What story do you tell yourself?

We are always creating a story in our mind about our lives. Some of the stories validate what we love about our lives. Some of our stories describe what we are not enjoying in our life. Regardless, both sides of our story are manifesting. Thoughts are creative. We create our thoughts. Our thoughts declare how our reality manifests.

With this awareness, it is worth our time to stop and reflect on the story we are telling ourselves. This story is only true because we say it is and live our life fulfilling it. If we change our story, we change our reality.

We tell ourselves a story that creates wonderful aspects of our life. We could do more of this if we chose. Often we get stuck in negative thinking and create stories that do not support what we desire. When we fear something, we tell ourselves a story that manifests that fear or that keeps us from building something that we want.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Thoughts are creative. When we are not paying attention, we may be telling ourselves stories that create things that we do not want in our lives. Awareness is essential. Notice the stories you are telling yourself. Are your stories creating what you do want or what you do not want?

Spend time writing the story of the life you desire. Change the narrative so that you are describing what you do want and not want you do not want.

Meditate to clear your thinking. Meditate to come out of stories that do not support who you are. Set your space and tell yourself the story that makes you feel aligned with the life you desire.

Meetings That Matter

Owners often ask about meetings, and no one wants to meet if the results do not benefit their customers/clients, their people, and the company. Here is one way to think about the meetings your business may need or not need to have.

• A manager holds a regular meeting to discuss the work of the business and the delivery of your products or services to clients/customers. The meeting can include a group or individuals.
• Regular individual development meetings with the primary manager focused on personal and professional growth. This meeting is not directly about the work as much as supporting the person in getting better at their job, developing new skills, and receiving support from their manager.
• Quarterly meetings held by CEO/President with everyone as a time to inspire and engage your people in the company itself. People love leadership and having direction.
• Management/Leadership Team meetings are for large companies with a leadership team (CEO, COO, CFO, and CMO) to discuss the implementation of company-wide strategies.
• Strategic Meetings are held annually with the owner and key people (from inside and outside the company) with whom the owner can share long-range objectives and brainstorm strategies to get there—an advisory group.

Design your meeting plan based on the result each meeting is to achieve. Measure that result. If you are not getting the results you want, step back and rethink how you conduct those meetings to achieve the results the company needs from this investment of time and people resources.

How Your Think Creates What You Have

Business owners struggle to find what is wrong that keeps them from having the right people, good cash flow, enough sales, enough time, and the list goes on.

Owners are looking for answers outside themselves. It’s the “great resignation.” No one can find talent these days. The economy is shrinking my revenue. I can’t get people to do what I want them to do. No one cares as much as I do so I have to do a lot myself. I could go on.

These are unproductive beliefs that get in the way of a successful business. From EMyth, “How you think about your business is how you do your business.” From my point of view, I can add, “Whatever you believe is created.”

My first goal with business owners is to have them notice themselves and how they think about things. If they allow this awareness, they see their thinking reflected in their business.

Often in coaching sessions, I ask an owner, “Why do you believe that to be true?” It is not true, but it is what they believe. Or I might ask, “Why do you think that?” to help them to realize it is simply what they think.

When we create a way of thinking, we build all the logic we can to support our thoughts about something.

Many owners talk about the “great resignation” as the reason they cannot find talent. I read a study done in 2018 about the challenge owners had with finding talent. In 2018, they blamed the availability of job opportunities on the internet as the problem. The issues businesses experience are not new. What matters is how we think about these challenges.

I have clients who believe they will find the solution to whatever comes their way and they do. Other clients focus on the problem, and it seems to get bigger the more they think about it. Or I could say how they think makes the problem bigger.

We can decide to wither in frustration about our business, or we can decide we will find a way. We can decide what to think and believe then think in productive and positive ways. We have a choice.

Begin to pay attention to what you say and what you think. Change your thinking and watch the changes in your business and life. The change will be immediate and powerful.

Hold Me Accountable. Please!

