TTLR EP712: Dave Buck - How My Mentor Invented The Coaching Industry

“World power is infinitely better than willpower.”

At the heart of every business breakthrough is the ability to turn hidden potential into repeatable skills. Freedom, friendship, and purpose aren’t things you stumble upon; they’re capabilities you can practice until they become second nature. When fundamentals like belonging, influence, and co-creation are mastered, advanced business skills—marketing, sales, partnerships, leadership—become natural extensions rather than uphill battles.

Dave Buck shares how persistence turned him from eager student to the right-hand man of Thomas Leonard, the father of professional life coaching. He unpacks the origins of the industry, the lessons of human connection, and the coaching methods that evolved from trial, error, and challenge. His journey proves that sometimes you don’t just choose a dream—the dream chooses you.

Buck is CEO of CoachVille and a pioneer who has spent 30 years shaping the profession of life coaching. As a mentee and daily collaborator of Thomas Leonard, he helped codify modern coaching methods and today leads programs like Get Your Power Back, designed to restore human connection as the foundation for business and leadership transformation.

Expert action steps:

1. Shift from being task-oriented to mastery-oriented: focus on skills, not just tasks.

2. Treat fear as a teacher, not an enemy: decode what it’s trying to keep you safe from.

3. Leverage world power over willpower: design environments where growth becomes natural.

Learn more & connect:

Visit the Coachville membership site to get access to the free Get Your Power Back program. https://coachville.com/

Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.