Browse Blog Categories
- General (90)
- Business (94)
- Business Coaching (71)
- Business Management (97)
- Business Systems (25)
- Entrepreneur (71)
- Executive Coaching (34)
- Family Business (83)
- Leadership (99)
- Management (91)
- Marketing (16)
- Profitability (19)
- Sales (18)
- Speaking Topics (5)
- Success In Business (97)
- Team Building (41)
- Time Management (3)
Janna's Blog
This article was also recently published in the Colorado Springs Business Journal.
Colorado Springs is a wonderful place to live. We have beauty all around us, weather that is fantastic, and residents who would never want to live elsewhere. As business owners, what more could we ask for as a foundation of the local economy?While we love Colorado Springs, we have all felt the impact (literally) of potholes on our streets. Having lived in the pothole capital of the US--Boston--for many years, I never thought I would say Boston roads are in better shape than those in Colorado Springs. Yet they are.
As a community we have not taken care of our infrastructure (roads, storm water, etc.). There are many excuses. Yes, I did say excuses. The beauty of the local area is compromised by the effects of not caring for its physical foundation.
This concept also is true of business owners. We want to live here, start businesses here, and retire here. Yet what have we learned from the lack of attention to the foundational infrastructure in the community that we can apply to our businesses? In other words, what potholes do you have in your business? How will those potholes affect you when business challenges storm against them?
Investment in our business is critical. Investment in our city is critical. Yes, it will cost us money. Yes, I expect the taxes will go up. To be clear, I don’t like to spend money. I am, however, willing to invest money in building a stronger local business environment that reaches outside of our wonderful city. Investing is very different than spending. We must invest. Investing creates wealth; spending creates little.
Is the local business community investing in the creation of solid companies that can build wealth? Or are we building something that will fall apart the minute we as business owners stop propping it up? The terms "wealth," "creating," and "building" are not dirty words. Business owners have a responsibility to build a strong foundation in our companies, investing in the infrastructure of the company so it can withstand the storms of changing competition and economic uncertainty.
Building wealth is not just about more money but also includes the riches of having qualified employees and true leaders in our companies. It is a diverse business environment that makes other businesses want to move to Colorado Springs, not just for our natural beauty, but because the business community has learned how to build true wealth that comes from strong and resilient organizations, people, education, and leadership.
Business owners, what are you truly doing with your time? Yes, you are busy, but are you busy doing the right things for your business? Too many business owners are spending too much time working on things that keep the business afloat. The business owner needs to stop doing the $20 and $30 and $50 per hour jobs and start doing the jobs that few in the company can accomplish. What innovations, new technology, or new ways of looking at old problems can you generate? One idea from the owner can often generate tens of thousands of dollars for the company and the community. Those new ideas do not come when you are working ten-hour days on bookkeeping, purchasing, or customer service.
True wealth comes from leveraging your time to actually make new ideas happen. This doesn't necessarily mean revolutionizing your business the way Cirque Du Soleil did the circus, but key results can come from continually stepping away, learning new concepts, implementing new ideas and strengthening the foundation of the business you have created.
Potholes on our roads come from harsh weather conditions, poor road maintenance, and improper road foundations. Potholes in business come from harsh economic conditions, poor investment in our business infrastructure, and inadequate business foundations.
What are you ready to invest in your business infrastructure to ensure potholes don’t have a lasting effect on your business?
(Without one you can die!)
The best way to fail at a business is not having a plan; the best way to wander through your career and get stuck in a rut is by not having a plan; and--you guessed it--the best way to get lost on a mountain is not having a plan.There are tools that help us stay on-track in life. On the trail it is a compass, a map, and possibly even a GPS that, used in tandem, will generally keep you on course. For example, you can be in the woods with only a map and still get lost, but add in a compass and you'll probably find your way. Because the magnetized compass needle always indicates magnetic north, you'll consistently know how to find this direction even if you go in circles. So using a compass in conjunction with your map keeps you adapting to stay on the right track.
