Mastering the Art of Enrollment

By Stephen McGhee
If you look up the definition of enrollment in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it will say, “to
insert, register, or enter in a list, catalog, or roll.” In the coaching industry, the word enrollment
is broadly used when discussing the business side of coaching.
Coaches regularly engage in enrollment calls in hopes of “getting clients.” They see enrollment
as a means of getting a client and getting a check. From this perspective, enrollment is about
selling something to gain something. To me, this is an oxymoron. You cannot enroll and get
something at the same time. They are competing intentions.
You may feel stuck in your coaching business, unable to level up. You may think, I’m doing
what everyone is saying I should be doing. I’m having enrollment conversations every day and
still nothing is really happening. The reason for this is because you’re competing inside yourself
for yourself.
What if I told you that enrollment, in its true sense, has nothing to do with coaching and
everything to do with leadership?
Forget what you think you know about enrollment. Empty your mind of what you think
enrollment is, and what you think it isn’t. I want you to start with a clean slate. Because while
enrollment might be in part what you think it is, it also might not be.
Great coaches don’t turn on enrollment; they are “being” enrollment.
In the context of leadership, enrollment takes on an entirely different, and much more
meaningful definition. It is not about “getting” something from someone. Rather, it is a state of
being that transcends space and time. Being in enrollment is about creating a vision with
someone wherein their future self is inspired to achieve it.
Think of enrollment as the non-linear, “sensing” aspect of coaching. If you can’t truly connect
with people, you are not fully enrolling in yourself or your business. And if you’re not enrolled
in yourself and your business, you are limiting the trajectory of your own potential and the way
you serve others.
When I’m living in enrollment, it means I’m willing to go with the inspiration that comes
through me in the moment. I don’t allow my ego to get in the way of what is present for what I
call the “third space.”
To help you better understand what I’m talking about, I’ve identified four key elements of
enrollment. Once you have integrated these elements into your life, the potential for your success
expands exponentially. Every great coach always embodies these elements. The thing is, there is
no “on and off switch” for true enrollment. In essence, enrollment is something you are, not
something you do.
The Four Elements of Enrollment
1. We all have common ground. Although we may not know each other, we have a lot
more in common than you may realize. This is true regardless of background, experience,
income, or interest. We share some of the same trials, tribulations, challenges, fears,
hopes, desires, and interests. When you frame the way, you look at every human
interaction through this lens, the distance between yourself and everyone else
dramatically decreases.
2. Open your heart with generosity and grace. Enrollment requires the presence of that
essence of who we are through the heart.
 3. Create through listening without ego or agenda to the nuances of conversation. We
all know how to listen for content, but the next time you’re talking to someone, consider
that we can create through listening, if we can listen with love and neutrality. Actively
listening to the spirit of another human being creates a “third space” that is a source of
inspiration. When that third space is alive and well, you are not inflicting your formality,
ego, or agenda on the other person. The third space is like a blank canvas to an artist. And
that’s creation in action.
4. You are unique and powerful in that uniqueness, own it! Each of us is unique. Our
souls are unique. Who we are and how we live in the world is also unique. One of the
bigger mistakes I see with my clients is when they try to be something other than they
are. The best way to distinguish yourself from the competition is by being completely and
authentically yourself.
Something that takes us out of enrollment is when we filter what’s coming through Source, God,
Spirit, the Universe, Mind, or whatever you choose to call that divine life force energy we all
share. The most interesting thing about the planet is that we all have access to the same level of
information when we are open to it.
When you filter that information through your own uniqueness, you eliminate the competition.
If, however, you are somewhere in the middle, thinking you need to get a client but also calling
what you offer a service, then you’re screwed. Because you can’t be enrollment if you’re
filtering.
Here’s a tongue twister. The person who should be the most enrolled in enrollment to be
enrolling is you. I talk to a lot of coaches who are not enrolled in what they do. There’s some
deep-seated doubt within them about whether coaching is effective. They’ve not seen enough
evidence that coaching transforms businesses and lives. Unless you believe in your business and
its effectiveness, potential clients will sense it. It’s only when you become highly involved but
detached from the outcome that you are enrolling.
One of the really great things about coaching is that you can have different methods in your
practice. I’ve climbed Aconcagua Mountain as part of a coaching group. I’ve rafted rivers in
Argentina. I’ve done Life Mastery initiatives. I’ve taught soul-centered leadership as a professor.
