blondeel: Just be the last person to speak. You have your own ideas, but try to hear other people’s ideas first, especially if you’re the leader.
An example that jumps out of my mind happened last week. I was working with a manager in a manufacturing plant who had a bunch of senior engineers working for him. In the middle of a group meeting one of the engineers throws out an idea. Well, the manager didn’t dismiss the idea in front of the others in the room. Instead, he texted this engineer saying: “I appreciate this thought. This is just some history behind it. And good for you to know this, because I know you’re newer here and I just want to share that information.”
And I love that he sent a second text right after that saying: “The reason I texted you directly is because I really respect your ideas. I didn’t want to come across as condescending or something like that in a group text.” The manager basically told the engineer how he felt and what the intention was.
The next day, that engineer came to him and said: “You know, when I read your first text, I thought, well, fine, I just won’t give my ideas. And I got your second one. And it meant so much to me to understand why you’re doing that, to help me.” That’s the emotional part, showing someone that you care about them.
Michael Neuendorf: And as we know it just takes a few extra seconds. It’s that little bit more that can make that difference. So, there’s been some good ideas shared here that a leader can apply right away without training, without investing in a long-term coaching program. But there’s ten times more that a leader can start to incorporate and really transform their leadership.
How do you present coaching to help someone who’s never had coaching before?
Trevor Blondeel: You want people who have never been coached to come to understand for themselves exactly how coaching can help.
I work hard to educate people about coaching. I write articles, make videos, and create other educational materials that are easy to digest. So, my advice is to do whatever’s authentic to you so that when you enter a coaching relationship, both sides have clear expectations and boundaries about what to expect from each other. Say something to this effect: “I’m not going to come here and simply tell you what you should be doing differently because there are probably a lot of other people in your life who can tell you that already.”
Michael Neuendorff: Good idea there to educate people by presenting them with some materials that they can study and think about even before the live conversations start is an effective strategy.
I want to now ask a question that comes to mind based on what we’ve been talking about recently, my experience in establishing a coaching opportunity with a very large company. It’s taken me about 10 months and I’ve had to invest in an additional insurance policy to comply with their vendor specifications. I’ve had to exercise a lot of patience. I’ll admit that there were a couple of times when I almost threw it in and decided to just forget about it. I thought: “I’ll just go seek another company.” What’s been your experience with needing to have patience and perseverance in establishing working agreements with some larger companies?
Trevor Blondeel: You need patience, a lot of patience. Coaching is not something you get into and just kind of dabble in it for six months. It’s a long road, whereas sometimes it’s a couple of years before you see real results. That’s why I’m going to be launching a newsletter, because a lot of the people I serve don’t have time to go on social media.
I’m practicing self-awareness all the time because it’s like: “OK, I’ve taken the right approach with this client. Maybe it’s taken me 10 months but I’m making progress.” I also think: “How do I become more mindful and more aware of them? And what do they really need?” They may not be ready for coaching at this moment, but they may be ready six months from now, maybe in a year from now. How do I continue that relationship, stay top of mind, and make sure I’ve communicated what I have to offer? When they experience enough pain points or the timing is right, that’s when things are going to come to fruition.
Michael Neuendorff: Patience and perseverance. That’s what I found is necessary to succeed in this business. And speaking of succeeding in this business, there are a lot of newer coaches that like to read these interviews to gain intelligence on how they might succeed sooner or more assuredly. Do you have any advice, Trevor, for new coaches that are starting their practices?
Trevor Blondeel: I’m in my sixth year now and something I still do every month with some seasoned coaches is practice coaching. There are three of us that meet at least monthly, just to practice. And what we started doing was choosing a real client situation, no names or anything, and just sending that to one of the other coaches. And then you play the role of the client that they’re working with and they coach you.
The amount of ideas we have gotten through this process is unbelievable, especially for new coaches. It’s fascinating and so much fun and humbling to work with another professional coach, with the actual live problem you’re working on, in a role-playing environment. By having done this, I know that I can bring more value to my actual client because I’ll be more expansive in my thinking. So, it’s really awesome.
Michael Neuendorff: I love that type of exercise. When you’re getting practice coaching in this way, you’re also getting another coach’s perspective on situations you’re working on, which is so helpful.
Well, Trevor, it’s been a real pleasure talking with you today about your business and the importance of emotional intelligence in manufacturing and talking about coaching in general. It’s been a very productive and fruitful conversation.
Trevor Blondeel: Thanks for all your help through everything and giving me the opportunity to learn a little more from you, Michael.
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