Will this be your year? The year your frustrations fade into memory and your company hits the big time?
Do you have what it takes to grow your business? You started the company and have managed it to a certain level so far. Now you want more. What is the secret to finally taking your company to the next level?
It is time to hone your leadership and management skills.
At this next stage in your company’s life, it’s all about managing people. You can’t do it all on your own. You wouldn’t run a marathon without training for it. You wouldn’t finish the race … and the damage to health? That’s what we do when we think we’re invincible. And we know better now, right? If you really want to do this right without hitting the wall like many business owners do, then invest in expanding your leadership toolbox.
One of the most challenging aspects of owning a business is deciding to grow, or dealing with the unanticipated growth that success brings. Many businesses go through an expansion cycle only to hit a wall and shrink back down to a manageable size. How do you break that plateau? By changing how you think and how you lead your company.
Maybe this fact surprised you. Over the decades that we have been helping business owners grow, the same patterns emerge. Test your knowledge to see how many of ‘walls’ you recognize. Then ask yourself, “do I know how to break these patterns so I can lead my company to much greater success?â€
The most successful business owners, athletes, actors and executives all have one thing in common. A trusted advisor who tells them the truth, who challenges their thinking and shows them how they keep getting in their own way and then works alongside them so they lead with their strengths.
How to Know if You Have What it Takes to Lead Your Company to Growth?
Business Growth Common Problems
Here are the common problems that plague many businesses when they are want to grow but aren’t getting the traction. Which patterns do you notice?
- You are used to making decisions on the fly. Then telling people what to do to make the changes.
- You notice what your people are not doing, more than what they are doing.
- You think about what you don’t want, more often than what you do want.
- You notice the same problems keep cropping up even though you thought you dealt with them once and for all.
- You spend a good part of your day dealing with other people’s problems. Why do you have to be the hero?
- When something goes wrong, your managers or employees look to you to fix it. Why do you have to be the bad guy?
- You get information about company performance after it is too late to do anything about it.
- Your older customers talk about how things don’t work the same way anymore in your company. What can you do about it?
- Your newer customers don’t maintain their loyalty.
- You go home at night wondering if it will be any different tomorrow.
Results
If you have more than three of these patterns embedded in your company, then we have good news and bad news.
The good news is that every company that is in growth mode experiences these kinds of vexing issues that consume vast quantities of time, resources (hair) and goodwill. You are not alone. And what you can see, you can do something about.
You can learn how to deal with every issue and do it in a way that works to your strengths. You don’t have to be Teflon Man or Charisma Gal to be an effective leader. But you do have to invest in learning how what you do, doesn’t get you what you had hoped for.
The bad news is, you are at the heart of the problem. Your thinking, communicating, leading and managing styles need an overhaul. If you want your company to grow into more, if you want to be able to sell your company at some point in time, if you want it to be more profitable and far less frustrating as it consumes the best years of your life, you have a big decision to make.
Will you choose to learn how you get in your own way so that you can adjust and become the kind of leader your company needs?
It isn’t hard to learn how. Humans make it hard by refusing to take the step to deal with the problem. What some owners find hard is breaking the pattern of being the lone wolf who doesn’t need any coaching. If you’re done being frustrated and it is more important for you to lead your company to a better future than going it alone, running into the same walls time again, give coaching a road test, on our nickel.
It’s Your Time. Is this the year your company breaks through?
Explore how to work with a trusted advisor who will challenge you to make the kinds of changes that will rock your leadership power into high-octane performance.