But I did all these things from a place of enrollment.
If you’re unwilling to be enrolled consistently as a professional coach, you are probably not
going to have much fun. When another person feels that you, as a professional coach, have an
agenda with them—for example, when you are self-focused instead of focusing on serving their
best interest in the moment—they will sense this. It may be on a conscious level, or it may be on
an unconscious level, but that other person will not feel safe to allow enrollment to happen with
them.
You may be thinking, Well, this is all very interesting but how do I get to that next level? How
do I become a high-fee coach and increase my income?
Money is a very real part of being in business. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to sell
your services or make more money. It’s actually a very simple thing to do. You have to put high
fee coaching at the top of the ladder inside you. If you don’t have enrollment about that high fee,
you shouldn’t be asking a high fee. That’s not a judgment. I’m simply saying you want to check
your relationship with your high-fee service inside yourself.
If you don’t truly believe in the limitless possibility you have to offer someone, then when you
offer your services at a high fee it will come across to potential clients as incongruent. You’ll
wind up selling and talking about money too much, rather than enrolling them in their own life.
When you truly believe in what you have to offer your client, you aren’t just trading time for
money, you are enrolling people in their own lives.
Money is not a big part of any conversation I have with anyone I’m in an enrollment
conversation with. It’s a tiny part of it. The bigger part of it is the vision that they want to create.
The bigger part of it is about how far up the rungs of the ladder they can go. Or we get into
talking about God consciousness, or prosperity consciousness, or wealth building and well-being.
Suddenly there’s this huge canvas that we get to paint on as we enroll someone in their own
possibility.
It's been almost 30 years since I left a highly successful career in the banking industry to pursue
my passion for leadership and coaching. I very quickly learned that to be a great leadership
coach meant I had to embrace enrollment.
It was while I was traveling around the world, speaking on leadership, that enrollment started to
happen for me. I started noticing I was inspiring people even when I wasn’t consciously trying to
do so. That led me to realize enrollment wasn’t simply me speaking in front of a group. It was
what would happen at the coffee table afterward; it was what happened at lunch as I chatted with
the person seated next to me; it was what happened when I was talking with my assistant about
various opportunities.
I noticed enrollment was happening when I was simply being myself. It wasn’t about turning on
a switch and then turning off that same switch. Enrollment, I discovered, required very little
effort or planning. It was something that naturally happened when I was being my authentic,
unique self.
I began to see that it wasn’t as much about the function I was doing as it was that I was serving
the moment to enroll. I realized that for me to be a great coach, I had to embrace enrollment.
Because both of these things are about creating a portal of possibility for another human being.
They are about inspiring people.
For those of you who are feeling stuck or unable to take your coaching business to the next level,
my best advice is to focus on being yourself. Be present and highly involved in every
conversation you have. Don’t be thinking about registering clients or what you want out of every
conversation. Instead, focus on serving the person in front of you in the present moment.
Remember, enrollment never inflicts.
Enrollment is like the pebble in the pond. It goes out into the world, and it comes back. You may
think, I don’t know enough people. That is not accurate. You know the person in front of you
right now. Consider that you may not be enrolling enough with the people in the world. Because
you are looking through the lens of “who can be my client.” Instead of being selective about who
gets your complete attention, give it to everyone. Be in the moment and create an authentic
connection with everyone you meet. Even if you realize a potential client is not a good fit. Even
if you don’t see how the person you’re with can benefit your business. Give yourself permission
to be enrolling all the time, with as much love as you can muster.
You don’t have to be “on” all the time to be a coach.
You can have days where you feel exhausted and still coach. There might be days where you’re
tired, or you have big challenges or issues. That does not stop you from coaching. In fact, when
you relax and get to be with other people from an authentic place, you become more enrolling.
Life and work can become one through a beautiful process of integration. When this integration
happens the person who benefits the most from it is not the client. It is you.
Practice Self-Care
The best way to help yourself stay in enrollment is by taking care of yourself first. This will
allow you to then take care of other people. Use everything in your life for your own learning,
growth, and advancement. Develop a morning ritual, journal, do meditation and breathwork,
create a fitness regime, try cold thermogenesis, practice good nutrition; find things that work for
you.

Stephen McGhee
Stephen McGhee Leadership, Inc.
Can be reached at stephen@mcgheeleadership.com or 303-887-8404
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