Often when I suggest this to my clients, they stare at me blankly, not realizing that I’m talking about life and death. Their minds wander to how their clients will see their brand or how someone will pay for the service they have received. When I make it clear that I’m talking about being on their deathbed, it hits home. The reality is that one day, we all will perish, and we all want to leave a legacy behind. How do you plan to leave your mark on the world? Have you thought about the choices you need to make in order to live the most abundant, joyous life possible?
Be quick to listen and slow to speak: Some might call it, “seek to understand and then be understood.” Everyone on earth wants to be heard. When someone takes the time to truly listen and not just hear you, you feel valued, and the conversation becomes more meaningful. When you listen to someone with the intention of only hearing the other person so you can reply or turn the conversation back toward yourself, this can become problematic. Great leaders make it a habit to listen, and then carefully and intentionally craft a response, rather than defaulting to the usual passive responses, “Yeah, sure, ok...” In regular conversations, you may selectively hear only certain parts of the conversation and focus on some key words being said, but completely miss the meaning of what the person was trying to say. Effective leaders will communicate in a way that allows each person on their team to be heard. If an agreement on a topic of conversation needs to be met, the leader will design an agreement that will honor both ideas to create a win-win all by intentionally listening and taking the appropriate time to respond.
Being able to be quick to listen and slow to speak has served me in every aspect of my personal leadership journey. When I first started Sweet D Marketing, I was hired by a gentleman named Steve. He was the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, but the kind of guy who, quite frankly, loved to hear himself talk. He hired me for ongoing big picture marketing strategy sessions and spent the majority of the time nervously talking, without asking me any questions at all. I finally stopped him, told him to take a deep breath and just listen to me for a moment without focusing on his response. He looked at me puzzled. I told him I hear every word he’s saying, but I didn’t believe he knew what he was saying. “Try being quick to listen and slow to speak,” I said. “Gather your thoughts before outside processing.” He sat there for a moment and then burst out into tears. I, of course, was a little shocked and worried, concerned I may have been a bit harsh.
He took a moment to gather his thoughts, and slowly he said, “Thank you, no one has ever wanted to really hear me before.” This was nine years ago. Steve and I still talk from time to time, and he always reminds me of how the phrase stays with him daily. A mantra, if you will. A kind reminder to slow down and choose your words wisely because there are those individuals out there who will want to hear your every word. Make them count!
Importance of Working on the Business, Rather Than in the Business
In addition to establishing the above habits in your life and work, as a business owner, you must remember your role as a leader. You should not get in the habit of focusing on the day-to-day operations of the business. It’s important to get in the habit of delegating effectively. You might find you are working far too much in the business and not enough on the business for continued growth.
Rather than the day-to-day tasks, you should focus on these five things:
Making sure you understand your numbers, and they add up.
Delegating tasks appropriately.
Communicating consistently with your managers and other executives, making sure operations are running smoothly while continuing to ask them if they need anything to drive further success.
Be looking ahead for what's going to happen in the next quarter. Do you own a seasonal business? Do you anticipate the weather? If so, how will you adjust accordingly so the business is still profitable?
Checking in with customers. How is what you're doing translating to your customers? This is about making sure your company’s brand message, promise, or mission statement is appropriately translating down the chain of command and getting to your customers.
Be the leader and keep your team strong. Leave the daily operations to your operations manager. You can continue to work on your business and create pathways toward revenue streams all while keeping a close eye on your ship to be sure everyone is working as a team.
Habits of Effective Leaders
Action Steps
The core aspects of leadership stem from a set of habits that lead to success by focusing our daily thoughts and actions on effective strategies, such as listening, goal-setting, and adapting to change.
What leadership habits have you already established?
What habits can you change to be a more effective leader?
In what ways can you delegate and focus on the big picture of your business?
Chapter 11
Course Correction
“We cannot control the wind, but we can adjust our sails.”
— Unknown
You may have days where you will want to put a sign in the window: FOR SALE (I'll pay you to take this thing off my hands!) You’ll threaten to walk away and just be done with it. Welcome to being in business for yourself. This happens to just about every single business owner at one time or another. Leadership and ownership have their challenges, and being able to bounce back, pick yourself up, and dust yourself off could be the single most important mindset to have for business longevity. A positive attitude will make staying the course go much smoother.
That’s not to say you should always continue down the same path to just get right back to asking yourself, “How did I get here again?” It’s possible your business may be in need of a course correction, and now is the time to find out.
