My name is Gary Wang, and I came from a self-made background, never graduated from high school. I have always seen myself as the best example of achieving success through effort, drive, and building relationships. I call my model of success the IDG Model: Getting there through: Initiative, Drive and Generosity.
In my opinion, there are four things that are essential for a meaningful and worthwhile life:
- Purpose: Why do I live? How unique is my life? “Why do people do what they do?”
- Passion: Life is short, and the valuation of it is determined by how you live your life in a remarkable, inspiring, and regret-less manner. Most people live a dull, dreary life, getting through the day, lacking direction, focus, passion, or a sense of purpose.
- Learning, growth, and Development through experiences and connections. We can all become better through effort and experiences that grow and enrich us. I’m always hungry for new things and new horizons.
- Family and friends: They are fundamental denominators for life. Without them, life is a brutal experience, and may not be worth living.
I, myself, am a significant beneficiary of coaching. It has helped me to become a better listener, a better communicator, and a better leader. There is no question about it! The power of certified coaching lies in the structure of coaching. One critical component of that structure lies in the skills of the coach, especially their capacity to listen, ask curious questions, and possess non-judgmental capabilities.
Coaching is important to me for various reasons; it is a powerful adult development tool to awaken people and trigger their motivation to close the gap between knowing and doing; it helps build self-awareness and self-clarity; it truly empowers everyone involved in the process. Many people report that they have become more mindful and purposeful in terms of how they make career and life choices. Some of the people I know have experienced vital paradigm shifts. For example, from task-and-business orientation to relationship orientation, from money-worship to health focus,
from amassing massive possessions for themselves to a deep desire to make the world a better place for everyone.
One of my most inspiring coaching case histories is my daughter, Doris. She struggled terribly with her school work. When she started middle school, in fact, she cried every time she returned home with zero confidence in her ability to execute her homework. Out of sheer desperation, my wife, Liza, tried coaching to seek a solution to this very difficult situation. After countless conversations, hour-long chats as they walked in the garden of our compound, Doris literally transformed into a different person! She developed interest in her courses, joined the top 5% league, and eventually was admitted into YK Pao School, one of the best international schools in all of China! Liza is a trained certified coach through ECCP and TECC, and her outstanding client is our daughter Doris! Amazing parents coaching their children!
My vision for coaching in China is for Chinese companies to value people development as much as Western MNCs do (Microsoft, J&J, Ford and Deloitte).
At this moment, most Chinese companies tend to see people as a means to their business success, instead of as assets representing the “Soul of the organization.” Currently, MNCs account for 70-75% of the coaching investments in China. It may take time to witness a watershed moment in which Chinese companies investing in coaching will exceed the MNCs.
I hope personal coaching will become mainstream with people being used to hire coaches for personal growth and development. Today this market niche is small. The Chinese coaching market is only a fraction of that of the US, where personal coaching is already a US $1 billion market.
I also wish as China becomes a significant market for coaching, the Chinese practitioners can become recognized global thought leaders who lead the industry in quality of research, development, best practices, and innovation. The gap between knowledge and practice is huge. We must start the journey now to catch up by asking the “why” and “what” questions: Why is the gap is so big? What is holding us back? What must happen?
Finally, coaching has literally changed my life. As a result of coaching, I have embraced change and embarked on my personal transformation as an athlete and become a competent runner. I finished my first 5K-run in March 2014, and in the last 8+ years, I have completed 23 marathons and 198 half marathons. I have run all over China and eventually I will run across the entire world. I attribute this remarkable change in me to coaching!
Market Education is key!
On December 9-10, we will be co-sponsoring APAC2022, a virtual coaching conference which will make history. If you are interested in attending, please contact>>>>>> for registration information.
Founded in 2006 and with over 400 coaches, MindSpan supports leadership development in 500+ global and local clients incl. 139 Fortune 500 companies based in Greater China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Australia, Israel, South Africa, the UK, the EU and the US
