If you really want to be the creative force in your industry and your business…the simplest step is to make sure you’re awake and paying attention to your own reality.
A lot of companies are in pause mode—waiting for clarity about the economy, future prospects, expenses, etc. And that can lead to drowsiness within the business itself.
This is a no-brainer, you say: stay ahead by staying awake. But it’s not always easy.
Carol S. was a VP of sales who thought she was paying attention, since she knew her division results inside and out. She found it really hard to explain why next quarter there was a mass exodus of her best salespeople. She was asleep to staff morale.
Although business was good for Phil B. as project manager and he was paying attention to client satisfaction, he woke up one day to discover that his competitors were not only getting some bigger projects…they were getting government support to make them happen. He was asleep to emerging opportunities in his marketplace.
Roger L’s wife was surprised when one morning he awoke and declared he was “bored” with the business he had created and run for 18 years. She asked him why the sudden change of heart. Roger was beginning to realize that he had stopped paying attention to his dreams and how they were evolving.
Are you Awake and Paying Attention to…
1. Your dreams and goals for the future . They aren’t here yet, and need to be remembered in order to be realized.
2. The metrics that indicate the health of your business. You can have those at your fingertips real-time these days. Do you know them and use them in your planning and feedback to others?
3. Your people, your clients, your partners. Have you noticed that people’s moods, assumptions, conclusions and satisfaction change over time? “Check in” to find out how today is different from last month.
4. Your marketplace. Customers needs and wants DO change Are you in touch enough to know where they are now AND where they are headed? Will customers use a service or product like yours in 2020?
5. Your growth. Some businesses pay close attention to how well they are doing today. But…are you bigger or better than you were two years ago? Do you have a yardstick to measure how much you’ve grown?
6. The speed of change. Ask yourself, how quickly are the things we are buying or creating becoming obsolete?
Obviously this list is just a start. In what areas of your business might you be asleep at the wheel?
I challenge you to wake up and breathe life into the work you’ve chosen to love.
(This post was previously published in the November 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )
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Written by Tom Plake
Topics: Leadership, Wake Up