While the year is still young, I am determined to encourage you to reflect on and assess where you are in your personal walk/career, as well as the state of your business. Are you planning to evolve and grow, keeping up with or ahead of the market, diversifying or changing direction if needed? Or are you revolving around a constant centre, orbiting on the same path, no change planned and nothing identified to help you escape the endless trajectory of life as you know it?
In considering your current condition, and earlier discussions on planning, what does your situation look like in regards to:
- Skilling – are you
continually investing in yourself, your existing people, and bringing in new people with new perspective, to keep abreast of the market, to change the course of the company, to allow increase and improvement? The business cannot grow if the people in it are not growing and transforming. The business will grow at the pace of all of its people. - Guidance – similar to skilling, are you providing the right degree of support and on-the-ground assistance to help those under you or beside you in the business. As a supporter of those around you, are you providing encouragement for the team to achieve their individual and team goals?
- Technology – understanding
and keeping up-to-date with the incessant changes in software, hardware, applications, equipment and “gizmos” is a tall order, but it pays to know what is available and what is the next thing that might improve your business. It may not be you that keeps this knowledge but one of your advisors. If you don’t maintain some understanding of the technology changes, I guarantee one of your competitors will. - Communication – are you communicating clearly the direction and requirements of the business at this given moment? If you were to ask peers or those dependent on you would they be able to articulate the vision, the direction, the plan as it pertains to them; or would they be winging it?
- Review – or evaluation if you like, of the state of play, of performance indicators for business requirements such as service (DIFOTIS), financial (cash flow, P&L, EBIT) or activity against the business plan. Regular review of key measures is a must for all businesses and leaders to ensure processes are being managed and implemented.
Take some time out of your day TODAY to assess whether the business or you as a leader are evolving with the new year, or revolving in past years’ wins or the maintaining the status quo. Make an effort to evaluate, and if necessary, take action to change direction, to stop spinning, and move forward to new beginnings.