Get OUT of Your Business NOW

OK.  So I need to say this today.  This has been driving me crazy and I need to send a wake-up call out there.

GET OUT OF YOUR BUSINESS NOW!

I mean it.  You need to step outside of your business, stop working IN it all the time and work ON it!
Really, how on earth can you see what is going on, what the future of your business is or  if you are still on track with your mission by staying buried under the day-to-day tasks that really should go to someone else but you keep hanging onto them because no one else will do it like you do it - or so you think!

Can you tell I am frustrated?  I hear over and over again how hard it is to keep businesses moving forward, except there is no thought to actually checking to see the progress of the business.  When I ask how the business is being marketed or if there is a marketing plan I get 'the deer in the headlights' look.  Or, if I ask what the forecast is for the rest of the year, you would think I asked them to fly to the moon

Business needs leaders.  Business teams need leaders.
Innovation and new revenues streams come from leaders and their teams who are not afraid to challenge the status quo; from leaders who are not afraid to invest in themselves and their team to develop new ways of thinking, find new opportunities to leverage the strengths of others - inside their industry or from outside their industry.

Why are you not investing time and money in your own development?  When you develop a new product or service it costs money.  You are the extension (and sometimes, the face and the feet) of your business - why are you stuck IN it and not working ON it and ON yourself?  What is stopping you?  Are you afraid to admit you don't know everything?  Are you worried what people will think of you? Are you too busy (doing what I am  not sure) to take a few minutes to evaluate how you could be a better leader for your business and your team?  Are you afraid to find out that you could do things differently, be challenged, given new perspectives and actually have to change your old ways for new, more productive and exciting possibilities that can make you even more successful?  Now that is a scary thought!  You could actually be more successful if you decided to take action.  When will you decide to tack action for yourself.....and work on you - the best part of your business, the reason why your business exists?!

Sure, it's a rant....and sometimes I just need to get things out.  I see it often, what I have described above, and while I would go to great lengths to ask the same questions of my clients (not in a rant of course), I felt the need to share this here.

Leadership is not easy.  Leadership is action.  Leadership is developing other leaders.  When are you going to take action to develop yourself....and along the way, your business and your team?

Horrible Bosses

Have you seen this movie?  I am sure you must have because it has been out for a while.  Just thought I would ask a few obvious questions for your consideration:

1. are you a horrible boss?
2. what did you do to/with your horrible boss?
3. how did you escape from your horrible boss?
4. are you a horrible client?
5. do you have horrible employees?
6. how do you handle all the 'horribles' in your life?

Not a lot of preaching today...just some thinking.

No Risk Here

Feel like you are riding a rollercoaster and there is no safety bar?

OR

Is you day at work like a rollercoaster that is made of marshmallow and you are wrapped in bubblewrap?

Either doesn't work.

You need the safety bar - rules and guidelines that help everyone make good business decisions based on the needs of the organization and grounded in the values of the company.

But at the same time, you cannot be strapped and restricted to the point of no motion.

Risk is good.  The level of risk needs to be assessed.

Risk can bring improvements, innovation, new customers, new products, new avenues for growth.

What to do?  The leader who refuses to take risks will stagnate...and so will their numbers and their development - of the business and the team.  Even taking measured risks will provide growth.  No risks creates complacency for both your clients and your team. 

Attitude Reflects Leadership

Ever wonder when you walk into a business - a restaurant, an office, a store, a bank - why there is an atmosphere?  Not just the cleanliness or the smell in the air but a palpable feeling amongst the staff?
It's the attitude.
You need to understand that the underlying tone is any business, any community, any household, is really the reflection of the attitude of the leader.
If you have a leader who throws change at you at the checkout register, doesn't say thank-you, treats customers poorly, you will see the same from the employees in that location - if the leader can do it so will the staff.

What to do?  Always be aware of your attitude towards your team, your clients, those around you.  It will come back to you in attitude from your team, your clients and those around you.  Attitude reflects leadership - always!