Coming up on a new year is a good time to talk about a process for goal setting and planning. Unless you’re applying for some kind of financing, there’s no need for a small business owner to do a 10-year business plan. If Covid has taught us anything, it’s how quickly things can change.
It was my pleasure to have Clint Parry of Focus HR on the show. Clint has a passion for business growth and personal development. He helps small business owners accelerate their growth through HR outsourcing. We spoke in depth about the “art,” strategy, and value of Human Resources.
Many of the problems I see in businesses — if not relationships in general — stem from either a misunderstanding of others or a focus on our challenges rather than our strengths. So I’m going to do a 4-part Dear Coach series on the DISC behavioral types to help us better recognize our own motivations as well as others’. Today I’m featuring The D who is The Director.
Small business owners pour themselves into their businesses. We often start our companies for very personal reasons. If we’re lucky enough to beat the odds and stay open for more than a few years, our own name becomes synonymous with what we do. What we contribute. Who we are to our community. Now, coronavirus is greatly affecting how we usually get to express ourselves. Maybe the things we’ve always done best, the services we’ve always had to offer, are the very things we temporarily cannot do. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t show up for others, and maybe it even means that we now have a chance to show up for ourselves. So if you’re having a bit of an identity crisis at the moment, here are some observations I’d like to share with you.
Public speaking is an excellent way to gain visibility and credibility for your business. It’s also among one of the most feared activities for most people. But with practice, you might actually enjoy having the chance to share information that is genuinely helpful to others. I personally have a serious shy streak, and I used to hate public speaking. I had to consciously imagine swiveling a spotlight onto the audience, so I felt that the attention was on them. I then began to understand I was there to be of service to the audience, not an object for their scrutiny. Once I flipped that switch in my head, I’ve had a lot of really fulfilling opportunities to help other people. It just took some practice, so here’s what I learned:
Today’s Dear Coach is about the discomfort of firing bad employees. Being a small business owner requires tenacity and a certain toughness. But that doesn’t mean that looking someone in the eye and taking away their livelihood is an easy action to take. I like to remind clients that an employee can be a good person and a bad fit. I personally have used what I call The “Three Strikes” Policy, and it helps to keep actions respectful and timely. Here’s what you can do:
Today’s Dear Coach is a riff on a New Year’s topic that comes up a lot with clients this time of year, and it’s what I call New Year’s Goal Bloat. This time of year people love the feeling of a clean slate. It feels good to kick off the new year with goals and that sense of a fresh start. But when you’re thinking of what you’d like to accomplish this year, remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And like a marathon, to achieve your goals you need to chunk them down into defined, progressive milestones. I suggest beginning with the end and working backwards from there. Here’s how to start.
Today’s Dear Coach is about the Three Actions You Can Take To Increase Cash In Your Business. Ever hear the expression “Revenues are vanity, Expenses are sanity, but Cash is king”? It’s easy to fuel optimism with your sales numbers. You can do your best to control costs. But, what if your business leaks cash? How does that affect your daily operations? What’s the impact on your own paycheck? These 3 steps will help you get some answers.
Today’s Dear Coach is about the benefits of using behavioral analysis in your business. As a coach, I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me because they are struggling with their sales or with leading their team. Once I dig a little deeper into what’s going on, I often find that the problem is rooted firmly in miscommunication and a misunderstanding of how others around them make decisions. The good news is there’s a simple, bang-for-the-buck tool that you can use to head off these problems, and it’s called the DISC assessment.