Almost every day, a business owner will call and ask me how to get their people to do what I want them to do. When we explore why this is happening, there are often many causes. One that always comes up is the lack of accountability.

The conversation begins with the owner describing their frustration with their staff. Sometimes they love their people and know they are right for the company and their position. Other times, the owner feels the people are not aligned with them or the vision for the company.

Owners will admit that they do not hold their people accountable. The reasons are many.

Fred told me last week that he wants to be seen as a nice guy. I asked, “Nice guys can’t hold people accountable?” He stared at me blankly. “What does it mean to be the nice guy?” We agreed that he could hold his people accountable and be the nice guy. Other owners are different, say they express their frustration with their people and are afraid they will leave.

I asked, “You say you want your people to do their work the right way. So what is the right way?”. That blank look again. I explained, “Do they know what you expect from them?” Fred said, “Of course, they know.” Then I ask, “How do they know? And how do you know that they know what you expect from them?” Blank stare.

By the end of the coaching session, we identified all the steps Fred could take to get the results he wanted. Fred realized that he was not holding himself accountable for doing what he needed to do.

Accountability always starts with the owner. First the owner must provide the clarity people need. The owner inspires people and engages their agreement. Then they can hold people accountable. The goal is trust and feel that everyone is pulling together to achieve something great! Fred and I will continue to work together because my job, as his coach, is to hold him accountable to do what he said he wanted to do.

Time is Not the Reason

Photo 74185932 / No Time © Ronstik | Dreamstime.com

Business owners often tell me, “I didn’t have time,” as the reason why they did not do what they said they wanted to do. As an example, the owner wanted to finish their 2022 budget before the end of 2021. Not the most exciting task, I assure you.

I never accept time as an excuse. How we use our time is a choice. The honest answer should be, “I chose not to do what I said I would do.” Now that answer leads to a productive conversation, self-awareness, and hopefully productive changes.

Choices We Make

“Where did you spend your time?” would be my reply. They may say, “On a lot of things, and it’s overwhelming,” I dig deeper, “What things?” They have a litany of reasons. The litany includes: I had to respond to a lot of emails. Do you know how many emails I receive? My staff needed my help. We are busy this time of year, so there is a lot to do, and the list goes on. I am curious how vital these tasks are, if the owner needed to be involved, or just in a routine of how they spent their time.

Email – A Time Waster

Email can be a real-time-waster, so I asked, “How do you manage your inbox?” Invariably, there is no plan, and the emails take up their mental space and time. They do not decide how to respond or what to do with emails so that they will reopen those emails Email can be a real-time-waster, so I asked, “How do you manage your inbox?” Invariably, there is no plan, and the emails take up their mental space and time. They do not decide how to respond or what to do with emails.  They reopen those emails several times over the week.  This is a significant waste of time and is  unproductive. Managing email is important, requires a plan and holding ourselves accountable.

Requests from Staff

“What did your staff need your help with?” Could they have figured that on their own? Is it easier to ask you than to take the time to learn or find a solution? Would a written system help then answer that question in the future? What if you changed how you responded to staff?  What if you empowered them making it clear the decisions they can make in their role?  What if you asked them to take ownership rather than depend on you?  Often owners like that their team depends on them.  Owners may resist writing down systems to support their staff.  System tell staff how to do the work or guides them in making decisions. These beliefs are unproductive and not sustainable if this company wants to grow.

It’s A Busy Time

Your company is busy this time of year as are many businesses. Your role as the owner/CEO/leader of this business is not seasonal. Taking time (even during busy times) to continue focusing on the business is the job of the leader. In this example, getting the budget finalized before the end of the year.

So you see, time is not a reason. It is an excuse for not holding ourselves accountable to do what we said we needed to. What if, from now on, you did not use time as a reason?  What if you took a hard look at where you chose to spend your time?  You will find that you have time for the important not-urgent work of a leader—credit to Stephen Covey’s Four Quadrants.

