About Pete
I know that you will want to know about me so that you can feel confident that you are in safe hands. That’s understandable and reasonable. However, I am simply a catalyst for your success. and it’s you that’s the real hero because it’s you that will make the change.
When I’m asked about my life I usually start it by saying I was born in a workhouse, which sounds very Victorian, but it’s true – well almost. It was a workhouse that became a maternity hospital, but it makes people listen!
I have been very fortunate that if I have been successful, it’s because (to paraphrase Isaac Newton) I have stood on the shoulders of giants.
I formally started to be a coach shortly after I was trained by David Hemery and David Whittaker some 30 years ago using the original coaching GROW model. This was devised by David and the father of all formal coaching, Sir John Whitmore.
I am a qualified behavioural analyst and co-own TTI Success Insights UK which supplies behavioural and psychometric reports to HR professionals
The shoulders of giants
If I have seen more than others it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Pete was introduced to the science of self and behavioural assessments when he was trained to be behavioural analysts by Art Neimann in 1997. It was a life-changing experience! The insight that Art gave into the AVA system and human behaviour, in general, was extraordinary. Art continued to stay in contact and mentored Pete in his studies about human behaviour long after the actual training itself.
In 1959 Art Neiman joined W Clement Stones company, CIA as his HR person. His brief from Mr Stone was “Make my people happy”. Later that year, Art attended a two-week workshop that would change his career and as he said, his life for the better. At that time, Walter V. Clarke was personally teaching the AVA Analyst Certification course in Florida. Art and other AVA Analysts at Combined Insurance used the concepts of AVA and PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) to achieve tremendous growth in the organization during the 1960s and ’70s. Mr Stone claimed it assisted him to change his 100 dollar investment to a hundred million dollar business by employing people where the job fitted their natural behaviours.
In 1984 W Clement Stones company, CIA purchased Walter V Clarke and Associates.
Art started his own company in 1980 and Peter was trained and mentored by Art and this is how he gained this knowledge of behaviour and many more stories and insights
Walter V. Clarke
Walter V Clarke took his Masters as a student of William Moulton Marston at Columbia University and produced as his thesis “Physical types as bases for variations in primary emotions,”
In 1922 at Columbia University where William Moulton Marston was already a PhD and happened to be listening along with many other students to a lecture from a guest speaker Mr Prescott Leckey.
Prescott Leckey started the lecture off by asking the audience “What do you think the most important thing is to a human being?”
“This is my belief, that the most important thing to a human being is not self preservation, but the preservation of the self image”. “People act out consistently with what they hold to be true about themselves”.
Clarke realised that if that was true he could measure a persons self-concept and thus be able to predict behaviour.
In 1948 Clarke started his company Walter V Clarke and Associates and was the first person to use an instrument to measure behaviour. This instrument was called AVA Activity Vector Analysis. It consisted of three graphs and followed the DISC vectors with Assertiveness, Sociability, Tranquility and Conformance.
William Moulton Marston
Sitting alongside Clarke at the Prescott lecture was William Moulton Marston and as a result, he realised that this explained some of his observations such as:
- people who tell lies continue to tell lies
- any behavioural model/style is consistent
- it was a person’s beliefs that drove emotions that created behaviour
In 1928 he wrote “The Emotions of Normal People” where he explained behaviour in terms of DISC, ie Dominance, Influence, Steadiness & Compliance
He created Wonder Woman the first Female Super Hero as a role model for women and who with her “lasso of truth” (which equated to his other creation, the lie detector) could overcome all evil.
My Passion
I have always been fascinated with people! Whether that is as a small boy watching the Mill Workers and Miner’s queue up to go on holiday on one of our coaches (the wheeled variety) or listening to snatches of conversations of people walking by. I just love seeing people interact and have fun. My ultimate sense of satisfaction is to witness people doing things they didn’t think possible. It’s been that way all my working life. If I have worked with or assisted these people in some way – that’s even more satisfying!
I see myself as a facilitator clearing the clouds and fog of confusion so that people can see a positive future for themselves. I hope that if you do agree to allow me to work with you won’t be saying “Look what he has done to me” but “Look at what I have done for myself.”
If what drives us, our (sometimes obscured) motivators are denied, we can lose our inner flame, our enthusiasm. Helping people to identify what they are truly passionate about is in turn my passion.
My Goals
Here is a tip! Don’t share your goals with anyone. Dream stealers, I call them! Often out of kindness people say “Isn’t that risky” or I wouldn’t do that”
Thre are so many examples of people being told they couldn’t or shouldn’t do something. What do they know? Robbie Williams was told to forget singing and dancing! Winston Churchill was told he wouldn’t amount to much! Not all of us are blessed with the mental robustness of Robbie or Winston and be able to bat off these comments.
When you are ready we can do a goal swap!
I hope to meet you soon.