There’s No Such Thing as Failure
Course correcting is an invaluable skill for any leader. Just because you feel you have failed at something, doesn't mean it's the end. It is just a fork in the road. Which path you choose from there is ultimately going to make the decision that's going to become your best business plan. Do not crumble, but continue to evolve and adapt to your changing business seasons.
Pay attention and continue to learn along the way. As long as you're continuing to learn from mistakes, you cannot fail. However, if you are continuing to make mistakes without course correcting, your competitors will outmaneuver you. You have to be able to course correct appropriately in order to lead your team toward success.
If you find yourself never changing course at all, you might be playing it too safe. Eventually, if you want long-term success and growth, you must make corrections in direction toward new opportunities. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I am saying it’s worth it. Adaptability is key if you want to have sustainable growth within your niche market.
Don’t Let Fear Take Over
Deeply embedded fear can force us to stay stuck in a holding pattern. It’s when we step out of our comfort zone that we become stronger and better leaders, and ultimately, most profitable. Don’t let fear limit your chances to scale your business. I’ve known business owners to have a fear of being criticized, a fear of having to make hard decisions, the fear of “imposter syndrome.” These are just a few of many, and you can breathe easy knowing you’re not alone.
My advice in this regard is that we all have our fears and our doubts. But when you tackle your fears face on, push aside all the useless mental chatter telling you you aren’t good enough, you’ll find you can, in fact, do anything. You are enough in what you’re doing with your leadership. Never let fear hold you back from being exactly who you were born to be.
Embrace Discomfort
Oftentimes in business, we have to take risks to know who we are as leaders and who our customers are. Maybe we stand outside a coffee shop asking complete strangers if they like the shirts we have for sale. Owning your hustle will drive your business to heights only you can take it. We have to take risks to understand who we are in our business.
; If you’re not nervous, then there is something wrong. If you are nervous or anxious about something, then it means it's worth doing. If you’re like me, we have to figure out why it makes us feel uncomfortable. Do it and take the time to figure it out. Embrace the awkward moments life hands you, and learn how you react. Strive for personal growth and breakthroughs.
Whenever I was on stage singing, I would always get a little bit nervous. If I wasn't, that would be weird. Get uncomfortable every now and then and make those important decisions that could potentially be big wins in the long run.
Accurately Identify the Problem
What's going on internally? Are the relationships and the business culture working properly? Is everyone happy? What's the big picture overview?
Typically business owners will tell me, “This really isn't working. We have to change X, Y, Z.” I'll ask them why and identify if it's not working either for them personally or they're just not seeing results come in fast enough. More often than not, it's that results aren't coming fast enough to their liking. They are forgetting about the foundational stepping stones being set. Sit down with your appointed team leaders and managers, and ask them where they think the company might be lacking. Together, you will start to identify the root of the issue and the entire ship will be able to make properly executed course corrections.
Staffing Corrections
It's important to recognize when it’s time to make some serious staffing changes. If someone is complaining about how their bookkeeper never properly pulls the P and L report or they always have to ask for the numbers at the end of the day, maybe it's not working or there’s a breakdown in communication.
I always encourage business owners who are having a difficult time with an employee to make sure that they have an open conversation with them about it. Let them know how you're feeling and allow them to be able to do their own internal course correction in order to come alongside you. You hired these people for a reason. Then, if you decide it isn't working, part ways.
If you have revenue flowing to the business, the people you hired are the ones who are essentially giving you your paycheck. You might sign the checks, but remember those who work hard for you. Take care of the people who help the customers that are going to purchase something from you. That's how you're getting paid at the end of the day, so treat them with respect and don't just sweep any miscommunication under the rug.
I encourage my clients to keep a file on each of their employees. It might just contain their original resume and nothing else. But for some, you may create an opportunity for them to correct unwanted behavior with a record of conversation. Before firing someone, I encourage my clients to have a record of conversation with their employee. By having a documented record, you can take out any guess work about what was said, and it holds the employee accountable for what they did. Obviously, if you catch an employee stealing from you, that’s an immediate fireable offence. However, for something that may have been unintentional, or something you believe can be corrected, a record of conversation can be a powerful tool, a nudge in the right direction.
Let’s say your employee forgot to lock the door to the business last night. That's a massive liability and puts everyone at risk. Nothing was stolen, but it was careless. Before bringing the employee into your office, you will have written up a document that says something to this effect: “It was your responsibility to lock the door to the business on June 1st, and when I went to open this morning at 7:30am on June 2nd, I saw that the door had never been locked. This put the business at risk for theft. It is unacceptable to not lock the door to the business at the end of your shift. If this happens again, the end result will be your termination from this company.”
