Are you trapped working in the business and not working on the business? Why? Being absorbed in the day to day leaves no room to do any big picture thinking. This discussion is likely to be a little uncomfortable, and you may not agree (which is cool too) but keep in mind this is simply meant to provoke some thought and hopefully a discussion with those you surround yourself with.
Where to Start | Introspection
This message is for those who feel stuck and are perhaps unsure of why things feel like they tend to go wrong. When life throws challenges your way, whether in business, personal life, or any other area, the first place to look is within yourself. This line of thinking comes from the wisdom of prolific authors like Brian Tracy, Michael Gerber, Jefferson Fisher, Grant Cardone, Simon Sinek, and many more in the professional development space. It might be uncomfortable to think that you could be the problem. It feels impossible, right? But here’s the truth: recognizing your role in the situation is not only possible but absolutely essential. Embrace this perspective, and you’ll find the power to change your circumstances and create the success you deserve. Remember, the journey to growth starts with self-awareness. Are you having repeat issues at your business? Do you have to keep intervening? Do you have high employee turnover? Do you keep losing customers? Do you find you keep being sucked back into the business? Have you taken a moment of pause and consider you’re the common denominator? It’s super uncomfortable and can trigger us to get defensive– we know — we felt the same way at times! But stick with us!
You Caused the Accident | Responsibility
Grant Cardone is a very successful businessman in the professional world. While he can certainly be divisive, it is difficult to deny that he’s everywhere. While I don’t completely agree with everything he has to say, it’s undeniable he has a no-nonsense, no excuses approach to taking action and taking responsibility. He set forth this concept about taking responsibility that I found unusual in his book, The 10X Rule. The example he gave was a car accident. He claimed that, regardless of who is legal “at fault” party, both of you are equally responsible for that accident. “What? That’s ridiculous!” I hear you say. So did I — at first. He goes on to explain that you could have left five minutes earlier, been in a different lane, taken a different route, or been paying attention to the point that you might’ve seen it coming.
I think his point was to simply state that you cannot simply jump into the “it’s his/her fault” “they ruined my life” “woooEEEooo whoa is me” blame game. What that does is give you a mental excuse to avoid growth, to the point that you’re likely to be in that same situation again at a later date. For example, lets say your employee did something that, in your eyes, totally botched another piece of your operation. To the employee, they may not have even known that could have been an issue, no one told them. It’s easy to throw a tantrum and point the finger when, in reality, you may not have even set that standard, established a documented process, or put up any guardrails to ensure the problem would likely be a nonissue in the first place. Losers blame others, winners take responsibility. Recognizing those things allows you to understand that “hey, I can be better” and turn that perceived disaster into a learning experience for everyone. The alternative defensive gut reaction lets you toil away in your perceived victim mindset and institute no change, aside from people second guessing their decisions moving forward. Own your role in things. It is not a weakness; it is an unbelievable strength. This mentality empowers you to exercise critical thinking skills while solving problems much faster – because you have ALL the pieces to work with.
Regardless if you’re actually the business owner or an employee, this mentality is universal. If a company is successful, who is ultimately responsible? If it fails, who, then, is ultimately responsible? The leader. If a person’s life is filled with joy, love, and amazing experiences, who’s responsible? If it’s filled with misery, bitterness, and unrealized potential, who, then, is responsible? Barring a tragedy, it’s that person who’s lived that life.
One of the main issues with a person or leader who refuses to look into their own heart when perceived catastrophes occur, run the risk of never growing beyond what they currently are. Not only will that mentality affect themselves, it’ll affect the people closest to them, while also setting the stage for the culture to be fostered. They’re planted, in place, and nobody better move. Imagine you’re an applicant or prospective customer walking up to a business where, emblazoned on the facade, is the statement “At [this company], it’s your fault. You’re the problem.” That certainly doesn’t inspire confidence, hope, collaboration, or growth. The antithesis to this would be something like “teamwork makes the dream work” or “together, we can make a difference.” Now those words, when actually practiced, set the precedent to be more readily prepared to accept the uncomfortable and the awkward moments of growth and change. Of course this is an oversimplification– problem employees and habitual offenders need training, coaching, or (hopefully not but) the proverbial boot. The whole idea here is to diagnose all the factors before a sweeping, ignorant claim can have a reserved place at your organization. As Brian Tracy says, “Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses. Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others.”
