By: Glenda Hovenkamp
Working with a business coach has become the standard for many seeking to accelerate professional growth. There are entrepreneurs, and then there are Entrepreneurs. Mike Zeller, business founder, mentor, masterminder, and coach, is in the ultra category, recently adding author to his list of accomplishments. Published in 2021, The Genius Within is geared for those seeking the clarity to accelerate careers and businesses. Zeller is a business architect, having “founded or partnered in over 20 ventures, and mentored over 100 high-level entrepreneurs from four different continents.” He knows his stuff — having earned over $300 million in sales.
When Mike Zeller talks, people listen. This is evident in The Genius Within. The experience of this read is like a one-on-one with him, written just as he speaks, on a topic he clearly loves: helping people live their best lives professionally.
People want to do work they care about. The worldwide disruption caused by the pandemic has made people reflective. Zeller explains, “Humanity’s desire is to figure out their unique pathway to impact and how they are meant to show up in the world, especially in times of disruption. Millions of people have resigned from their jobs. They are looking for a career and life-shift.” Zeller offers the most complete roadmap ever created, enabling people to figure out their unique path and purpose. His process organizes and synthesizes the clues scattered throughout a person’s life, putting all the puzzle pieces on the table so their patterns become visible.
The average leader spends most of his time trying to lead others. Mike claims the best leader spends more than 50% of his time leading himself. In his work with thousands of entrepreneurs and leaders in seasons of transition, he often finds they have questions about what to do next, what they are good at, and what they are made for. He is a believer in doing the things we love and for which we are naturally inclined. Personality tests are great, but most people don’t use information gained from them. Mike not only utilizes this information, but also helps people apply the wisdom while gathering other clues that show up in four main areas:
i) in a person’s unique talents,
ii) key relationships,
iii) defining life moments, and;
iv) values and passions.
Zeller points out, “Your zone of genius is the intersection of all those things. Put them all together, and the dots connect.” He calls it aligned abundance, where people are aligned to who they are, what they were born to do, and how they are meant to show up.
A fun fact about Mike — his fraternity brothers nicknamed him “So Crates” because he always talked about something deep, like Socrates. Upon sharing this, he recited, “To know thyself is the beginning of all wisdom.” Mike is a fan of ancient scholars and modern-day greats, Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, and Jay Abraham. He is a perpetual student, always learning.
According to Zeller, he grew his businesses by playing in his zone of genius, and dismantled them by playing outside the zone. He says, “Extraordinary success is predicated upon ordinary people being in extraordinarily right positions and extraordinarily right opportunities.”
Mike is convinced risk and failure have been his most outstanding teachers. Sara Blakely’s (Spanx founder) dad used to ask her, “Hey, what did you fail at today?” She’s one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time because she had a healthy relationship with failure. “Failure is feedback,” he states. “Yes, I lost a million dollars, but I gained $100 million worth of lessons. Life’s greatest setbacks are life’s greatest lessons.” Quoting Napoleon Hill, he adds, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
Mike states on MikeZeller:Home: “I help high achievers align their purpose with both the business they want to build and the life they want to live while getting unstuck and shaking off limiting beliefs. My businesses have done hundreds of millions in sales. But I’ve also lost over $1 million in bad business breaks, poor decisions, and investments that just didn’t turn out the way we expected. I now teach the solutions I learned during my darkest days—solutions that changed my life forever.” Mike Zeller not only talks the talk, he walks it! His book was born from his desire to inspire and facilitate others in gaining their own alignment. To work closely with Mike, one can always sign up for one-on-one coaching or a Mastermind group. But,The Genius Within should be on everyone’s wish list for the holidays.
