Most small business owners are stuck in business-as-usual. Too tied to operations to truly lead. Fear-based thinking running the show.
I know because I’ve been there, too.
I had a realisation after burning out, that I was the problem. I was the one getting in the way, trying to put out all the fires and fix our profit margins.
I was making decisions myself without consulting the team. This caused a huge disconnect within the team. Culture isn’t built from the top down. It’s envisioned by leaders but upheld and strengthened by the team.
Our team culture was hurting.
I created a resource to help you if this is sounding familiar. It’s the blueprint I used to take myself out of driving decisions and revenue, and instead, focus on leading and coaching.
It’s called the Issues List. I truly believe it’s the most important system you can adopt in your business.
Here’s my advice.
Balance long-term thinking + daily doing
Focusing too much into the future without daily momentum can result in you not reaching those goals. And vice versa, focusing too much in the day-to-day without a vision for where you’re going can lead to a future you didn’t expect.
Both doing and dreaming can, and should, co-exist. What does this look like? It starts with the end.
Long-term planning:
- Get clear on your vision, values and reason for existing
- Revisit it every year and make necessary changes to it – it’ll evolve as you do
- Get buy-in from everyone in your team. When employees feel a sense of ownership, the mission becomes theirs, too.
- Embed the mission into everything you do, internally and externally. Become known for it, with employees and customers.
- Re-align every quarter, so you’re all rowing in the right direction
- Meet with individual team members every quarter to understand where they’re at and what their goals are.
Daily doing:
- This is where the shared Issues List will come in – this is your central operating system for documenting issues and ideas.
- Define a clear communications cadence and channel. Set standards for each team, department, and individual.
- Weekly meetings using the EOS Level 10 framework – more on that here
A clearly defined mission with daily momentum is key to progress, performance, profit, and purpose. Systems are key to your sanity as a CEO.
Grab the Issues List to get started.