“Once you have a clear picture of your
priorities - that is values, goals and high leverage activities – organize
around them.”
-Stephen
Covey
Many owners/managers feel like a prisoner to their business, employees and customers. What are the common causes of such business owner bondage? How do the chains get tighter and tighter?
After working with thousands of business owners, we believe the following five to be the most common causes of business imprisonment: (1) technical tendencies, (2) busyness, (3) ineffective leadership and delegation, (4) inadequate or missing business systems, and (5) growing business complexities.
Technical Tendencies:
Habits determine destiny. Too many entrepreneurs are former technicians now masquerading as owners. They think they are entrepreneurs, but they don’t act that way. As once accomplished technicians, they have a hard time letting go of such expertise and familiarity. They remain trapped in a technical comfort zone, mindset and work approach. Sadly, such technical expertise is insufficient for managing a business. Moreover, they fail to develop the visionary, strategic, and leadership skills necessary to run a successful business.
Busyness:
Many owners confuse activity with accomplishment. They confuse busyness with results. Hard work with smart work. Perspiration with purpose. Efficiency (doing things right) with effectiveness (doing the right things). Instead of working smarter, many owners hold tight to the delusion that working harder and harder is the solution. They keep trying to shift into higher and higher gears. The more the business grows, the harder they work, the more imprisoned they become. No matter how much energy you expend, however, wrong strategies inevitably lead to poor results – less freedom and more headaches.
Ineffective Leadership & Delegation:
Far too many small business owners are by default small leaders. Instead of leadership, they excel at doer-ship. They are micro-managers that like to touch and control everything. They trust no one but themselves. They believe “no one does it as well as me”. They seldom delegate, if at all. They mistake such busyness for business leadership. Instead of thinking and leading like owners, most think and behave like employees. Instead of reflecting and planning, they excel at sweating and doing. They act like they have a job instead of owning a business. To lead effectively, one must trust others. Not developing their leadership potential costs them dearly.
Inadequate or Missing Business Systems:
A vast majority of owners don’t know how to design a new business or re-engineer an existing one to be more systems-oriented and professionally equipped with plans, procedures and policies. As a result, entrepreneurs don’t create and document the processes (specific and repeatable ways to do something), procedures and policies that allow for well organized, smoothly running, easier-to-manage companies. Without defining and documenting the specific work that needs to be done, owners can’t delegate effectively and eventually remove themselves from their technical roles. Tragically, most entrepreneurs have unknowingly, re-actively and accidentally created an owner-centered and owner-dependent company. They are trapped!
Growing Business Complexities:
A growing business with its increasing number of customers, transactions and problems will eventually crush a business not properly designed and prepared to handle such growth. Without effective leadership and adequate business systems (an integrated web of processes), a growing company does not stand a chance. Growing pains are unavoidable. Producing predictable and consistent results will be nearly impossible. By failing to plan for growth, you are by default planning to fail.
Busyness, technical bias, poor delegation, inadequate leadership and business systems, and the growing complexities of a business lead to a life sentence of working on the chain gang – your company. Fortunately, our coaching processes, along with your willingness to change, can serve as a mechanism to drive your success, while enjoying freedom from your business. We can help you to escape technical busyness. You will no longer have to be the jack-of-all-trades for your company. Growing pains will subside. You will learn to lead more and work less. You will learn to shape your company by design, not by default.
