By John Paschall, Servant Leader

A Question for Your Consideration this Summer

We all knew it would happen…the heat of summer is here.  Right on cue, and consistent with what we have come to expect here in Southeast Texas, the heat and humidity have apparently arrived to stay for a while.  Well, at least we can rest in the fact that we do get to enjoy an abundance of sunshiny days here in the Golden Triangle.  There are those in other parts of our country and world that would not hesitate to trade with us.

Many of you are probably planning at least one or two periods of vacation or time off during the next few months and I hope they are spectacular!  In our fast-paced lives today, we do not take a lot of time to think, reflect, and plan.  It is often only during those periods away from our normal daily schedule when we are able to quiet the noise and pace our spirits enough to do some real reflection. (One of the secrets of the highest achievers is that they make time to do this on a daily basis, by the way.)

When you get a moment to do some of that reflective, quiet thinking – whether it is at the beach, the golf course, the pool, or some other fun location, I have a question for you to ponder.  This question is designed to help you as a business leader.  I am going to give you the question – but not the answers.   Only you can provide the answers.  However, I have heard it said that the most important thing is not in finding the right answers but in asking the right questions…let’s find out.

Question:  What obstacles are standing between where you are now and where you want to be as a business leader?

Something is keeping you from being where you want to be.  If there were no obstacles you would already be there!  Of course, this question leads to a couple of other great and relevant questions.

Do you know where you want to be?  Have you set some goals to get there?  It is one of the true-isms of life that you and I will never ever be able to hit a target that doesn’t exist.  The target, the destination has to be established first.  So have you set those goals?  Have you set those targets?  Do you know what they are?  More importantly, does your team know what they are? Or are you just trying to get from one day to the next, trying to make it to Friday, just hoping things will somehow magically get better.  Fact is, without goals and direction, you and I can waste a lot of time doing that week after week and, (not surprisingly!), things won’t get any better!

If you have not set your goals, there are some wonderful resources out there to help you with this process.  Access them and take advantage of the work that others have done to make this process easier.  One of the best pieces of advice that I have picked up is that our goals must be SMART – S.M.A.R.T.

S – Specific.  Goals must be specific not vague.

M – Measureable.  If they are specific, they can be measured.

A – Achievable.  It is ok if goals are just out of reach – that makes us stretch.  However, if they are out of sight they will be demotivating.

R – Realistic.  Need to be in the realm of possibility.

T – Time/Date.  Goals need to have a specific date in which they are to be achieved.

So once you have set your goals, you begin taking action on those goals each and every day.  As you do, you also continue asking, “What else is standing between where our business is now and where we want to be?” Here are some of the answers you may give:

We do not have the right staffing.

This could be because you don’t have enough staffing to take on the work that is available (this is the most common response I have heard from business leaders in the past six months).   If your current efforts to staff your team are not working, look elsewhere, think outside the box, try something different.  If what you are doing now is not working, try something else.  There’s a word for doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results – that’s right – insanity.

Maybe your issue is not having the right people with the right skills in place.  Two choices – hire someone else or train the people you have.  This is sometimes a tough question: do the people on your team have the capacity to grow and develop into the leaders you need to help the business achieve its goals?  It is often less expensive to train those you have rather than looking for someone else.  Some have said, “But if I train my people and make them more valuable, they will just leave and get a better job.”  As Zig Ziglar says, the one thing that is worse than training your people and losing them, is to not train them…and keep them!  Invest in the training they need.  Sometimes you will be amazed at the capacity people have and what they can become.

While we are talking about training – are you investing in yourself?  Are you working every day to become a better leader and are you taking specific steps to build and develop your skills?  If we are not, how can we expect our people to invest in themselves? We must model the way.  Start today.

Business is not good.  The economy is not good.

I hope this doesn’t come across as too harsh – but make it good!  Do something to address the issue.  If we are waiting for business to come to us, we might be waiting a long time.  If what you are doing is not working try something else. Network, go to events, get out of the office and market your business, try different advertising, pricing, or packages…just keep trying.  Babe Ruth struck out more times than almost any other baseball player in history…but we don’t think of him as a failure.  Why?  Because he kept on swinging.  That is what you must do.

I am sure that you will come up with other obstacles and problems.  We could try and wish them away, but I doubt that will work.  To identify the problem is step 1.  To develop a plan of action that will address and overcome the issue is step 2.  To set the goal and continue working until the obstacle is overcome is step 3.  You are an intelligent, capable, and caring business leader – you can do this!

We hope that you, your business, and your family have a wonderful summer.  Take some time to get quiet and ponder on your goals for your business and why you are not there yet.  When you realize what the obstacles are, devise a plan to overcome those obstacles.  And no matter what, always keep trying, always keep believing, always keep pushing forward.

There are many resources that we have here at the BBB, which may be of assistance to you in this process.  If we can help you, please call us and let us know what we can do.  We are here for you.  Continue building your better business and have a great month!