Grow, then dial in the profit part

Growth takes capital, even if you don’t borrow it.  Often when we play a good offense and grow a business, we don’t make money at first. 

Once we learn more about running that particular business at that particular level, then we can play some defense and figure out how to make money at it.

Do you need more offense (marketing and sales) or defense (operational efficiency and controls) right now?

Do the right things

Your employees should do things right.  You?  You need to do the right things.

At first, don’t worry about doing the right things right, just do the right things, even if you don’t do them well.

By doing the right things poorly, you will gain experience and eventually be able to do the right things right.

When you set higher goals, you will again have to abandon what you are doing, and do new things – not so well again.  

This is how we grow ourselves, expand our enterprise, and become all we are capable of becoming.

Busy is an excuse

“I’m too busy.  That’s why I can’t make time for (improvement, learning, change, more important stuff).”

For most, busy is an excuse.  Busy is often another way to say lazy in our thinking and soft in our willingness to face what we must and step out of our comfortable groove to create an even better future.

I’m too busy?  Be honest.  Just say “I am comfortable and unwilling.”

Poor thinking habits keep you poor

A struggling businessperson works hard – very hard. Lots of poor people work hard. Apparently working hard or not isn’t the critical variable.

There is dignity in working hard. However working hard at the wrong things won’t get you very far, and will hold your organization back.

Working hard at thinking, learning and discerning is where we often fall short. You could be sitting in silence and be working very hard at the right things.

Leaders, first work hard at thinking well.

Stop doing what you are expert at

You are very good at being the leader you are now and getting the results you are getting now. You feel competent at being the person you are now. You are an expert at it. 

But in order to get to the next level and get even better results, you need to stop being that. You need to give up being an expert at what you know how to do and become an amateur at being the next level leader.

The sooner you become an amateur at being a higher value person, the faster you can become an expert at being this higher level leader through practice.