Stop Doing The Easy Things

_{Photo 92165857 / Business Meeting © Vadim Kluchnik | Dreamstime.com}

It’s human nature.  We do what we are good at or that we like doing. This is not always what our business needs from us.  We avoid doing what we are not good at, don’t like doing, or don’t know how to do it easily.  Often these are the very things our business needs us to do.

Write quarterly goals.  Do not include goals you know you will accomplish.  Write goals that your business needs to achieve its strategic objective and focus to accomplish.

Write monthly action plans.  Do not include actions you know you will take.   Write action plans for each month that push you out of your routine and comfort zone, that stretch you to focus intensely to make the changes your business needs you to make.

This is the difference between doing a job and leading a successful business. A successful business focuses on the right things.

Not working on your business?

Photo 107498032 / Business Owner © Marcin Maslowski | Dreamstime.com

There is never a right time. If not now, when?

It’s A Job

We are busy. Our business is operating in a way that creates overwhelm. We cannot get our heads above water to spend time fixing the business. We are too busy doing the work of the business and making sure that work is done the way that we want. This is the vicious cycle. You have a job! A demanding job!

Working ON Your Business

I work with business owners every day. Some owners make time to work on their business. They want to assure that it operates reliably and is not dependent on them – a business owner’s dream comes true. Most other business owners are just plain busy, and it’s killing them. They may be profitable (or not), and their life is suffering. The worst-case scenario is not enough profit and no time for anything, including life.

It’s Not Just About Your Products & Services

It does not have to be that way. Owners reach the point where something must change. They begin to realize it is not only about the products and services they provide to their customers. It’s about having a business with the structure and systems for how the business operates that matters. They begin to see the business as the product.

Making Time

To create a business that works means taking your attention off managing the work of the business and focusing on the business itself.

I find that most owners do not understand what it means to work on their business. When I ask them how they spend time working on the business, they describe the work they do to improve the work of the business. Sound familiar?

Think Like An Entrepreneur

The first step is to change how you think as an owner. Working on a business requires thinking like an entrepreneur and being strategic. What is your vision for the business in three to five years? Without a vision, you are working hard every day. It’s a job to make a buck.

An entrepreneur sees the business as a whole – vision, values, brand, people, finances, marketing, delivery, sales, and more. An entrepreneur has a clear three to five year vision of their business. They contemplate how the business needs to operate to be profitable and to give them more life. They create strategies to achieve that vision. They spend time each day (start with an hour) not working in the business. They step away to think like an entrepreneur. Start today. Get help if needed to change old habits, to think like an entrepreneur, and change how you spend your time. You’ll be glad you did.

Best wishes on creating a business that serves you and your life.

Winning Teams Are Created

Companies operate best when everyone is working together as a team. Teams do not exist because they show on your org chart and you say they are a team. As leaders, we bring a group of people together and develop them into a team.

Photo 141680673 © Fizkes | Dreamstime.com

People have a natural desire to be part of a tribe. Most people are not content with just having a job. They want to be part of something. They want to feel that they are contributing to the achievement of a goal or success. They want to be recognized for the results they produce.

What Makes A Team:
Too often, we do not consider what it takes to create a team. It takes understanding each member to make a team click. Teams are made up of individuals with unique skills, personalities, motivations, and needs.
To start, have the right people on a team. You do not want them to be the same. Each person brings skills and a perspective that makes the team stronger. Some team members are leaders. Some are quiet. Some see the big picture. Others are great with the details.
Everyone needs to feel safe, cared for, recognized, and supported. Regardless, they must feel that they belong.

Teams Reflect Their Manger
How do teams get to the place that they are a functioning team? Teams reflect their leader (coach). Change begins with their manager. Your perspective, leadership style, and efforts can build a team – a team that works, wins, and everyone is a player. You create the culture in which a team can thrive and perform.