Your business and career plan, if you use it, accomplishes the same purpose. First, you step back from the day to day environment to create the plan of what you want to accomplish and how you'll do it. On a regular basis - at least monthly - you measure your actions against the detailed steps you of your plan. If you are straying off course, you step back again to review your plan, realign your focus, and redirect your steps.
How does this relate to business? Without a plan, you risk going off track. Are you heading into new sales situations, new markets, and new projects without doing your homework? Are you resting on the knowledge you gained last year or five years ago on how to sell? Did your education process stop the day you graduated from high school or college? Are you finding the new employee that was just hired is getting the better projects, the better office, and the better promotions?
The process of learning, growing your skills, and adapting to new environments are critical tools to stay on track and reach your goals, whatever they are.
One of my clients sells cars. This process is dramatically different today than it was even five years ago. Fifteen years ago, everyone cared about what was “under the hood.” What was the engine like; how did it run? What was the torque? (I learned from my advertising client that people used to care about torque. Yes, I had to look it up – so you can, too, if you're interested.) Today, anyone selling cars better know how to use a smart phone. They better know how to connect it to the car. They better be able to look up the competitor information on that phone and discuss it out on the lot. To close the deal, they better be able to talk accurately to the customer who has done the research and possibly knows more than them about the car.
When hiring a new sales person, the car dealership cares more about whether that person can understand and discuss the car's technology versus knowing how the engine runs. If you are an auto sales person who's selling the same way you did ten years ago, there is a good chance that your job might be in jeopardy. And it's not about age. My client has an 82-year-old sales person that is very successful. He owns a smartphone and knows how to use it. He created a plan and has learned how to adapt. Have YOU?
What is critical thinking? There are multiple definitions, some very complex, yet the simple definition is not just the possession of skills but the ability and habit to continually use them in new and different ways. Put another way, critical thinking means using the normal to create and then apply the new.Over the last five years I have often challenged clients and workshop attendees on their critical thinking skills. These are bright, qualified, skilled and hardworking business owners and executives who have accomplished significant challenges in their careers and business. They have worked through significant challenges and look at the world in ways that many of us don’t comprehend.
Yet, when posed with out-of-the-box types of problems they find it challenging to come up with not simply a good answer, but with that “best” answer. I wonder if the day-to-day challenge of running their business environments has reduced their ability to be creative critical thinkers.
I had the opportunity to be the guest speaker for a high school leadership training class. There were about 30 students from about five high schools. It was a fun time of encouraging them to consider their classroom and personal goals for the next school year. Don’t I wish I had that opportunity when I was 17! (But that is another topic.)
I presented them with two out-of-the-box scenarios and was looking for that elusive "best" answer. When presenting similar scenarios to business owners, they throw ideas at me for a couple of minutes – and then I give them the “best” answer. So it amazed me that within about 20 seconds a number of the students had thought of the “best” answer for my hypothetical situations.
I was surprised, yet it made me extremely hopeful. For all the criticism of today’s youth and millennials, maybe their critical thinking skills are a lot better than we think. Maybe their fresh way of looking at things is that advantage we need in our business. We do need to stop, listen and allow them the time to say things – even things that we may not fully understand.
Did we somewhere along the way - in running businesses, fighting the daily fight of life - stop thinking critically? Have we stopped being creative in our thought processes and now default to what is easy or normal? We believe we are the harder working and wiser generation, but we seem to have stopped using any critical thinking skills that are outside our comfort zone.
My challenge to you: Change your thinking process--start thinking like an 18 year old. It might revolutionize your business, you just might have some fun, and you'll ultimately prepare your business for the growth that comes with a new generation of leaders.
Ready to get started
Call or contact Janna Hoiberg online to schedule a free, initial consultation.
There is no obligation and you're guaranteed to learn a few new things about your business.