Meeting room

Working with senior business leaders over the past week has reinforced how important it is to grow in a deliberate way. Several realisations came up while connecting with these quality humans…

  1. People now, more than ever, want to connect with other humans… making the time to connect and understand their space is key to helping them show they matter
  2. Business Leaders want to continue growing, especially when there is uncertainty in their space
  3. Small steps taken often will create growth and you don’t have to move mountains to do this
  4. It’s not the product / service that people really want, it’s the feeling that it gives them

If you feel like you are constantly shifting the goalposts, you probably are. To experience growth on your terms, is to manage the space you operate in and create that solid foundation. What if we were to take on work at 30% profit margin rather than 15% profit margin, we could do half as much and make the same profit. When resources and capacity are capped, this may be an opportunity to get deliberate in the way you look to grow.

So, when you feel you lack clarity, may be losing control and your foundations feel more sand like than rock.

Here are a couple of things to help get you back creating results on your terms:

  1. What will Growth give you – to know what you want to grow in to, takes first understanding what this will be like when you do. “We would like to have 20 people in the field” is a solid target, but what will that give us that we don’t have now. More people to manage, bigger impact of decisions, more mouths to feed…. it also gives you the ability to make a difference to so many more lives. Are you growing for the sake of growing or are you and your team clear on what you are creating and why it will matter to each stakeholder? Get clear on your reasons so you can create a plan.
  2. Where do you want to grow – as leaders you provide the example for those around you. Where you show the benefits of growth, and how it benefits both you and others, it shows them that it’s possible for them to experience the same. Identifying your growth opportunities, whether it be personal development to make you a better speaker in public situations, adding or honing a skillset to allow you to take on higher level work… or even learning to let go of some things to allow others to grow around you. Being clear on where you can create extra value is being deliberate in where you focus your growth.
  3. How you can manage your growth deliberately – creating a view of what your space looks like in 12 months allows you to get clear on the steps and the process you can take to build an even more powerful space, both for you and those around you. If you want the 30% margin clients or you want your senior leaders to be guns at building relationships that’s totally ok… accept this is what you want and let’s get after it. “When we are all clear on what it will feel like when our canoe arrives safely to shore, and this resonates with us, then we will all grow together”.

When you are deliberate in what you are doing, where you want to go, and the feeling you will experience when you get there, this certainty will create even more desire to make it happen. To believe you can control everything will lead to frustration, yet with clear direction, a strategy, and an understanding of the feeling you want… you will influence the way you grow and ensure there are winning moments for everyone along the way.      

If you want to make this happen for you and need to know where to start.. let’s chat as this is our space.

Cheers and have an awesome week!