This page is in response to the article on the LighthouseCommunity.global website by someone called Mel Francis (found here >). Whilst the article claims to have been written by Ms Francis it’s clear to me that she is nothing more then a mouth piece for Kris Deichler who was my mentor between 2013 and 2018.
Why Was the Article Written?
The only reason their article was written was because I dared to share my much to be desired departure from mentoring from Kris Deichler / Lighthouse International Group via three comments on this post on Reddit in December 2021.
This is Kris’ response to me voicing my opinion publicly vs keeping my dissatisfaction to myself.
I encourage you to read my comments (user name: rjhoward1986) and the LIG article to see for yourself how Mel Francis / Kris Deichler either ignore the points raised or provide a very vague response to them. They instead use the classic diversion technique of attacking the messenger and not the message.
It’s a very clever and effective albeit rather sinister way of trying to discredit me and everything I say by trying to get you the reader to believe that irrelevant headaches from my past which are in no way related to my mentoring experience with Kris Deichler mean everything I say should be disregarded.
They even go one step further and say I’m “pathological” / mentally ill and so if you’re able to get the reader to agree with that, its even more reason to ignore me, as why listen to a “crazy guy”?!.
No Right of Reply
Mel Francis appears to be presenting herself as a professional journalist yet she did not even bother to reach out to me for my side of events or appear to believe in the “right of reply” (details >) when writing about someone’s experience with so called “Senior Associate Partner” Kris Deichler between 2013 and 2018. I was not even asked to answer a single question.
LighthouseCommunity.global Registration
I have attempted to join their “community” website so that I can at least add my response as a comment to their article. But access was declined. Read the full article here >
False Credibility
Their piece is written in the third person to try and give the article credibility and claims to be “objective“. Yet how can you be objective if (1) you’re writing an article that concerns your colleague / buddy (2) you didn’t even bother to reach out to the other person to get the other side of the story? As the below proves it was very biased and pick and choose with the facts.
“Pathology of a Troll”
Their article has this charming title and so in no uncertain terms Ms Mel Francis / Kris Deichler are trying their very best to get the reader to believe that I am mentally ill / some online bully even though I am posting under my real name and just giving readers the benefit of my experience with Kris Deichler of Lighthouse International Group. Hardly “trolling”.
I expand on the question of whether I, Richard Howard am an “internet troll” and on LIG’s response to the so called “trolling” of many on Reddit (details >) in a longer article here >.
Wounded Animal / Lost Soul Belief
In private conversations after ending mentoring with Kris Deichler in December 2018 until our last email correspondence in November 2020 and in this recent article Kris consistently re-states his belief that I and others who have left the Lighthouse International Group universe have “lost our way” clearly implying that “the way” is to live the Lighthouse “way” which based on this breakdown > of the a day in the life of being an LIG partner is certainly not for everyone.
I have indeed had two major headaches in business over 17yrs (details below) but have come through them both, made amends and moved on with my life. As we all know we live in a world of cause and effect and so unsurprisingly when I changed my behaviour that led to issues with the authorities and some unhappy clients in the first place the drama did not repeat! Ta da.
Yet Kris Deichler insists without supporting evidence and in his typical vague way that I’ve learnt nothing, am about to crash against a brick wall and am “making the same mistakes again“. He basically implies that I, as a 35yr old man cannot function on my own and need to plug my umbilical cord back into him and Lighthouse International Group. Pfft.
I’m happy to say that since ending mentoring with him in December 2018 I have not found myself arrested, bankrupt, a drug addict or whatever. In fact in spite of Covid I have two prosperous businesses and am genuinely enjoying my life.
His references to the opposite are devoid of ANY evidence and so I consider this nothing more than gas lighting / attempted manipulation.
However don’t take my word for it, please make your own mind up. See the way Kris Deichler use’s his masterful communication & influence skills (honed over 10yrs) here >
Zero Mental Health Training / Qualifications
Whilst their article is written in an authoritative manner as though they are both trained therapists, neither have any qualifications or formal training in the area of mental health.
Kris Deichler and I have not even met or spoken on the phone since Autumn 2019 and so it truly is a sign of arrogance and that of an amateur that he feels confident in diagnosing me with mental health condition on the basis of three comments and not even meeting / speaking with me on the phone and posing a single question.
I have had no contact with Mel Francis whatsoever in my entire life however she seems confident in diagnosing me as do lally as well. More information on the background of former Estate Agent Kris Deichler can be found here >
Potential Bitterness
There is also a good chance that the article was written in such a one sided, middle finger way because I held Kris Deichler to account for a whole months worth of mentoring services (worth over £1000) that he never provided but was trying to unfairly pocket and that I did not agree with him in Spring 2018 onwards that I had raked up a moral debt of £15,000.
Full details here in my Unstated Cost article >
He tried to say that “by law” no refund was due but I challenged this via the County Court giving him the chance to whip out these law/s that backed up his position and let a Judge applying English Law settle the matter. As I predicted his position was a bunch of B.S. Full story here >
Dispute Resolution Shaming
In Mel Francis’ article Kris tries to shame me by suggesting that the only way that I know how to resolve a dispute is via the courts but as you can see from his email responses from our dispute (found here >) he was making it categorically clear that he was offering £0.00 back and so was not even proposing a partial refund / compromise.
Therefore what alternative it there to legally resolving a dispute when two parties are at polar opposites end of the spectrum then by using the court system?
Kris Deichler is only trying to shame me to deflect attention away from the fact that morally and legally I was due a refund from the 1 month of mentoring that I had paid for but he had not damn well provided! That being said do read the full story and then make up your own mind.
