Working in the world of business, it’s impossible to avoid business and life coach Tony Robbins. Just typing his name into Google brings up floods of news stories, and that’s just from the past week. He must have some pearls of wisdom that we can all take on board and learn from, right? Right.

I was recently reading about his work with the winners of Shopify’s ‘Build a Bigger Business’ competition. He wanted to mentor them as he knows how overwhelming it can be for a start-up to enjoy sudden and rapid success. While it’s an enviable position to be in, if mishandled, the dream can quickly turn into a nightmare.

Speaking to Business Insider, Robbins underlined the importance of mindset and how it’s linked to success.

“Business requires an unbelievable level of resilience inside you, and I tell everybody, the chokehold on the growth of your business is always the leader, it’s always your psychology and your skills — 80% psychology, 20% skills,” he said.

With that in mind, here’s what Robbins advised some of the Shopify winners:

· Chris Vaccarino, Founder, Fanjoy

Robbins could see that Vaccarino’s marketing skills had enabled Fanjoy to grow from a modest $1m a year business to a $40m a year market leader. But, he warned Vaccarino that he risked driving the company into chaos unless he evolved with the business.

By his own admission, Vaccarino felt the need to be liked by all of his employees and clients – but Robbins argues this is simply not sustainable and that the founder will have to learn that you can’t please all the people, all of the time.

· Deeanne Akerson, Founder, Kindred Bravely

In his conversation with Akerson, Robbins could see that the founder possessed the skills necessary to continue growing her business, but that she was losing the passion which drove her to start the company in the first place.

He helped Akerson recognise that owning a successful business was linked to her happiness, and that running the business at the expense of her family was having the opposite effect. Robbins said she shouldn’t have to make a decision between family and business. Instead, she should bring someone on board who has the same skills she possesses, allowing her to concentrate on shaping the brand’s vision without compromising her happiness.

Agnentis Partners’ philosophy tallies with Robbins’ – we take the approach of “growing a business by growing the business owner”. If you think you’d benefit from this style of mentoring, then get in touch.