Steps To Take

• A vision worth striving for: People want to be part of something that matters. Inspire them with a vision. Define roles and responsibilities, so everyone is clear how they are to contribute.
• Set Goals. Measure Progress. Coach to Win: Define what success is for the team and each position on the team. Everyone wants to know the target they are expected to meet. Make sure you and each person have a way to measure their progress. Meet with the team and each individual regularly to coach them. Each person needs to have personal and professional goals. Find this out and help them create their plan to get there.
• Be Consistent: Be consistent in your leadership. Include fairness, kindness, care, listening, clear expectations, and nurturing a sense of belonging.
• Feel Heard: Make sure each team member’s voice is heard. Spend time listening to people individually and in team discussions. You may need to make space for a quieter member to share their point of view. Listen. Use your intuition.
• Inclusion: Build a culture of inclusion, making sure no one is left out. Take action to keep everyone engaged.
• Communication: Model ways to communicate. That is easy when things are going well. Model how to express frustration constructively. Adopt the perspective that it is rarely “a people” problem. Most often, frustrations, yours and team members are due to a lack of clarity or lack of an effective system. State problems and find solutions from that perspective. What’s missing that is causing the frustration?

Start Now
How do you know if you have a team, a whole team? Everyone is engaged. Everyone is making progress toward the goal. Each team member contributes to innovation or improvement.
It is never too soon to build the culture in which a team and team members can thrive. Don’t let things slide. If it does not feel right (trust your intuition), then something is wrong. Work with your team to find a solution.
Adopt the perspective that people work with you, not for you to achieve a result. See how this changes how you lead.

A Plan for Growth

Most companies are eager for growth, but more clients and more sales can be a dangerous goal without a plan.  I have seen companies grow successfully. I have seen companies bring in all the sales they ever dreamed of only to have it destroy their business.  The difference is patient planning.

When an owner or CEO decides to focus on growth, there are steps to take.  All aspects of a business are impacted by growth. Planning for this impact creates a sustainable business.   Your business is unique, and every company has core elements that are the same.

VISION What is the vision for this business?  Where do you want your company to be in three, five, and ten years?  Decisions you make and actions you take are achieving your vision.  Considee our vision what you want your company to be known for – your brand reputation. Whom you want to serve? What products and services are at the core of your company? What kind of company culture will best deliver on your commitment to your customers?  A vision is a high-level view, but then there are the nuts and bolts of it.  The devil is in the details.

POSITIONS, PEOPLE, AND SYSTEMS What are the specific objectives for growth and the metrics you want to achieve?  What staffing will be needed to support that growth? An excellent recruitment and hiring system is at the core of a successful company.  You need to identify the positions the company will need to handle growth and by when.  Next, have the right people in the correct positions.  Those people need the support of written processes to do their job the way you want the work done.  An effective management system mentors your people to produce consistent and reliable results,

FINANCES OF GROWTH Understanding the finances of growth is vital. What will it take to create and deliver on your growth metrics? Will the increase result, not just in sales, but in the net income you are targeting.  Growth often means investing in the company’s resources. Strong financial systems, goals, and a cash flow plan keeps the company profitable as it grows.

KNOWING YOUR TARGET MARKET. You are making sure that growth brings in your ideal customers, clients, or patients.  Attracting the wrong market is a drain on every aspect of the business.  A well thought out marketing strategy is needed before a lead generation process. The goal is a lead generation process that attracts a consistent flow of the right customers.

DELIVER AS PROMISED Before launching a lead generation process, understand your company’s capacity to deliver on promised products and services.  Can your company provide the products and services promised? You want to keep the customers that the lead generation system attracts not just make a sale.

HIGH CONVERSION You’ve invested time and energy in planning for growth.   An effective lead conversion process that converts leads at a high rate makes all your efforts pay off. Look at the goal for sales and the plan to achieve those goals.

A BUSINESS PREPARED FOR SUCCESS Before growth comes planning and preparing the business.  Doing this the right way builds on your brand reputation, generates revenues you have not seen before, supports a staff that feels good about the work they do, and your customers, clients, patients would not go anywhere else.