Well, This is Uncomfortable | Growth
Speaking of Brian Tracy, this unbelievably brilliant man proffers so many thought-provoking concepts in his books, that you barely have time to put them into practice before the next piece of wisdom is handed down. In this example, this can be a bit of a shock to your system once put into practice, especially if it’s not the norm — but it definitely gets easier over time. One piece he set forth to consider is this, “Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.” A person’s (or business’s) comfort is what breeds complacency. It’s familiar. It’s “safe.” What “comfort” really is, is our lizard brain saying 🦎 *tongue fwip* we’re safe here, don’t change a thing. When do things get uncomfortable? When you start or try something new, especially when there’s a chance you may look the fool for trying. For something low-risk here, how about for those of you who can’t dance, how does it feel when you attempt to or when you start learning to? Speaking from experience, oof, it is rather uncomfortable, to say the least. I’ve never done it before and my body doesn’t understand what the heck I’m trying to make it do so it gets flushed, I feel embarressed, and want to give it up. It’s a survival mechanic that’s never been developed or controlled. But you can simply it and do a little practicing. A few months later, and with a patient and encouraging dance partner, BAM, here we are.
The same concept goes with personal and professional growth. It might not be dancing. Maybe it’s a new sport, card game, business tactic, speech panel, technology, sales initiative, large customer, or training program. If you’ve never done it before, it will be uncomfortable. At first. Eventually, as you embrace these new experiences and learn how to handle naysayers or people who won’t take the leap from their comfort zone (often from a position of personal insecurity), this becomes the norm and you become less and less phased by the internalized nonsense. You also develop a refined process in which you all but guarantee success from the beginning because you know what works (and what doesn’t). Most people that you want in your life are curious. They also understand if you openly admit something like, “I’m working on being better about (X Skill). This approach is definitely new to me, I’m still figuring it out, but I’m excited about it!” It will likely trigger a fun or enlightening exchange of their own experience with this thing or something else that felt similiarly. The whole idea behind the “move out of your comfort zone” is to ensure you continue to grow, because growth, especially meaningful growth, can be super uncomfortable and even go against our nature or typical habits. There’s usually two catalysts for pursuing growth: 1- you want to or 2- the pain level increases to the point where you can’t deal with it anymore and you HAVE to do it.
Grow Up | Business Stages
Let’s look at the previous concepts from a business perspective. You own said business. You started it by yourself and build it up to what it is today. You were dynamic, flexible, did everything, moved fast, were constantly overwhelmed, and/or had zero personal life outside of work.
Then something happened. You finally reached a point where you could expand with some actual staff! So you chose to hire someone whose skills made up for a gap in your knowledge. In this example, let’s say you hired an accountant named Lou. Your boy, Lou. Lou comes along like a knight in shining armor. He takes your ridiculous excuse for accounting and sets it straight. You are ecstatic. You don’t have to do that anymore. What a load off of your mind! Something else happens here. You notice that Lou is a natural on the phone. So you hand him some of that responsibility while he’s not managing the books. You really like having Lou as part of your team. Since he was doing some of the things you used to do, you started taking longer breaks. You actually had the ability to take a day off here and there. Lou’s got this. So when he tells you he would like to hire someone to do another piece of the business, you say go for it! So Lou does just that.
Here’s the trap, though. You hired someone without giving them rules or clear expectations. No guidelines. No standards or processes to follow. You hired them and left thinking everyone thinks like you do. Without some of the most basic rules and guidance, people will typically do what they think is right or what they know, which will very likely not align with unspoken expectations.
So what happens here? Well, your company was in the business of cupcakes. You hired a great person, forgot to implement the basic framework for them to follow, proceeded to abdicate your role, and allowed Lou to hire mini-Lou’s to be on staff. Now your company is in the business of muffins, and you had no idea. When you finally “wake up” you find that you don’t understand the business and are outraged that Lou didn’t do things the way you would’ve done them. So you blame Lou. Lou ends up having to leave. The mini-Lou’s aren’t loyal to you or your management style so, one-by-one, they leave too. All while blaming Lou for your great misfortune, you drag the business back to what you know and are comfortable with.
