Who Runs Your Business!
As I said in the previous post, one reason the job of running your own business and creating a strategic plan is so tough is that no one really understands what it entails. It’s hard to be a strategic leader if you don’t know what strategic leaders are supposed to do. Most times you focus only on what’s directly ahead, react to situations, or act on advice without thinking of the consequences for you personally or your business.
Are you the leader of your business, or have you even yet given thought to that concept? Are you of the mind to only deal with “stuff” as it comes up or do you have a strategic plan of action in place, even if it is minimal at the moment? Guaranteed, dealing with what’s directly in front of you, always seems more urgent and concrete but doesn’t give you much room or opportunity to concentrate on steering around the potholes that may show up, or allow you to notice any signals that the road you’re on is leading you off a cliff.
Ever hear of, “peripheral vision?” It’s a skill we use all day every day whether walking down the hallways of University, in a crowded mall or on stage in a big scene. It’s paying attention in an expansive way to what’s going on around you without actually focusing on any particular part of all that activity. So, take a risk and be more conscious as you learn to anticipate and look for game changing information at the periphery of your world. This allows you to then search beyond the current boundaries of your own circle of friends and your accumulated knowledge, always building a wider external network with those of like mind and others, to help each other as you scan the horizon for opportunities to share.
Another great way to bust out and start building a strategic plan for yourself is to actively fly in the face of the usual conventional wisdom when facing new challenges. Design ways to test deep held assumptions and beliefs about your usual way of dealing with the world. Hold a debate with yourself, you know when you talk to yourself inside your head, and allow all kinds of ideas to come forth and be bantered around until the light bulb goes on and you have an “ah ha” moment. At the same time know that different is not always better – so don’t throw out as they say, the baby with the bath water. Understand the insight inherent in the ole tried and true conventional wisdom as well as keeping in mind its blind spots. And please, please, please, keep an open mind about new concepts and ideas you might come in contact with as you talk to and work with others. Heck, why not actively seek out those who truly see the world differently and try hard to understand why! Often you will still disagree, but at times they might actually reframe your own thinking for the better. In other words, don’t just continue to associate with those who agree with you. Welcome healthy disagreement and discourse and above all, don’t ever forget to listen to what others are saying. Don’t be trying to concoct some smart, witty repartee in your mind and stop listening to others conversation. Listening is key in any good conversation.
A good strategic leader holds steady, synthesizing information from many sources before developing a viewpoint. If an interesting bit of information comes up that seems appropriate for your strategic plan, don’t just take it on. Be sure you check it against not only what you already know, but google it, ask those in our industry that you trust about its authenticity and possible use for you. Don’t be afraid to question these prevailing assumptions that perhaps many others are following. Remember that we are not all wired internally the same so there is no one path that works for everyone. There is no right or wrong, better or worse.
• What triggers you to action—the glass half empty (moving away from) or the glass half full (moving toward something)?
• Do you like to gather information from outside sources and then decide for yourself about it based on internal standards or do you seek others opinions, outside direction and feedback from external sources to feel comfortable when making decisions?
• Do you prefer options, look for opportunities and possibilities to do something in a different way or do you love procedures where you feel there is a “right” way to do things. You love the how things are done, not the why.
• How often do you seek change? This is about your internal time clock and how often it rings for change. Do you like evolution, revolution, both or stability?
• Are you proactive, like taking action, taking the initiative or reactive, waiting for others to initiate or wait until a situation is right so you can consider and analyze without having to act.
These are just a few of your many inner wiring systems that help make up your particular inner system of how you see the world and do things. There is absolutely no better or worse, right or wrong to any of this, it just is. So you can imagine that with discovering just your own inner systems, the many combination possibilities there are for others as well, thus not all ideas, programs, ways of getting to where you want to go, will work for everyone.
So armed with a bit more information about yourself and how you work best, you will discover and better understand how you do what you do and what works best just for you. Obviously, this information needs examining and then lots of putting it to the test and practicing. So now, test your own strategic aptitude and stay tuned for the next installment of Avaniti and Ciao until next time.
Carol
What Kind of Leader Are You?
