Over the weekend I was discussing business start-ups with a friend and wannabe business owner and so I was going through all the materials for the consultancy services I used to do with start-ups and it occurred me that themes on which my propositions were based are a great summary of many of the themes we’ve been discussing in these blogs.
My work was split into three themes, each of which were epitomises by a quote:
Start With the End in Mind
By “end in mind” I meant vision, and by vision I meant:
Clarity as to the reason why you do what you do
Understanding the difference, you are making
Being brave enough to articulate the legacy you want to leave behind
These components make up your vision and your competitive advantage. Business Owners who communicate their purpose or cause first, communicate in a way that drives decision-making and action. Based on human physiology this literally taps the part of the brain that inspires people to take action.
Personal Perspective:
That logic runs true whether you’re a business owner, a developer, a scrum master, a business analyst, project manager or really any other role.
Play to Your Strengths
Everybody has skills, talents, or knowledge that just come more easily to them than others - areas they just naturally excel at and love doing. By contrast we all also have things that we just cannot get, no matter how hard we try and how long we persevere some things we just don't enjoy, can't do, always forget to do, put off doing, get wrong, etc etc.. That's just the way we are made - unique but perfect in our own way.
It makes total business sense therefore to find a way to match your individual strengths to your day to day undertakings. When you are an entrepreneur, sole-trader or starting a new business, you often find you have to spend large chunks of time and effort on the parts of business that just don’t resonate for you – be that PR and Marketing, Operational Processes, Financial Management, Articulating your Vision, Strategy and Planning, or Tracking and Reporting Success…
Many sole traders, solopreneurs and small business owners are highly creative, inspirational in the creation of their business vision and brilliant at the aspect of the business they are passionate about, but that doesn’t always mean that they know how to define, develop and deliver it - they can often struggle to get into the mindset of looking rationally, logically, and technically at their ideas - more often than not, because that dampens their creativity, and therefore their enjoyment… The word “admin” bringing them out in a cold sweat…
Not only does having to slice yourself up in this way mean that you enjoy your working hours less, but it also makes your time less productive and as a result the business grows slower, and you don’t get the quality and effectiveness that your talents deserve – that benefits no-one…
Playing to your strengths is about taking an objective look at yourself, to remind yourself what it is that makes you fulfilled, happy, motivated and what it is that you actually want to spend your time doing. In doing this you also identify the activities, areas, actions that just don’t do it for you. Objectively recognising these aspects then enables us to look at how else these things can be delivered, for the benefit of you, your business and your customers.
“Accept yourself, your strengths, your weaknesses, your truths, and know what tools you have to fulfil your purpose.” Steve Maraboli
Personal Perspective:
Within a large organisation, we tend to have done a lot of the above to hone our focus down to the type of role we take – technical, change, finance, risk etc. We all know that within every role there are aspects we don’t enjoy, systems that aren’t structured the way our brain works, governance, reporting, meetings etc that don’t fit the perfect view of our day or role. We don’t necessarily have the same control as we do if we own the business, but we do get to decide how we approach those aspects – how we work within our teams to maximise playing to our strengths.
Get Out of Your Own Way
In all essence, often businesses are constructed around the Business Owner and then they become the biggest obstacle to their business’ growth.
Everybody has skills, talents, or knowledge that just come more easily to them than others - areas they just naturally excel at and love doing. By contraplst we all also have things that we just cannot get, no matter how hard we try and how long we persevere some things we just don't enjoy, can't do, always forget to do, put off doing, get wrong, etc etc.. Thatp's just the way we are made - unique but perfect in our own way.
Knackered, frustrated, and the business is stagnating and the dream seems a lot further away. If this is you, then Get Out Of Your Way…
They key is to focus on the reason why - “the end in mind” - and assess what you want to get out of it “play to your strengths” and then empty your brain, time and focus from everything else.
Sounds easy, but is in fact really quite hard. Businesses often become like children - an integral part of you, so giving up even the parts you hate and aren’t good are can be hard. It’s therefore essential that you remember the reason why. Focussing on that will remind you that the larger your business the more people can benefit from your service/product. The most enjoyment you get – the happier you are, your family are, your team are. So letting go is actually a very strong, positive thing.
Personal Perspective:
Now if we break this down from business – to process, forum, ways of working, technical approach – we all get attached to things, and unable to separate them out from us and reflect on the value, need and relevancy. But we know the world is changing - the industry, our customers expectations, the technology around us, our expectations of ways of working – what has worked before, is not necessarily going to work going forward, and for the greater good of the business we have to let it go…
So my challenge to you off the back of sharing this is to ask yourself three questions:
Do you know where you are headed? What your “end in mind is”?
Do you know what your strengths and are you playing to them?
Are you open to getting out of your way and letting change into the way you do or how you do our job?
If the answer to any of those isn’t clear, easy and concise, challenge yourself to get it there. Your day, your sense of achievement, and your productivity will thank you.
"I am my problem, but also my solution"
Until next time...
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