Distracted by what is

The world is full of what is already; but that should not stop you from seeing what isn’t yet.

How would it be if you had to start over, and things that are already here weren’t clouding the view?

What is your preferred future? 

Why #1 is called #1

What is your #1 priority right now?

What is #2?

Forget #2.  When #1 is done, then #2 may become #1 when you ask the question again.

Focus on #1 until it’s done.

What’s your #1?

New Boss or Pay Raise?

Most people would take a new boss over a pay raise!  Think about that one!

Your managers and department leaders; are the “bosses” your people are reporting to empowering and inspiring your people to perform or are they disempowering them?

The Success Cha-Cha

A few steps forward, a step or two back, a step forward, a step to the side…

Don’t quit.

Market Signals

When a business is having trouble or fails, it is a message from the marketplace; “we don’t want what you offer, how you offer it, where you offer it or at the price you offer it”.

Are you having trouble growing your business or keeping sales up?  

Ignore market signals at your peril.

Pay attention and adjust until the market sends you a positive signal.

"Know-it-alls"….don't.

Some leaders reject ideas from outside (themselves).  They think because it wasn’t their idea that it’s not good.  Of course this is very childish, but we can be that way.

Stay open to ideas – even ideas from your competitors, from your enemies, and from people who aren’t doing as well as you.  There is no way you can come up with all the ideas you’re going to need to succeed.

Self-Employed or Business Owner?

A doctor, lawyer, accountant and many small businesspeople are self-employed.  They sell their time, which of course is finite.  As soon as they stop working, they stop getting paid, and they can never sell their business because they were the business.

A business owner however, builds a profitable enterprise that works without him/her.  Sure it takes some years to get there even if you do it right; and in those early years there may be no profit.  But if he/she is successful, they can make money by simply owning (and watching over) what they have built, without even showing up much.  They have a business that has value without them.

Which are you now?

Keep it simple

While you are dealing with lots of subjects, issues and moving parts as the leader of your enterprise, don’t do that to your people. Keep your goals and instructions to them as simple as possible. Give them a singular focus in their department or job, and they will have the best chance of doing a great job at it.

Do you overload some of your people, or do you make it easy for them to excel by keeping their goals simple? 

The right kind of crazy

To be an entrepreneur, and take on so much, you have to be a little crazy, but not too much crazy.

Are you just the right amount of crazy?

See it first

You can’t lead your team to a place you haven’t been to first.  

What does the future look like for your organization?  Spend some time in a quiet place and write the question down.  Use markers, different colored pens, a posterboard, a calculator, your vision, mind and heart.  

Once you’ve been there yourself, then you can lead the team there.