Foundation for Developing Leaders

Business owners often contact me for leadership development services. They ask, “Can you train my people to be leaders?” 

Developing leaders is an important goal. There is work to do before I can train leaders, and training alone does not make people leaders.

Objective: To begin, I ask the owner for reference materials. Do they have a long-range strategic plan, a statement of core values, and promise to their clients/customers? The response is often wondering what these have to do with leadership development. 

A person cannot lead without knowing the company’s long range objective, the culture inside the company, and promise to clients/customers.

Some companies have these foundational documents. Most do not. I work with clients to develop and make sure this foundation is in place, and there is a strategy for them to be embodied by everyone in the company.

Leadership, as expected, starts at the top. The top can be the owner/principals, the CEO/President, or an Executive Team. In whatever way decisions are made in a company, these foundational documents must be developed, written, and shared.

Structure: What is the organization’s structure today? What structure will achieve the strategic objective? The structure you have today may not be what you need to succeed or grow. It is far more productive to determine the positions you will need in three to five years. I work with leaders of a company to think not about their people and where to put them. I want them to think about the structure the company needs first. Consider each position and the result it will produce. Once we have a working structure, we can see where people fit. This is a challenge for most leaders, so I help them approach this strategically.

Leaders: The new organizational structure shows the reporting lines. We want to make sure this makes sense and is manageable. Who are the people in your organization who are leaders or potential leaders? Whom do they manage? How many people report directly to them? The structure is for three-five years out to prepare for growth.

Responsibilities and Authorities: Companies can have flat or hierarchical organizations. Each leadership position must have clearly defined and written roles and responsibilities. They must be clear about their decision-making authority.

Agreement: Leadership conveys to eveyone the structure and purpose of each position. The lack of clarity and consistent application of the plan creates confusion and conflict. Securing everyone’s understanding and agreement is essential. I work with clients to develop strategies to obtain agreement.

Develop Leadership Skills: Once all of this is in place, your people are now ready to be coached and trained in their leadership role.

Problem Solved

Your angry or perhaps just frustrated. Someone isn’t doing what you need them to do. Worse, someone is not doing what you specifically asked them to do. Others make mistakes. As a business owner, it can be frustrating because you cannot do it all yourself. You depend on people to scale a successful business that does not rely on you putting out fires and fixing things.

Being frustrated with people or even firing them because they are seen as the problem is a common and unproductive response because it does not address the root cause – you. A business is always a reflection of the owner’s good and bad aspects. We all know this, even if it is an unpleasant thought. Therefore, a problem can only be solved starting with you, the owner, or the manager.

When you notice the same problem or frustration appearing again and again, solve a problem for good:

1. Begin by clearly stating your frustration.
2. When you are clear, write it down.
3. Write the result you want instead. 

Example: If you are frustrated that the sales department rarely does what you tell them to do, then the result you want is for your sales team to conduct sales in a way that converts sales at a high level. Another example may be the production crew frequently forgets to power down the equipment. The result you want is for the production department’s equipment to be powered down entirely every day.

You can put a band-aid on the problem by reminding people to do what you told them to do, but how many times have you done just that. Issues have to be solved and eliminated at the root cause, requiring curiosity and a willingness to analyze a situation. If you are impatient and want to solve it with the first thought that comes to mind, you are using the band-aid method. The problem will reappear.

Your Contribution to the Problem: Finding the root cause starts with asking, “What am I doing to contribute to this frustration?” As the leader, and knowing the business is a reflection of you, discover how you are part of the cause. You may not have developed a reliable system for your team to convert sales in the example above. Perhaps you have not held people accountable to power down equipment. Maybe you have not taken the time to find out from the production manager what he needs to make sure the equipment is powered down each day or not mentored the sales manager enough to get results from his people. There are so many ways in which leadership impacts results.

Others Contribution to the Problem: The obvious next step is to identify how others may be contributing to the frustration. For example, the sales manager and the production managers do not hold their people accountable. Perhaps managers have not sufficiently trained their staff. 

