First impressions are so firm - my example is of a professional who arrived late, casually dressed, and was in a mood.
Since the seat was not HOT their application was accepted.  (I was really surprised they applied.)

• I never saw them unprepared again.
• I never saw them dress less than professionally again.
• I refer to them regularly now

- if the MembershipCore had made a decision based on that first impression they would not have accepted the application.

While I've never asked what was up that first day, in my mind the cat threw up in their shoe, and then they had a flat tire on the way to the meeting, not good!  
That first impression was not their normal.

I'm so grateful the PowerCore system for accepting all applications for 90 days gives us grace to crest first impressions.
(Both ways!)

When I first met Greg, he seemed tightly wound, buttoned-up, brief, always checking his watch. I assumed he was a micromanager who needed to control everything.

But once we started working together, I discovered something different.

Greg wasn’t controlling. He was drowning. Every decision, every task, every fire was routed through him because he didn’t trust his team to deliver. Not because they weren’t capable, but because he’d never shown them how.

Once we built systems and trained his staff to own outcomes, Greg changed. He showed up to meetings laughing, sat back more relaxed, and even took a long-overdue vacation with his wife.

What I saw as control was really exhaustion. That taught me: urgency doesn’t always mean ego. It often means overwhelm.

A client couple comes to mind...at the initial, I got the sense that the husband wasn't bought into the idea of coaching; however, they signed up later that same day.  As we began working together, it was very obvious that the wife was really motivated to get their debt eliminated and the husband wasn't really worried about it.  After a couple of sessions, I began to see a change in the husband's attitude.  We had been talking about goals and how their spending would affect how quickly they could make progress on that goal (their #1 was buying a home).  He began to be very engaged in the process, changed his spending habits to the extent that his friends a coworkers noticed the difference.

The light bulb moments are what I love to see, and this husband surprised me with how quickly it happened for him.

Henry, my landscape lighting architect client, initially surprised me. Given his age and tech-savvy approach, I expected him to prefer everything done digitally, with minimal personal interaction. After all, he runs most of his business online and seems incredibly comfortable with technology. But once we began working together, I quickly discovered Jonathan deeply values in-depth conversations. He consistently asks thoughtful, detailed questions about his financial statements, and genuinely appreciates personal guidance on his business decisions. Jonathan taught me not to assume someone's communication style or preferences just from their age or tech skills. Getting to know him showed me the real power of staying curious and open, leading to a stronger professional relationship.

At first, they were very reserved. I assumed our conversations would stay strictly business. Once trust and rapport were built, they opened up and moved past small talk. A little humor started to come through, and the conversation became more personal. They shared about their home, their family, and what it meant to them.

In this case, their water heater burst while they were away, flooding out the laundry room. It was the last thing they needed after just paying for a transmission replacement on their truck and recovering from shoulder surgery. It truly felt like the straw that broke the camel’s back.