It’s not often that people cry during our offsite leadership meetings – powerful all-day sessions where we help leadership teams focus on their business. After all, these are business meetings – not therapy sessions. But the flow of tears happens more times than I would have imagined before I started my coaching practice.
But it makes sense. My clients are passionate people who care deeply about their businesses. It’s more than just business – it’s their lives!
According to Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach, there are two things we can’t look at directly: the sun, and the truth. Without clouds or filters, both can be incredibly painful to look at directly. With one, we’ll actually go blind.
So how do we know what’s happening with the sun or the truth if we can’t look directly at them?
People ask me all the time, “Ken, what’s the number one thing I can do to make my business better?” My answer is always the same: there is no silver bullet. There is no single trick that will produce a magical transformation; rather, it’s a series of tweaks – some major, some minor – that will lead to dramatic results.
After 30 years of studying and coaching successful entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed that the most successful tend to have four habits in common, and these are things you can and should put into practice yourself. The first three are succinctly outlined in Optimize for Growth: How to Scale Up Your Business, Your Network, and You, written by my friend Jonathan B. Smith. You really should get this book; it’s a quick read, and it will explain how these practices work in concert with one another, and inspire you to make them part of your standard M.O.
During a recent client session I asked the team, "What can we do next quarter to improve our performance on quarterly rocks?" One member said she needed to improve her ability to multitask. Caught up in the moment, I responded, "There is no such thing as multitasking; it’s a myth that some use to explain away our lack of focus on what’s important." I then admitted that I also struggle with what seems like an impossible balancing act of competing priorities.
In his book Essentialism, the Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown describes the fast and sophisticated world most of us live in. He paints a very clear picture of how and why this happens. McKeown also provides an excellent framework for rethinking our habits in order to live a more purpose-driven life, both personally and professionally.
A few weeks ago, I pulled into a convenience store that had a banner out front touting “Best Quality, Fastest Service and Lowest Prices.” When I went into the store it was dirty, and the prices were double what I expected. I even had to go find the cashier! The Sales and Marketing arm of this store did their job of getting me in the door – but Operations didn’t deliver on the promise.