Missing System is the Problem: Most frustrations and issues are a systems problem, not a people problem. Written systems may not exist, or a written system does not produce the intended result; when design and document a system that delivers the desired results, the problem is eliminated.

If we change how we think about frustrations, find the root cause and a system solution, we can spend our time creating the business and the life we desire.

Pay Transparency. Is your company ready?

There are three words every business has to consider as they plan for the future – mobile, global and social. That does not mean that every business must embrace any or all of these trends but most are, and the millennial generation certainly is. Mobile, global and social will continue to grow.

These trends are showing up in expected and unexpected ways. One of the most game-changing trends is pay transparency. Millennials expect to know everything. They grew up getting answers to everything on the Internet, so it comes naturally to them to ask for information including what everyone is paid.

Pay transparency is a change in the culture of business. I can hear you gasp, but that change is coming. You can get there kicking and screaming. You can be late to the party, or you can embrace change and become leaders in the movement.

President Obama showed his support for pay transparency by his executive order that companies with 100 or more employees under contract with the federal government report salaries by age, gender and job group. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as individual states, are enacting regulations to support pay transparency efforts. Don’t faint. Welcome to the new millennium of transparency whether you are in the US or another country, transparency in many forms is coming. Pay equity is being driven by long-standing pay discrepancies for women and out of proportion CEO compensations highlighted by the media during the economic downturn.

Transitioning to pay transparency takes time and planning so don’t post everyone’s salary and benefits just yet. Posting salary information is not the goal either. Pay transparency requires planning, communication and clear understanding.  Many companies already have pay transparency, typically smaller, trend-setting businesses that want to change the culture of business. They may be the first, but all will follow as the trend continues.

Pay transparency changes everything in a company. The gender gap is exposed and resolved. It eliminates the petty speculation about what the other person is paid. It makes companies honest in their assessment of their talent. It’s all transparent.

Before making pay information available, there is a lot of work by management to take a good hard look at their pay structure, to understand it, make it understandable for others and fix mistakes in the current practice. Develop a plan for grades and raises so that when staff finds pay information they also see the plan.

Once management has a clear way to explain their salary and benefits plan and to account for the formula so that each person can see their path to growth in the company, then you are ready to share information not by posting it but by explaining it with your staff. Inevitably there will be plans for adjustments. The goal is that no one feels bad about his or her pay and benefits. They know where they are and why. In this way, they know what they need to do to improve their position in the company.

The toughest part may be for the CEO and management to own up to their pay if it is way out of line with the staff. There have been many stories of CEOs making 100s of times more than anyone else. It is hard to justify that when you share staff pay as well.

There is no argument that pay transparency is a rough road for some companies and not so difficult for others but in any case, it is coming for everyone so beginning to think in those terms will serve your business.

Success Through People

At the heart of every business are its people. At the heart of success are your people. If you want your people to care for your customer/client, take care of your people. 

Owners often contact me with frustrations about their people. When we dig into the root cause, we find most often; it is not a problem with people. It often is a leadership, management, or systems problem. Problems with people are a symptom of something not working in the business.

When owners are frustrated with their people, they can explore factors that impact people.

• Right People: Having the right people means people who are qualified to do or can learn the work, but most important are people who align with your vision for the business, the values you hold, and the customer experience you want them to deliver. Find this out before you hire a qualified person.

• Inspire and Engage: You can’t make people do anything, so your role as the leader is to engage and inspire your people to work with you to achieve your vision for the business, which includes building the culture you want in the company, care for your customer, your people and the financial health of the business. All three aspects must be taken care of by everyone.

• Precise Results: Let your people know what you expect from them precisely. Be clear about their responsibilities and the results you desire. Without that clarity, they are just working and perhaps frustrating you. It is just a job. Have those responsibilities written, discussed, and mutually agreed upon. Without their agreement, you cannot expect results. Track and review those results together regularly. If it matters to you, then help it matter to them by being on top of their results.