You’re back. Back to being the one doing everything. Not a single ounce of effort towards asking the right questions, taking responsibity, understand the role you played, or growing as a person or as a business owner. Here’s the thing though. You’ve been here with your business, before Lou. And you couldn’t handle it. So why go back?
This phenomenon typically occurs when a business goes from the infancy to the adolescent phase, as outlined in Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth” book, where the owner drags the business back to what they know, tooth and nail, even if it’s ultimately to the organization’s detriment. In Mr. Gerber’s book, he also takes the time to clearly outline how every business has the capability to skip past each of those stages and, from the beginning, be a mature company (e.g., IBM). The above was an attempt to sum up a critical piece in that book. There were a lot of mistakes made in that story about “you” and Lou. It’s easy to pick apart what someone does or doesn’t do. It’s easy to blame others. It’s easy to go back to what we know. Doing these things will ensure a business will ultimately fail or, at the very least, foster the wrong kind of culture that inhibits a bright future from coming to fruition.
Boy that’s dark, right? It sure doesn’t have to be. So let’s rewind. You are back to being alone in the business. You take the time to build out a corporate hierarchy chart. It sounds silly, at first, but you do it and put your name in each position (or others’ names if you’re at that point). Turns out, you’re not just “the owner” of the company. You’re also the COO, the CFO, the technician, the customer service, director of IT, Sales, Marketing, etc. at your company. You’ve got no less than 14 roles you’re filling! Now that’s some perspective. From here, every time you perform each role’s responsibility, you outline the key responsibilities assigned to that role, the expectations of that role, and any caveats or considerations that need made. Once you have these done for each role, THEN you are ready to hire your “Lou“. When Lou comes aboard, he’s been provided with an explicit explanation of his role, documented procedures he must follow, and clear, set expectations. This is how you win. You are setting your business up as if it were a franchise — where it can be duplicated, exactly, as you expand. You become system and process-dependent. Not necessarily people-dependent. That sounds heartless but the truth is, people like clarity. They like to know where they fit and what is expected of them. They also like a thoughtful leader who takes the time to ensure he/she’s responsible, strategic, and ultimately, taking care of the organization’s people. This breeds trust and it saves you from a lot of unnecessary frustration and heartache.
Work On the Business, Not In the Business
Being stuck in the cycle of “doing everything” keeps you from moving forward and robs you of the time and space to think creatively and strategically about your [business’s] future. You shouldn’t be the one buying the ingredients, executing the recipes, or baking the cupcakes. You should be looking at building a clear plan to expand your selection (but only AFTER you master the one you’re currently doing) and then maybe building out the next ten years where you take this operation national. You can’t engage in big-picture thinking if you’re trapped in the day-to-day operations. And if you’re unsure how to break free, that’s perfectly okay! There are countless consultants, books, online resources, and local professionals ready to help. Remember, it’s not a weakness to admit you don’t know everything. It’s a strength to recognize it and take action to grow. Embrace this mindset, and you’ll unlock the potential to achieve greatness. Believe in your vision and take the steps to make it a reality. Through the lens of growth, something Alex Hormozi, from Acquisition.com, said that resonated with me was, “You can measure someone’s intelligence by how quickly they learn something and change their behavior. Every video, book, sale, every meeting, every phone call — if it didn’t change my behavior, it was a waste of time.” Losers stagnate, winners actively pursue growth.
The fact is, we are human beings and we are incredible freaks of nature. We are literally built to grow, succeed, and thrive. When we don’t, it goes against our design and can so easily breed negativity. You have so much untapped potential. Your business is amazing. You deserve success in every facet. Be certain that you don’t get in your own way. Some people don’t have a person in their life that provides this sort of information or perspective. So find those incredibly smart people, read those books, and arm yourself with the information that can help interrupt any negative thought processes, flip the switch of introspection and self-awareness, and, ultimately, reach unimagined levels of success. Have a little fun, learn to laugh at yourself, and learn a little along the way. Embrace the full picture so you can focus on the big one.