Your Lack of Opportunities Isn’t Your Problem
As a business coach for over 25 years, I have talked to thousands of business owners across the globe who were looking to grow and scale their businesses. And if I were to ask them what the biggest problem was in their business, a large portion of them would say that they lacked opportunities and if they just had more opportunities, they would be able to reach their growth goals much easier. But for the majority of those business owners, that just wasn’t the case. The opportunities were there, but what they lacked was something much bigger.
Leadership
For the majority of those businesses, it was the lack of leadership attention. Most businesses are drowning in opportunity. What really weighs heaviest is this lack of attention, whether that be the skill, the capability and quality of leadership, or the volume of leadership attention. You likely have projects that are getting put to the back burner because no one can effectively lead them. Your leadership team is too busy doing and taking care of the individual things in their world, they are unable to take on the bigger projects that will move the needle for your business.
The Cost of Leadership
Recognizing that there is a leadership issue in your organization is just the first step to a resolution. Because for many business owners, trying to figure out how big the problem is and coming up with steps to improve things can be a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be. Start by asking yourself a series of questions, which will not only help you determine how big an issue you have, but also, it will help guide you as to what areas of leadership you need to work on within your team. Here are some of the questions, I have my business coaching clients ask themselves:
1. How is your team in terms of having a clear vision and goals for your department or your company, your team, to progress forward?
2. Do you or your leadership team have habitual behaviors that undercut your performance?
3. Do you have a hard time delegating or letting go?
4. Does your team lack leadership attention? If only you had more leaders, you could seize so many more of the abundant opportunities to grow your business.
5. Do you avoid tough conversations and confrontation? Or do you dive into these situations, but you don’t do it tactfully or well?
6. Does your team have an attitude problem? They know what to do, but for whatever reason (e.g. a bad apple, lack of motivation, etc.) they just don’t perform like they should.
7. Is your team accountable? Do they miss deadlines or drop balls?
Next Steps
Now that you have a good understanding of where your leadership team needs work, set a road map on how to improve on the skills that your team needs to be successful. This could be through strategic planning, goal setting, company cultural shifts, or a combination of all of the above. And check back in often to see where you are making progress and uncover areas that still need work.