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Drop What Isn’t Working Like a Bad Habit
Recognizing
what does not work is often the hardest principle to execute, because
it requires the owner, manager, supervisor, or the whole **** team at
the business to take an honest look at everything and own up to the
practices, actions, attitudes, habits, and people that are just not
working as they should to help grow the business. This requires leaders
not only to be honest with themselves and their team about the areas
they may be falling short in (either individually or collectively) but,
more importantly, it forces them to take action now that opportunities
to improve are out in the open. The payoff is huge when you take a
negative habit and turn it into a positive one! You’re not slowing
things down anymore—you are speeding them up! It changes momentum; one
act at a time, the momentum builds. The best companies get to watch it
happen all the time!
Whether
they admit it or not, the vast majority of leaders and companies are
just not willing to candidly look in the mirror, leave their ego on the
floor and admit what they personally (or the company as a whole) suck
at. Honestly, who in their right mind really wants to openly admit
their mistakes, weaknesses, bad hires, flawed strategies, poor
practices, or candidly own up to the fact that their idea is not
working? Smart leaders do!
I
have yet to find a single company that does everything right and does
nothing to hinder its own growth. Some come pretty **** close, but
those are the rare companies that have the discipline, humility, and
candor that allows them to catch mistakes quickly, welcome the
opportunity to improve, and change course, as needed.
Most
businesses, however, are slowed by individual or corporate ego, a
defensive mentality, or a general unwillingness to expose any
vulnerability. How many times have you interacted with a
company/department leader or an employee that just didn’t “get it”? How
many times have you seen situations where those involved honestly
seemed clueless, indifferent, or, at times, actively defensive about
what you could see plain as day was a stupid decision, policy, or
action that worked against their own or their company’s success? Do you
or I see these because we have some incredible powers of perception?
I’d love that to be true but, candidly, it is just because we are
thinking with a sales mindset and an objective perspective.
Who actually wants to hear what they are doing wrong?
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Smart and humble leaders.
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Owners who are continuously successful at building and growing their companies.
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Managers who really want to know the truth about their business, as well as their own personal performance.
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Supervisors who recognize that ignorance leads to failure far more often than it does to bliss.
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Leaders that command the respect and get the best performance out of their team.
Does Your Business Stifle Change?
“Please do not tell me anything that could, in any way, improve upon the success of this company.”
How
many times have you heard about an employee’s or customer’s suggestion
that got ignored by someone who could do something about it? Far worse,
but no less common, how many times have you seen or heard about someone
actually suffering from their persistence in pushing for intelligent
change? In these situations, it is as if the leader at the company or
team is jumping up onto a podium, and declaring:
“If there is something that I or my company could be doing better that would lead us to greater success, not only do I not want
you to tell me about it, but I may think poorly of you for doing so, or
actually reprimand you! I do not want to know what our customers think
of our company. I do not want to know if you have a better idea for how
to handle something in our business. And, for God’s sake, if I am or
our company is making a mistake or underperforming versus our
potential, the last thing in the world I want you to do is tell me
about it!
I CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!”
It may sound ridiculous when you look at it like that, but it happens
to some degree every day in every company, including my own. Most of us
just don’t take the time to recognize it. Even fewer take the time to
whack themselves upside the head to change their thinking and their
communication.
Fastest Way Between Two Points is a Straight Line
One
great example of how business owners fall into this trap is a firm I
worked with a few years ago. They were a trading market education firm
that focused on bringing in clients who wanted to learn how to trade
the stock index market in a live, interactive trading room. The trading
room gave new traders all the education and personal mentoring they
needed to understand the system and succeed. The sales team had a great
pitch, mixing in success stories, indicating the ongoing potential of
the service, and offering a live demonstration. Unfortunately, this
strategy did not turn into sales. This firm had a solid product that
should have sold itself, but it wasn’t nearly living up to its
potential.
The problem was in how they presented the online demo
and how they followed up on their initial pitch. Their sole focus for
the demo was to exhibit the program, not to sell the program, while
they had the prospect’s interest and attention. Rather than personally
calling prospects to close the sale, they would follow-up via email.
The reps would sweat out a one-word difference in how the email was
written, for hours, because they thought it could make the difference
in securing a sale. Does that sound smart for a company trying to sell
a $5,000 piece of software?
When the owner took a step back, he
intelligently realized that he should be focusing more intently on
getting the prospects on board with the product during the live demo.
The
demonstration is the time when the master of the product can fully show
the prospect what they will be paying $5,000 for, and why that is a
reasonable investment toward potential long-term success as a trader.
Few able-minded people will willingly part with five grand over email.
They want to see the product in action, to see how that product can
justify their money in the long-term, and the seller needs to act on
that when potential customer’s interest and enthusiasm for moving
forward is at its peak. Now, the company is doing fewer demos with more
qualified prospects and getting more sales.
Excuses, Excuses
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I have more important fires to worry about.
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I don’t have time today to address it.
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It involves change and I don’t want to open up that can of worms.
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Every business has some problems, and my business is working well enough.
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I am the smartest person in my company. If the idea was dumb, I would have recognized it.
Why Does This Happen in the Business World Every Day?
Common
sense would seem to favor us being aware of those big problems that can
often be solved with small changes; however, very few are working to
dig for those issues. Far fewer actually do something about the problem
when we realize there is one. Why?
In one way or another, we
each would describe it in some form of “Shit Gets in the Way”. We are
making the choices and we are the only ones that can start turning
stupid into successful.
Is your business working the best that
it could be? Why are you not striving for excellence and, instead,
settling for mediocrity? Many times, the things that can be improved
are not just holding your company from reaching its highest potential.
They can literally be damaging your company, your reputation, your
results, and eating away at the opportunity that is in front of you
every moment that you allow them to exist.
Overwhelmed or Thinking You Can’t Do it All?
Here is a hint: Start by looking at all your “assumptions”.
Fear not. After all, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Reaching your company’s maximum potential is a life-long marathon, not
a sprint to the finish line by next week. You just have to make a
move, right now, to build both your momentum and commitment through
each day and each success. Remember, changing an action from a
negative one to a positive one gives you double the payback—payback
that allows momentum to build quickly.
Leading By Example
Recognizing
a limitation or an area where improvement is needed, along with
actually doing something about it, will not only lead to better
results, but it teaches those around you. Lead by example—demonstrate
to your team what real leadership looks and acts like. Leading by
example builds their confidence in the company and its leadership.
Strive for leadership that is not only humble, candid, and proactive,
but that which supports its team when they make mistakes, (as long as
they recognize them as fast as possible and act with a passion and
purpose about improving in those areas).
By being proactive in improvement, you are demonstrating that the company is:
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Clearly committed to open, honest communication.
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Truly driven to be the best at what they do.
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Willing to listen to every person and idea that could potentially help them achieve that.
Everyone Holds a Key
Do what William Wallace did against the British in the late 13th century — lead by example.
Whether
it be an employee of mine, a customer, a partner I am working with on a
project, or anyone else that can share some insight on my performance,
each holds the key for tomorrow to be better than today. What may put
a dent in my own short-term assessment of how well I am performing for
a client, or how strong and effective I am as a leader to those working
with me, is absolutely required reading that needs to be digested,
understood, and acted upon if I truly believe in this whole notion of
growth. The key is to create a culture in which the employees feel the
same desire to grow as you do and follow your humble lead in embracing
change when it clearly leads to better results.
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Tags: Marketing : Business
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