I pride myself on being punctual — actually I pride myself on being ahead of schedule when I am meeting with clients or attending a meeting. Are you always late? Are you on time? If you’re always late you are, in effect, disrespecting the person with whom you’re meeting, the other attendees at a meeting you’re attending and it is, frankly, in bad form.
Why are you always late? Does time truly get away from you? Do you forget to write appointments down in your virtual or paper calendar? Do you need to set a timer or alarm in order to get yourself to meetings on time? Do you have an assistant who could be called upon to remind you of pending meetings and to get you out the door in time?
It’s thought that people who are always late are “creative and/or artistic types.” Even if you work in a creative field, being late is disrespectful to the person with whom you’re meeting. Don’t fall into the cliche of the “absent minded professor.” Don’t become known as, “John, he’s always late.”
Set a timer on your computer, your smart phone or use an actual timer for 15 minutes before you have to leave for a meeting. Give yourself that 15-minute window to wrap up the task you’re working on and get out the door.
Set another alarm to remind you to get out the door.
If you know you have a meeting coming up in an hour, don’t get involved in a time consuming task that will be hard to break away from.
Give yourself breathing room in your schedule. Build in a buffer for calls that take longer than you planned for, projects that were more time consuming than you’d imagined.
Enlist someone in your office to remind you of your appointments and get you out the door in time.
Are you always late? What is your reason for being late? Can you determine what it is? If you can pinpoint it, you can work to address it in the future.
We’re a week into 2017. While many of your colleagues are forward facing, it makes sense to look back to move business forward. Before you move forward you need to know what worked, and what didn’t, in 2017. How will you know whether what you’re doing is working if you don’t take time to reflect?
Answer those questions, then look forward by asking yourself:
What leaders inspire and motivate me?
What do I want to do more of in 2017?
What do I want to do less of?
Who can I partner with to grow my business?
What channels on social media do I want to have a bigger presence on?
Who do I want to serve this year?
What volunteer activities can I get involved in?
What do I want clients and potential clients to say about me when they speak of me?
What steps can I take right now to gain traction on my 2017 goals?
What will I use as metrics for my success?
The year is still young. Take time today to answer these questions then go forth and conquer 2017! If you have “explore coaching” on your list, send me a message — let’s talk! Many business owners find that working with a coach helps them better navigate a path toward business growth because they’re working with someone outside of their business niche.
When you’re entrepreneur, you can’t operate with a “do as I say, not as I do” mindset. You must be as accountable to yourself, your business and your employees as they are to you. Leaders must be accountable in order to demand that from staff, vendors and others with whom they interact.
How can you lead with accountability?
Think about whether you have been clear in actions and deeds.
Are the deliverables you promised being delivered on time and in the state in which you promised them?
Have you clearly stated to the principles involved what the business impact or consequence of actions will be — whether good or bad.
Do you follow up and follow through?
Do you apologize when you’ve been in the wrong?
Today, employees and vendors have myriad choices of business owners with whom to work and interact. Make certain you are that employer or vendor or service or product provider of choice. Be accountable. Be authentic in all of your dealings. Watch your business soar when you are an “open book.”
We know, though, there is a delicate balance a leader walks between being a leader and being just one of the guys. It’s important for you to set the tone of the office and business environment. Balance your approach of being a strategic leader and being an approachable manager and your employees, staff and vendors will see that you are accountable and someone in whom they can place their trust.
Do you find yourself in a struggle with being a leader and being a manager? They are two very different styles of being a business owner. If you’re looking to grow your business in 2017, drop me an email and let’s schedule a time to talk about how coaching might help your business move to the next level of success.
There are business growth myths that abound and I’d like to take some time to bust some of those myths before the new year kicks in. Jump into 2017 with a renewed focus on business growth and cultivate a great year from day one!
Bigger is better. This isn’t always true. Bigger isn’t better when you’re not ready for growth. You need to have systems and procedures in place to accommodate growth. If you’re not ready to handle an influx in business it’s best to take it slow than to have to scramble to hire new people who may not be the right people. Moving to a bigger office isn’t better if you don’t have the cash flow for to pay the increased expenses.
All growth is good growth. Too much growth when you’re not prepared isn’t good. Too little growth when you’d planned and budgeted for more is, at the opposite end of the spectrum, not good either. If growth is putting strain on your resources, you may need to scale back until you aren’t stretched at the seams. In some cases, growth that you’re not prepared for can actually lead to your business going under.
Grow or die. There is nothing wrong with being a “mom and pop” operation. No one says you have to take on and take over the world. Work in a business space in which you’re comfortable and at which you’re excelling. Slow and steady does win most races.
What can you do to be prepared for a business growth spurt?
Make sure you are always meeting and exceeding customer expectation. Don’t let that foundation be shaken by business growth.
Always seek operational excellence. Make continual improvements.
Document strategies and procedures. Learn from your mistakes.
Keep employees engaged so they are ready and able to deal with a business growth spurt.
What are you looking for in your business for 2017?
Do you find yourself continually being the go-between with your staff and vendors or contractors? Do you ever wonder how to put out work fires so they don’t reignite and so everyone can move forward? If the fires are between what your company and staff are delivering and customer expectations, the fires need to be extinguished and new ground planted.
Here are tips to put out fires and be more productive:
Know what your customers expect. You may believe you’re delivering Product A, but your customer was expecting Service B. If these expectations don’t mesh you will be in continual fire mode. Communicate so everyone is on the same page.
Offer support. If your staff is struggling to meet customer expectations and demands, it might be time for you to step in and mediate. Ask your employee what they feel the issue is then take steps to resolve the miscommunication between staff and customers.
Resolve problems. Don’t let problems linger on the hope they will resolve themselves. That rarely happens.
Talk with your customer. Have a sit down — virtual or in person — and attempt to get to the bottom of the problem. Be aware that it could simply be that your customer and the employee working with him just don’t mesh and never will. Cut your losses and give your customer to a different employee to help provide your service. Talk with your employees first so they are on the same page. It’s not a punishment it’s an attempt to put out that fire.
If you have to spend your days being a firefighter, your own work will fall to the wayside. Step in and resolve issues before they become blazing infernos.
