FEATURE
own BUSINESS Public speaking is something most of us are terrified of. Not so Nic Rixon, who has forged a successful 20-year career in management coaching out of it. Juliette Wills gets the lowdown
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ic Rixon’s role as business coach, trainer and mentor came about in a rather unusual way. By accident, in fact. Upon finding out that his five-yearold son was dyslexic, Rixon embarked on a personal-development programme to give himself the tools he needed to be able to teach him. Having got a taste for personal growth, Rixon enrolled in a Dale Carnegie training programme, where he was taught how to build trust and motivate people, communicate logically, and energise and engage listeners. The course also covers discovering ways to manage stress and minimise worry – something we could all benefit from in today’s fast-paced world. Rixon was so enthused that he enrolled as an instructor and spent the following 12 years teaching
other people how to get the best out of their business. “I’ve worked with so many different companies,” he explains, “from global giants like Sony Pictures to IBM, through to small businesses right at the other end of the scale. The principles are the same whatever size the business.” Has he ever come up against a business owner who believed they were immune to improvement, or are they always ready to accept advice? “If you do this job for long enough, you will meet both,” he laughs, “so I need to work with clients who are open to asking for help, then doing something with it when they get it. It’s fairly easy to get results for clients who are enthusiastic, coachable and present. They need to be personally
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