John Burr and Betska K-Burr, co-presidents of Coaching and Leadership International, (CLI) have moved to Ladysmith from their former home in Brentwood Bay.
“[Ladysmith] is a beautiful location,” Burr said. “We like it a lot. We haven’t been able to get out much yet, but what we have done has been great.”
The Burrs started CLI in 1991. Since then, they have trained over 700 life and executive coaches, and thousands of participants in over 50 countries. In the summer of 2019, K-Burr was named one of the top 100 management consultants in the world by CEO Today Magazine.
CLI has developed over 85 methodologies and tools to help coach individuals through major roadblocks people have to achieving goals in their lives. They offer personal development training, coach training, corporate training, executive coaching and life coaching services.
K-Burr said their methodologies are based on Mind-Kinetics, a science developed by CLI to harness the power of positive thought to change behaviours. Individuals and groups can be coached and can also self-coach to uplift their lives, to become happier, feel more peaceful and quickly generate Einstein-like solutions to their challenges.
“We have between 50 and 100 trillion cells in our body – head to toe – and some of those cells look after the functioning of our organs, some of those cells look after our thoughts. Let’s say a young person is having trouble with their marks, that means they have several cells in their body that are blocked. The receptors sitting on the membranes of the cell have become constricted (unable to receive new information/solutions) because of some emotional event,” K-Burr said.
Mind-Kinetics works to free the cellular blockages that cause challenges and free people to solve their problems with positive energy. The science is unique in that it provides a celebrated permanent positive change to a client’s behaviours and competencies.
CLI also focuses on the role that spirituality plays in achievement – both professionally and in people’s personal lives. K-Burr is quick to point out that ‘spirituality’ is not about religion but is about love of self and others.
“If you’re trying to figure out what’s going wrong, and you’ve looked at the intellectual side, the physical side, maybe the emotional side, but you’re not looking at the spiritual side. That’s where the blockages are usually – emotional and spiritual,” Burr said.
One of their tools, The Brain Walk, is available online for free, at www.TheBrainWalk.com. It was developed by K-Burr in 1997 to help people get past roadblocks to success. Participants are asked to intuitively select one of 76 human values. The first selected value is something that challenges the person. The second value is a strength that the person may have. They are then asked to think about how their strength can be used to overcome their challenge. Lastly the individual walks the colourful Brain Walk map to tap into their genius for doable solutions. The entire process simulates how Einstein used to think.
K-Burr created a The Brain Walk map to facilitate the exercise. She then painted the map on a 14-foot canvas on her driveway. As she was painting the map, a group of neighbourhood kids biked past her and asked what she was working on. A little girl in the group said that the map looked like a game, and asked if she could come back and play when the paint was dry.
“The first little girl changed my life, and changed the direction of The Brain Walk,” K-Burr said. “She taught me that I had developed The Brain Walk for both corporate and families to move past their challenges with ease and peace. The children walked the brain walk map, and when they got to the centre they had to sit down and stream in a solution. Then we sat on the garage floor and decoded – to figure out what their Superconscious had provided them as an answer to their challenge.”
“When I asked the first little girl what her challenge was, and why she wanted to walk The Brain Walk map, she said ‘because my mommy and daddy are divorcing, and I think it’s my fault.’ The solution she streamed in from that moment was that it wasn’t her fault. She rode away with a much lighter heart and a smile on her face. The Brain Walk is a life-uplifting tool available for anyone to try.”
Now that the Burrs have settled in Ladysmith, they are looking to work with local clients to bring greater peace and joy to families and help corporations, government and community groups advance their success.
“We warmly invite people of all ages, incomes, orientations, faiths, and abilities to contact us. We are sure that you will be thrilled with the progress you will make in your personal and professional lives,” K-Burr said.
CLI also have apps available for iPhone and iPad, and numerous books available through their site: coachingandleadership.com.
A recent addition, CLI is offering an online program called Women Rise and L.E.A.D. The first major segment is free and it includes an e-workbook and four videos for women to magnify their strengths, become empowered communicators and enhance their relationships at work and at home. To register for the free segment, visit www.cli-global.com.
