faithbiz.guide logo

Norbert Bollow

I’m a business coach, but beyond that, I’m a guide who helps you find your way through the challenges which arise where the Christian faith meets the world of business.

Jesus said:

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon. […] Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Mt 6:24+31-33)
Norbert Bollow
Therefore, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, and being self-employed as a solopreneur or being in charge of a small business is part of the path on which He is guiding you, your mindset in that business will not be primarily money-oriented.

The business still needs to have all the necessary pieces in place so that it makes money for you. But your heart will not be focused on those aspects. In fact, for example, market research and sales conversations work better anyway when your mind’s focus is on seeking to connect people who need a certain kind of service with what they need. It is a fact of business life that you earn money when some of them say yes, but the conversations with potential clients work better when while you speak with them, your mind is focused primarily on their goals and their needs.

Nevertheless, a well-run business will not cater to every wish of every potential customer. Rather, the well-run business is intentional and strategic. For that, there are five foundational pillars which need to be put in place, and thereafter continually maintained, starting with clarity on your godly goals:

Following Jesus implies to seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness. What this means concretely is different for each of us. It depends on your particular situation, on the particular calling of God on your life, and to some extent also on your interests and on your choices in regard to pursuing some of interests particularly.

In the context of business, this means that your business is called to primarily pursue a deeper purpose beyond serving the needs of clients and earning money. A deeper purpose that is aligned with God’s Kingdom and his righteousness. If you’re led by God to have a large family and to seek to glorify Him though that, you may want to support that objective by building a business that allows you to work from home, so that you can always be at home at mealtimes. Others feel led by the Holy Spirit to focus on building a business which provides a workplace where employees can find Jesus and where discipleship happens. Yet others are focused primarily on letting the light and the love of Jesus shine in the marketplace. There are also those who are more focused of the aspect of hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt 5:6) and on therefore establishing credible Christian engagement on one of the major challenges of humanity, such as e.g. the climate crisis.

Whatever the deeper purpose of your business is, you need clarity on it, and a corresponding strategy. And you need a coach who is a guide by your side, helping you work through whatever challenges come up. Nobody is an expert on every topic of business and marketing, but you will benefit greatly from having a coach by your side who helps you sort through all the voices, so that you can adapt some advice into strategies that are well-aligned with your values and with who you are, while rejecting other advice that simply doesn’t fit well enough.

Good business coaching is personal as well as systemic. It addresses the very human aspects such as inner obstacles: We can transform your inner stories, so that those aspects which have been obstacles are transformed into sources of personal strength. I’m a Certified Narrative Coach Practitioner, which means that I’m trained in making coaching very safe and very transformative. I will also work with you on topics of systems analysis such as identifying process bottlenecks, so that you can then decide what to do about them. Your personal growth needs to go hand-in-hand with your work on transforming and developing the business system around you.

Now you have read to this point without surfing away. That means that you’re interested enough in me, and I’m interested enough in you, so that it makes sense for us to schedule a conversation to find out where this mutual interest might lead us.

I’m a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and I’m committed to the ICF Code of Ethics.

Restrictions: I will decline coaching engagements if I feel that that there is not sufficiently good alignment in regard to personal values, or if I'm already coaching a direct competitor, or if making appointments turns out to be too difficult. In regard to appointments and timezones, all of Europe and the Eastern half of North America (Central Time, Eastern Time and Atlantic Time) usually work out ok.

Coaching language: German or English.

Physical location: Greater Zurich Area, Switzerland.

Contact information

Postal mail address:

Norbert Bollow Coaching and Framework Solutions
Weidlistrasse 18
CH-8624 Grüt
Switzerland

Telephone:      +41 44 972 20 59

Email:          info@faithbiz.guide

Homepage:       https://faithbiz.guide/

LinkedIn:       https://www.linkedin.com/in/norbert-bollow/

Data protection information: https://faithbiz.guide/privacy