Alleged Injustice
Kris strongly asserts in the article and has done privately with me for the last 2yrs that he is a victim of an injustice due to me. That the law is on his side and he was shafted.
He adamantly believes that I only secured a court judgement in my favour ordering a 100% refund due to “underhanded ways” and that I am happy to “hide behind them“.
This is a complete lie and I think even the LIG faithful will struggle not to see that Kris Dechler did in fact deceive them when reading the full breakdown of the dispute between us.
He was by no means a “victim” as he consistently claims but do make your own mind up on that point and please do take a moment to marvel at the inconsistencies of the reality vs the polished, victim orientated version that Kris told you. Full story here >
Making Session Recordings Public
I can confirm that I am very, very interested in Kris’ idea that our 121 mentoring session recordings be made public and whilst certain parts of our private conversations would need bleeping out for privacy reasons on both sides the idea certainly is a brilliant one.
I would be particularly keen to obtain permission to release a May 2018 “mentoring session” where Kris Deichler spent the best part of an hour screaming at me over the phone.
I was told this was a “loving thing to do” he later said because, according to him I had become “stuck in my ways” and was “holding myself back” for not diving head first into a mysterious £5000 discipline course that he was flogging (the details of which were never provided and any questions about the modules or how it would take me or anyone else from where we are to uber disciplined were deflected each time) and for not jumping at the “opportunity” to gift him £15,000.
Critical Thinking Discouraged
My insistence that I understand the FULL picture of what LIG’s course was and how it is on par with a “University degree” and an “alchemy machine” (way to turn standard metal into gold), how it would be structured, how often the sessions were, if there was any accountability and requests for before and after snapshots from those who have gone before were shot down as not legitimate areas of enquiry, me not seeing the big picture and me not “trusting him” enough.
I later received an article that LIG wrote claiming that Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world basically makes his financial decisions based on trust alone. Not data, previous results, future market gains, company assets etc. Just trust. So wink wink Richard 😉
As you can imagine being screamed at for almost an hour from someone you highly respect and trust does shake your nerves. It also came across as extremely disrespectful especially as for many, many years I was Kris’ cash cow client, reliably paying him many thousands of pounds for at least one mentoring session a week for years!
In the last year of mentoring (2018) I was paying him at least £200 per week for his services and so I made it clear that the next time we spoke I was very, very keen to discuss his approach and question whether it was respectful, helpful and if it really was “for my own good” or whether it was just a… bold way to push me into compliance and get my cheque book out.
Gas Lighting?
But I was told again and again that I “wasn’t ready” to challenge him and his approach and that we needed to keep focusing on me and my “flawed mindset“. I was also advised there was a hierarchy between mentor and mentee so he said he was entitled to dictate the terms.
Leaving aside the obvious fact that in every other commercial relationship the customer/client or person who pays for x service is the one in the drivers seat I was never deemed “ready” to challenge Kris Deichler on this behaviour so the chat never happened.
Make Your Own Mind Up
Anyways I ramble on. Fingers crossed I get the green light to publish this recording and a good few others. I will then leave it up to you dear reader after listening to that so called mentoring session to come to your own conclusion.
Perhaps you’ll conclude it was just tough love or perhaps you will decide it was manipulative bullying and just an attempt to extract more cash from my wallet or something in between. That’s your liberty.
My Trading Standards Headache
I am in no way trying to hide or minimise the headache I had with Trading Standards who alleged that between December 2013 and August 2015 elements of my business I had at the time were not operating within the law. However the bullet points raised in their article of course only cover one side of the story. Those interested in hearing my side can find it here >.
I’m afraid its 14,400 words long though! The long and short of it is that I paid my debt to society in full including paying a fine, made the changes they required and since August 2015 I have no further issues with Trading Standards whatsoever. It’s now March 2022. Almost 7yrs and counting.
Change of Name
It is also true that during the Trading Standards investigation I legally changed my name to George Orwell. It was a move of self-amusement for myself and indeed to express my feelings of their heavy handed approach. The article just mentioned expands on that in great depth.
Kris Deichler’s allegation that the name change was in relation to me trying to de-rail proceedings and that it would take Trading Standards a lot of effort to change the name over is as laughable and absurd as it sounds. People change their name all the time whether via marriage, divorce or Deed Poll and so it was a simple as at the next hearing them using my new name and adding in brackets (formerly known as Richard Howard).
That was it. No re-issuing of paperwork, no needing to start from the beginning, no fresh court hearing due to this. Nothing else whatsoever. Kris’ daft assertion is either him clutching at straws and an act of desperation to make me look as bad as possible or perhaps just pure ignorance of the court system.
I mean, can you imagine if the system had no simple provision for this? all a murderer, bank robber or rapist would have to do to avoid ever going to trial is change their name every few months and thus force a reset on the clock. The full story can be found here >
My Phonepaid Services Authority Headache
Likewise I am not looking to hide away or minimise the headache I had with Phonepaid Services Authority in the past regarding a 118 style caller connection service that my company setup in Summer 2015.
Just like the Trading Standards situation Ms Mel Francis chose to omit my side of the story and just use the sensationalised press article released from the PSA.
She chose to omit the highly relevant fact that there were zero complaints and zero evidence of consumer harm from the service that my company provided. Clearly as it bolstered her articles’ biased view that I was some kind of scumbag. Am I? My side of the story can be found here >
Don’t worry! That article is only 5,200 words ;p
Questions for Me?
Feel free to ask them here >