One of the reasons I’m so fired up working with business owners and founders is because I want each and every owner to experience the growth and expansion running a business offers - if you want to grow as a person, your business is a great teacher - am I right?

Are you caught in a never-ending cycle of day-to-day tasks, feeling like you're always putting out fires, and never making the progress you dream of in your business? You're not alone.

Many entrepreneurs and professionals find themselves trapped in the whirlwind of immediate demands, leaving little room for strategic growth. But fear not; there is a solution, and it's called future-oriented work.

In this blog post, we'll delve into the significance of focusing on future-oriented tasks and how it can transform your business.

When I was in university my degree was a Co-Op program - which meant that I had several work-terms through my degree that allowed me to experience different businesses and industries. It was fantastic. I loved my degree and experiences at that time.

In one particular experience, I had the privilege of working in two businesses that shared admin resources (me) which was a partnership between two individuals - one an interior designer and the other a marketing consultant. It was a fascinating look inside these two diverse industries.

At the time, I noticed two hard-working Business Owners with a passion for their work. It was only years after that experience that I really understood the significance of how they ran their business. 

What I learned:

Powerful =

“…having control and influence over people and events.” In this case, I’m referring to control and influence over ourselves and our own impact.

“…having a strong effect on people's feelings or thoughts.” In this case, being intentional with our own thoughts and feelings that support us in our efforts.

We all know the Wealthy Barber story where he saved and invested 10% of his income each month, and over time and the power of compound interest, he became a millionaire. It took time and small increments of his paycheque each and every month.

It’s the commitment, regular modest investment, and the compound effect over time that I’m drawn to in this story as a parallel to consistently making space for your own personal leadership practice.

Having a personal leadership practice allows us to show up powerfully each week.

Here’s a thought: If we don’t have a personal leadership practice, how can we expect our employees to show up powerfully too?

A personal leadership practice doesn’t have to be developed through grand gestures, but can be small, focussed and consistent. (A few minutes of regular planning will go a long way.)

First, what does personal leadership look like for us?

Several years ago my husband and I were asking questions like: Will we have enough to retire? How much is ‘enough’? What do we need? What do we want our future to look like?

We’ve both worked in the financial industry and we have a good understanding and knowledge of personal finance. However, we wanted more than our general understanding and wanted to speak with an expert in retirement planning.

We explored possibilities and chose someone who we love working with and has the expertise we needed.

Once we made that move I felt incredibly relieved. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders because we now have a plan built for us.

And, I feel more confident in our ongoing day-to-day financial decisions because I know where we are in relation to where we are going with our ‘plan’. It was a very smart decision for us and I’m so thrilled we made it.

Getting help in the areas you need it is important. We can’t be all the things.

And we don’t know what we don’t know.

You can apply this to a number of areas in life.

As you work to grow your business, do you find yourself ever saying, “I’m not sure anyone else can do this,” or “what I do is so unique.”

OR, “I wouldn’t even know how to train somebody on this, I do it differently every time!”?

If you’re interested in scaling your business and growing your results, one of the most frequently raised topics of concern is about consistency and getting the rest of your team members to deliver.

“If I don’t do it, it won’t be the same client experience” or “We won’t achieve the same results.”

Some of these perspectives may be factual and some may not.

Even if it’s factual now, it doesn’t mean that can’t change.

Does your company bring you energy, increase your financial, emotional, and mental capital?

Or, is it sucking away your energy, and money you never seem to earn more of?

A business is a business when there’s equity to show for your investment. And has value to you and the world.

It’s painful to be reminded of the fact that life is short. But the gift in that reminder is to make the most of the time we have. That includes putting effort into growing your business so it provides the things you need it to provide for you.

If you’re putting up with drudgery, plateauing, or even putting off decisions, I’m here to say that there’s another way…

Maybe the reason your business is wearing you out isn’t necessarily because you’re burning the candle at both ends, or worried about making your bills, or because of another late order arriving.

While these are all worrisome and tiring, these could be symptoms of a deeper issue.

It could be due to a lack of capacity and diversity in one or all of three key areas: employees, suppliers, and/or customers.

How dependent you and your business is on any one employee, customer, or supplier can be a real indicator of business health, how high your business risk is, and how you, as the owner, are shouldering the effects of this directly. And, if that one employee is YOU, well that would be a signal of a lack of capacity or diversification of employees and skills sets.

I was recently speaking with a business owner who is dependent on one employee (themselves!) who tried to hire another employee recently.

They said ‘it didn’t work out’ and ‘it wasn’t a good fit’. And, they doubted that there would be a good employee out there that could do what they’re looking for.

I probed a little more and it became clear that they really didn’t believe another person could do what they could do and could serve the clients the same way they could.

I have heard variations on this theme from a number of business owners.

So what’s the answer?

Take a look at the three areas I mentioned and see how your business fares in these areas.

Here is something to consider:

Does your business currently align with YOU and your goals? Does it provide you with what you need to live your life in the way you wish?

Here are two important considerations:

1. Does it align with your desired lifestyle while working?

2. Is it structured in a way to set you up for your lifestyle after you want to move on from your business? (whether that’s passing it down to children or management, selling it, or moving into an oversight position, etc.)

Do you think of your business in these ways?

If thinking of your business in these ways is new for you or you simply haven’t given it much thought then I invite you to spend a few minutes to entertain them.

If you’ve often wondered how you can get your team working towards goals with the same sense of urgency that you have — you are not alone.

As a leader, meeting deadlines and goals are important, and yet you can’t accomplish this unless you have the whole team on board.

So what do you do when everyone isn’t on board? Or, have the same sense of urgency that you do?

If you look back on this year, how do you feel about your business?

Do you feel proud of your efforts weathering the uncertainty of this year? Do you feel frustrated or disappointed? Do you feel gratitude? Or perhaps a combination of all those things….

If you were to look ahead at how you would like to feel about your business in the coming year, what would come to mind? Accomplished, proud, successful, fulfilled……

Of all the things you could do in your business, often overlooked is how we want to be in relationship with the work we do and how the business can serve us and the people it depends on.

Particularly, if you’ve identified that HOW you show up in your business has a big impact on what gets accomplished and how the business does.

This sometimes feels so elusive - where are they? How do I get more?

If you’ve been in business for a while then you actually have some data to draw on. Instead of looking outward, look inward to your previous experiences.

These experiences can tell you a LOT about how to find more clients/customers like the ones you already have. It can be a great source of information for you.

Have you ever heard this one before?

‘If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing’

I personally don’t like this sentiment at all. But I get the idea behind it.