Be sure the document is typed, and have two copies ready for both you and the employee to sign and date. One copy is given to the employee, and the other goes in their file.
I know it seems harsh, but it’s important to be clear and drive the point home that their careless actions could result in being fired. Often, this will be just enough of a reality check for them to make sure the door is locked at the end of the day. The goal is to wake them up, not to embarrass them. It’s important to note that you’ll want to speak with the employee away from their co-workers.
Keep your employee handbook regularly updated and make sure your team knows exactly what is expected of them. Let them know the boundaries of your business and what they can and cannot do. Let them know that every single decision they make is a reflection on you, the business, and themselves. When you go to evaluate if you're going to let someone go or not, really ask yourself, do I want this person to be the face of my business?
If you own a seasonal business, it's important to let those employees know they're being hired for the season. You don't want to have the employees think they were let go for no reason. Let them know the position is very temporary.
Company Culture Corrections
Stay diligent in keeping the overall company culture healthy and strong. Are you communicating properly? Is everyone getting along? Is everyone communicating effectively together in a respectful manner?
I check in to make sure the CEO isn’t power-tripping and that he or she is treating the employees with the respect they deserve. I don't care if it's the person who takes the trash out every day versus the CEO. Everyone across the board is all adding to the overall health of the business.
I encourage my business owners to go out and shake the hand of every single employee when they come in for the day. If there's a little extra money, throw a pizza party once a month. If it's an online business, send an email to everyone saying, “Happy Monday, let's get after it!” Continue to encourage everyone and keep your team cohesive. Make sure everyone is on the same page.
Transparent, open communication between the employee and the business owner is important to knowing if corrections need to be made with the company’s culture or not. Stay approachable and kind. At the end of the day, your team just wants to live the best life possible and feel valued. Former Navy Commander of the U.S.S BenFold, Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, author of It’s Your Ship, says it perfectly:
I didn’t turn the ship around—my crew did that. What I did was to reinvent my leadership style and create an environment where they felt safe, empowered and supported. When they came to me with a problem, I’d say ‘It’s your ship. How would you fix it?’.10
Making Actionable Goals
If you have been paying attention to the previous quarters, then you will know exactly what the next goal needs to be. If your growth is $300,000 for last quarter, but you want it to be $325,000, then you need to be thinking, how do we get there? What do you need to change? Do you need to kick up your marketing campaigns? Do you offer an incentive for customers to come back? Do you come up with a brand new service? Do you extend your business hours? That course correction is something I dealt with very recently. The business wanted to make an additional $200,000 for the month. All we had to do was stay open seven days a week. It sounds like a lot because it is a lot, but we hired a new team to come in on the weekends and it made a significant difference to the overall bottom line.
I'm a hundred percent confident the number one goal for every business is increasing revenue and net profit. How much can we bring in and how much can we take home? You're going to have to look at what you've done in the past, what has worked, what hasn't worked, and ask yourself why. If something is leeching money from your business, get rid of it.
Maybe you have a marketing person on your team who isn't effective, or isn’t keeping up with the latest technology to support your business growth, but they're taking home $125,000 a year. It's time to have a conversation with them, let them know they need to reach x amount of sales from their marketing efforts in order to keep their job. It's okay to hold your people accountable for the job they're doing.
There is a fine line between letting your employees know how the business is doing and freaking them out if you're not doing wel
l. You don't want to scare them, but it is okay to let them know if you are down $20,000 from where you were this time last year for the quarter. Lean on your team a bit and get their opinion. Ask questions: What do you guys think we need to do? What did we do differently last year? Work together to find the solution.
Implementing a Course Correction
Sometimes it’s easier to hire new people when there is a course correction, so you can train them efficiently on what you're wanting to do. Sometimes it's easier to train new people than it is to bring the people you've had in the past along because they're so used to “the way we’ve always done it.” I’ve seen employees display extreme resistance to changes, ultimately resulting in being let go because they couldn’t adjust to the new course. Are you going to retrain everyone or are you going to train new people? Does it make sense to bring someone from the outside to train all the people who have already been with the business? What does that look like?
Course Correction
Action Steps
Effective course correction requires humility. If we're not continuing to evolve and course correct, our competitors are going to completely blow us out of the water. We have to keep changing and evolving in order to stay with the times.
If you don't agree to course correction, your business will fail. If you want your business to flourish, if you want to continue offering a great product or service to your customers, if you want to be the boss everyone loves and be able to create more jobs for more people, you must grow, evolve, and adapt.
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