Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Klubeck.
Hi Jeffrey, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I began teaching Persuasion/Public Speaking in 1997 while pursuing my Master’s in Communication from SDSU. After graduating, I continued teaching as an Adjunct Professor in the San Diego Community College District. I was teaching anywhere from one to three classes per semester on weeknights and Saturdays. During the day, I was an executive recruiter with a firm in Carlsbad… then an internal recruiter for a Civil Engineering firm… and a Staffing Agency… and finally JP Morgan Chase in 2005 just in front of the worst economy since the Depression.
We (my wife, Mary Ann, and I) became new parents… lost two investment properties, and struggled to find our way in that turbulent time. Or, I did anyway. Mary Ann has always been the stable one in the family… and her corporate career track with health benefits helped me take a chance in 2006 to start my own business.
I formed Get A Klu, Inc. imagining that I would market myself as a Consultant. I thought I would take the modules I taught in the classroom (Persuasion, Critical Thinking, Non-Verbal Communication, Listening, Audience Analysis, Organizing Thoughts, Anatomy of Speech-Writing, etc.) into businesses… oh, and I got a Real Estate license too.
I quickly realized that Professionals in the Real Estate game such as Mortgage Brokers, Insurance Agents, Financial Advisors, Title Reps, etc. don’t hire “Consultants.” And, one day, I was lucky enough to be mistaken for a Coach. At a Real Estate Event, I met a Title Rep named Brian Traichel who was a huge believer/investor in personal development. I gave him both of my cards… he looked at me and said, “Oh, you’re a Coach too!?”
Remember, this was in 2007, so after Brian explained to me what a Coach is/does, I realized that if I learned how to Coach, I could be really good at it … in fact, it could be the perfect thing to bring together all my other skills/experience.
So, I enrolled myself in three consecutive “boot camp” style Coaches Trainings and began enrolling students in my mentor’s Coaching programs. I became a Head Coach in his Trainings. I began acquiring my own self-generated clients. I developed my own Coaching Methodology and Coaches Training. Life was great! I was the father of three great kids… a volunteer for Little League… a well-respected/recognized Professor in the local community (teaching at Miramar and City College)… I had a membership at the University Club downtown… a wife with an amazing corporate career who still makes time to volunteer to be Cookie Mom in Girl Scouts and volunteer Treasurer of Elementary School Foundation and more. I could go on and on. But then, it got better!
I was recruited to provide high-level business and mindset coaching for the students of a seminar-industry wealth coach/organization. From September 2016 to April 2018, I spoke on four continents including opening for celebrities like John Travolta and Mark Wahlberg… I coached Business Owners and Corporate Professionals in 12 different countries and many major cities within those countries (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Gold Coast, Phuket, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Birmingham, Zurich, Oslo, Copenhagen, Vienna, New York, Chicago, Denver, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Orlando, Anaheim, and my hometown San Diego… to name a few).
In such demand around the country/world, I retired from teaching after the Spring 2017 semester and 20 consecutive/continuous years as an Adjunct Professor… having helped 1000’s of adult learners get past their fears of Public Speaking … and now 100’s of Entrepreneurs all over the world scale their personal and professional brands.
Now, I continue to work on my own Coaching/Training/Consulting Practice, Get A Klu, where we focus on building soft skills that make strong leaders. That work has led to formation of The Integrity Game which will serve as the new brand and complete “soft skills system” that all of our Coaching, Training, Speaking, and Info products will deliver!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest struggle and, ironically/proportionately, the biggest reason to keep going no matter what is having kids. I have been able to do things because of my kids that I was never able to do for myself alone. That said, nobody can tell you how difficult being a new parent is truly going to be. From the physical fatigue to the challenges to the marriage communication, to the absolute in individual sacrifices. Deciding to launch a business at the same time I was launching a family was, in retrospect, questionable.
Another big struggle was learning how to fall in love with mistakes… they are embarrassing, hurtful, or costly at the moment that they occur… and sometimes for a while after. But without them, there is no growth or experience we need to earn success. The microphone not working during a webinar or bombing on stage in front of a large audience or saying the wrong thing that gets taken the wrong way or failing to take action quickly enough or not getting something in writing or any of the mistakes entrepreneurs/business owners make. Those can be rough… I think, though, that they are necessary.
Another struggle is to keep your cool when you know you have done a great job and are accused otherwise. In the personal/professional growth business, most people are coachable and willing to do what it takes to get better results for themselves. Every now and then, there is a person that is so committed to staying where they are that they try to make it the Coach’s fault (or anyone’s other than their own). That is the toughest call because the Coaching is capable of helping someone transform but in no way capable of curing a true mental illness. In over 16 years of Coaching, I have only had a “pathological” situation like that less than three or four times that I can recall… but each time it is a huge struggle to professionally help someone grow with someone who is truly not ready/willing.
