In my career, one of the challenges I faced was being asked to change the destiny of a company.
The business my client owned was losing money in excess of seven figures. My job was to turn the company around toward profitability. I faced the challenge of trying to satisfy the customer’s needs while not shutting the business down, even for a day.
I had two big tasks:
- Stop the bleeding of cash
- Create six-figure profitability
The team I put together was able to accomplish the tasks in less than 18 months.
This was, by all means, not an easy job, however I give credit to the job’s success in the knowledge I gained over the length of my career.
I have filled many roles in business throughout my career which encompassed being a vision holder and results achiever:
- Founder and CEO of Visions to Excellence
- CEO
- CFO
- Controller
- Owner in private & public corporations
Within all of these, I have learned that knowledge and how you apply that knowledge is what gives a business the edge that is so important to take it to the next step.
When I started working with the client, it was apparent they were suffering from a “leadership deficiency”. With some of the team, leadership wasn’t even on the radar.
It was as if they’d forgotten to take the leadership vitamin with their morning coffee.
→ Every day you are the leader of your business. You are captain of the ship. It’s vital you ramp up your leadership skills daily.
→ The choices you make as a leader are not the same choices you make as a manager. Be mindful of the difference between the two mindsets.
With this particular business, they were not aware of their leadership deficiency. It was a blind spot in their view of the business they had created. As a result, there was a point of surprise and shock when it came to the moment where we spoke about results being an extension of improved leadership skills. This knowledge now gained was a real “aha moment”.
I’d love to hear from you. What knowledge have you gained in your business that has made you a better leader? How has this knowledge improved your business?
This post is part of a series.
Top Secret Tasks to Small Business Mastery, Part 1: Knowledge
Stay tuned for more on this powerful topic.
