3.
You are at: The Messy Middle
In business we often think that other people have all the answers. Most small busines owners feel that a coach or a consultant (or sometimes google) are their best solution to help them understand what they don’t know. These are normal stages in a small business and each stage has its normal problems…You might think…You are starting to feel proud of yourself and the progress that you are making. You still have stressful days and situations, but you have a plan that gives you confidence. Some days business as usual gets in the way, and often all those good ideas don’t get done. You would like to focus on your business performance and get better results. You find yourself fighting more fires than you would like, and you wonder why business gets more complicated as you grow. You feel…I feel like there’s so much more to learn about business. I want to feel more in control. I can see my team delivering and would like to make it easier for them to be effective. I still feel stressed and overloaded but there are days when everything goes well. Shouldn’t it be easier by now?Your goal: Make time to work on your business. Our groei coach says…Your solution: Focus on improving yourself as a leader, invest in your people and processes to be more effective.If you can’t afford to do more…- Schedule time to reflect each month and analyse the problems. Think about the fires you are fighting? Where are the recurring patterns? Review what’s worked and what didn’t work. Change one thing.- Focus back on your processes and systems. How can you make it easier for the team to be more effective? Time to reinvest in next level automation. - Ensure your team have performance measures so they know what success looks like.- Set up patterns of meetings to help manage expectations and review progress.- Be deliberate about the culture you want, define your values and get focussed on giving feedback. - Spend some time on your personal goals. Be clear about what you really want. - Get support for yourself. You will need e-energising. Surround yourself with growing businesses with similar experiences. Resources we recommend The Messy Middle – Scott Belsky Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business – Gino WickmanThe Coaching Habit – Michael Bungay StanierRework : David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason FriedTurn your knowledge into actionThe right learning program for youPathfindersBecause:Our participants say that Pathfinders helps them navigate the challenges in their business. Sharing their experiences with other businesspeople who’ve been there and done it enables them to feel supported, make better decisions and have the confidence to act. They feel connected to people who care for them, who are independent and can give them unbiased feedback and insight into their situation.