Having said all that, I have come to believe that the biggest struggle we all face is the struggle for Integrity! Most of us are very quick to see where others are out of integrity … have no integrity … did not do the right thing… etc. And, ironically/proportionately, we are just as slow to look within at our own Integrity. It is hard enough to “do the right thing” all the time when we are surrounded by people who are “struggling to do the right thing” as well. It is harder to know/decide what the “right thing” to do is at any given moment. And, even if we do have these answers for ourselves, it is still a struggle to expect others to know our answers or have the same answers as we do.
The Integrity Game makes it easier to take on the challenge of looking within when searching for greater Integrity in our personal and professional lives.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Integrity Game provides everything that Get A Klu, Inc. offers: Coaching, Consulting, Training, and Public Speaking. We’re a “boutique” firm dedicated to improving high-performance results for individuals, teams, and businesses. Our services are always customized to the client needs. Get coaching in performance management, build and grow your professional networks, better collaborate with your teams, or captivate an audience through confident public speaking.
What makes The Integrity Game unique is that we are the only Personal/Professional Growth firm that “promises to increase Integrity” for high achievers, teams, and organizations! Our focus is Integrity. Our backbone is a 10-point model of Integrity that makes it super easy and fun to “play the game” of increasing our own Integrity.
The Integrity Game® Book
Released on Amazon in April 2022, The Integrity Game® Book is parable of personal and professional growth as told in the setting of baseball. Readers will meet Luke, Terry, Ally, and TJ and follow along on their journey to learn how motivation and accountability equals results on and off the field. The book is a simple yet colorful story that makes it both fun and easy to do the difficult job of looking within for a better life, career or business. This fast read book introduces Klubeck’s 10-point model of Integrity that supplies readers with 10 “question sets” that lead to integration, success, and happiness.
When asked if we have Integrity, we will all immediately say ‘yes’ … but, that’s a trick question because while we all have “some” integrity in our lives, we all truly need more! Most people, however, only use the word Integrity when they are accusing others of not having any. For 20 years as an Adjunct Professor that has overlapped the past 16 years as business and communication coach, I have committed to making it fun and easy for my students and clients to do the difficult work of looking within. I proudly believe The Integrity Game does just that!
“The Integrity Game is written effusively and kind-heartedly,” writes Retired Rear Admiral James McNeal who authored the book’s foreword. “His allegory weaves the great game of baseball with how we can all fulfill the purpose that we were put on this earth to accomplish and is a wonderful story that should resonate with everyone, baseball fan or otherwise.”
This book is the “easy entry” into the complete Soft Skills System we are building The Integrity Game to be for individuals, teams, and organizations. The book is a great starting point to begin to understand the various services we provide.
Coaching and Leadership Training
Our Coaching Formula is simple: Motivation + Accountability = Results! In Coaching, we motivate you with proven strategies and/or confronting negative behavioral patterns. We hold you Accountable to knowing and pursuing your life’s purpose… by discovering/utilizing gifts, declaring one’s potential, setting goals, selecting strategies, and taking action! We also train Coaches/Leaders how to provide these same ingredients inside of the Coaching Relationship. This also includes providing behavioral and values assessments and helping practitioners customize private life or business coaching programs.
Public Speaking and Communication
We provide custom programs to help any individual become an excellent and confident public speaker. We also serve various companies through interpersonal and workplace communication, keynotes instruction, motivational speaking, and seminar consulting.
Workplace Process Consulting
We help businesses and organizations create a higher performance in the workplace by conducting a thorough analysis of existing situations and develop newer processes for improvement. This also includes workplace consulting for strategic staffing, and team building.
Soft-Skill Development
We have a Corporate Training Library with dozens of soft skills that improve the communication and culture in any organization. Training focuses on the ability of a learner to do something after the training they could not do prior to the training. A combination of content, exercise/activity, and assessment are the minimum ingredients of trainings. With Coaching added, learners can be supported/accountable for implementing and mastering the new skills acquired in trainings.
E-Courses, Online Training, and Certifications:
We are actively seeking Coaches, Consultants, Trainers, and Speakers who wish to become Trained and Certified in the methodologies of The Integrity Game.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Shaquille O’Neal has believed since 1999 that I am his Good Luck Charm. He once flew me from San Diego to Miami to be at Game 2 of The Eastern Conference Finals in 2005. I believe he very easily could be President of the United States in 2032 or 2036… not a lot of people who know me know that I see the Presidential potential for someone as relevant, accomplished, popular, and generous as Shaq. You heard it here first! 😉
Pricing:
- The Integrity Game® Book on Amazon “launched” at $5.00 and will experience periodic price increases up to $24.99 (so get it now!)
- Info Products (ebooks, audios, videos, e-courses) for all budgets (from free to $997)!
- Private or Group Online Coaching ranging from $100-500/session
- Full-Day Immersion Coaching ranging from $2500-7500/day
- Coaching/Leadership/Soft-Skills Trainings ranging from $15,000-$250,000
Contact Info:
- Email: play@theintegritygame.com
- Website: www.theintegritygame.com
- Instagram: @the_integrity_game
- Facebook: @theintegritygame
