Did You know?

The origins of April Fools’ Day are shrouded in mystery, experts say. The most popular theory is that France changed its calendar in the 1500s so that the New Year would begin in January to match the Roman calendar instead of beginning at the start of spring, in late March or early April.

National Geographic – Mar 28, 2008

Are you keeping an eye on the big picture and where you want your business to be in the future while dealing with the present day-to-day operation and challenges?  If not, you could be blind-sided by where your business will take you.

One of the leading challenges business leaders have is navigating the present and creating results today, while building capacity for the future.  This challenge exists for solo-preneur operations to large corporations.

For example, a small business (we’ll call Otter) is owned and operated by a partnership of two technical guys and they have a team of 30 employees.  They have experienced steady growth in their business since inception due to some foundational service contracts.  The rest of their business lacks direction and focus and can change based on what takes their fancy.

Otter’s team has been growing with them but frustrations are growing and turnover is beginning to creep in.  A look at their business revealled the following –

• Employees are working a lot of overtime because the owners are not planning for growth effectively.
• Morale is sagging because team members are frustrated at continually trying to keep up.
• Otter is failing to reinvest in the needed tools and other resources to meet and leverage team efforts.
• Systems are not designed to achieve the consistencies and efficiencies to prevent duplication and confusion.
• Leadership by the owners is lacking.  The team feels they are unresponsive and not communicating a vision for the business, leaving employees wondering where the owners are taking the business.

As a business leader (whether you are the owner or an executive) there are three key areas you can keep in mind to help ensure you are not blind-sided by your business.

1.   Gain a personal insight into your own leadership style and leadership development needs of your team.   An executive coach can be a valued addition for leadership development.

2.  Communicate your vision for your business and any changes you are undertaking.  Informing and engaging your team will help improve retention, secure buy-in, and improve morale.  Everyone wants to know the work they are doing is going to make a positive difference.

3.  Spend time working on your business so you manage growth effectively.  A short-sighted leader is not an effective leader.  Even when you are a one-person business, you must take time each week to plan and reflect.  You need to know where you want to go, what you have achieved,  what is working and what’s not.  Goals and milestones and other metrics will allow you be one step ahead and ready when your business grows.   Continually racing to keep up results in mistakes, frustrations, unhappy customers and potentially lost sales.

If you and your leadership team could benefit from leadership development. communication and improved employee engagement, book a complimentary Ignite Business Assessment session.  We can explore where your business is today and key next steps.