• Resources & Support: Give your people what they need to achieve the objectives they have agreed to perform. People will work to achieve goals that seem possible to them and have the resources they need. Train and continue to develop them to do the work well. Give them a primary manager who will meet with them regularly to see what the employee needs to achieve their objectives.

• Develop & Retain: Focusing on results develops your people in ways that they become high-performing members of your team. Recognize results. Provide opportunities for personal and professional growth. Do you people see opportunities within the company, or do they feel they will need to go elsewhere for professional growth? Talking with your people about their personal and professional goals helps you retain your best people.

Having great people who produce results begins with your leadership to engage and inspire them. Managers make clear their responsibilities and expected results, then give them what they need to succeed. People want to succeed, to feel good about what they do, and to know how they contribute to the business’s success. This is the foundation of a successful business.

Success Needs EVERYone

You want a successful business. You have a great idea, product, or service and a plan to deliver it. Who else knows your great idea? Who else knows how you see your business, where you are going, and how you plan to get there? Who else knows? Who else focuses on this vision being achieved? Your closet advisors?

The answers to these questions determine your success. The correct answer would be that everyone in my company is working to achieve the vision.

The reality is that most people have a job. They come to work, do their job, and no one expects more from them. Why not? You do not need people to do the work. You need people who know that they are part of something that matters, that the work they do matters, and that they are working with each other to achieve a vision.

Engaging your people with a vision that inspires them is critical to success—not just sharing once. Create a strategy to continually engage and inspire your people so that anyone and everyone can express the company’s vision and see how what they do contributes to achieving it. It sounds simple, but it is not easy, and it takes focus and commitment to your company and your people.

Do you find yourself making decisions all day long?

If you make decisions all day long, you may focus on something other than the right things.

Owners decide the long-term strategic objective and empower the CEO to achieve that objective.

The CEO decides how to achieve that strategic objective. CEO decides the goals to be achieved each quarter. They decide the actions to be completed each month to achieve those goals, assign leaders to complete those actions, and provide the standards to be met and guidelines to follow.

The leaders to whom the CEO assigns responsibility will make decisions based on those standards and guidelines. Those leaders decide the specific positions in the company to complete those actions and provide those positions with the standards, guidelines, and written systems for doing the work.

In this model, decisions are made at the right level, responsibilities are clearly defined, and systems are written to direct the work. If you are making too many decisions, then ask yourself why? What responsibility have you not delegated? What standards or guidelines have you not provided for that person to take appropriate action? What written systems are missing?

When decisions are made at the right level, a good structure is in place with written systems for doing the work and everyone benefits. This helps companies focus on the right things to achieve objectives, create a healthy work environment, provide exceptional customer experience and reach their financial goals.

A business or a job?

There is so much going on in your business, and it all seems to need your attention. Being busy working in your business means, you do not have a business; you have a job in your business. Most owners did not expect their companies to depend on them, and now they cannot find a way out.

Each business owner has a different story, but there is a common theme. The owner is focusing on the wrong things and is not sure where to focus.

A way out of this dilemma is to think like an entrepreneur. “Owner” is not a position in a company. Some owners do not work in the day-to-day operations of their business others do. If you want to change that, begin by identifying the position or positions you occupy. Your position may be CEO or President. You may also be the CFO, Operations Manager, Sales Manager, Marketing Manager, salesperson and more. How many positions (jobs) do you occupy?

Thinking about the positions you cover may lead you to think strategically about what your business needs. Notice everything you do and ask yourself what position could be or should be doing this. Develop a written process for how you do that work, delegate, and train that person to take on this responsibility. Repeat this until the business does not depend on you, and you can become the leader your business needs you to be.

Notice your inclination to think it is easier just to do it yourself. This thinking keeps you doing a job and most likely struggle to grow your business. You can’t grow a business when you are busy working in it.

A process like this sounds easy. Once you change your perspective, implementing these changes in your business can be challenging. You may need someone to hold you accountable, as old habits are hard to change. The change begins with you.