Most people are reasonable; that’s why they only do reasonably well.
Oh how I hate these people! They become high-maintenance (and usually low-profit) because of the damage they do to your own immune system. Their stress and negativity dumping behaviour sucks the very lifeblood out of your most precious asset - your enthusiasm. Replace all energy sappers with energisers - it is as simple as that! Don’t build the business around yourself In the early days it’s great to see those emails and texts for you – you are important and wanted. However, this excitement soon turns into an addiction. Your definition of success starts to depend on how much you are needed. Wrong! (unless you want to be the bottleneck in your business). Try to design the entire business model with the sole intention of getting it to operate without you. Or do you enjoy working 24/7? ‘Start with the end in mind’ is what Steven Covey says. If you intend to get out of your business at some point then you need to design the whole thing with that endpoint in mind. Otherwise you end up as the most tired person in the graveyard! Don’t carry a Blackberry 24/7 The world will not grind to a halt if you are not there to take every call. In fact, customers might treat you with a bit more deference if you ration your available time with a little more respect for what is really important. Don’t play it too safe The riskiest thing is to be safe. Very good is bad because no-one notices it.
Don’t be reasonable “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.” GB SHAW
So, are you being reasonable? As Paul Arden says, “Most people are reasonable; that’s why they only do reasonably well.” Don’t get the negative feedback habit We spend 95% of the time focusing on the 5% of things in our businesses that don’t work and only 5% of the time focusing on the 95% of things that really do work. If we do screw up we already know about it, so let’s recognise the mess and get on. When things go wrong there is no point dragging the team into the boardroom to dissect and analyse every action that (may have) contributed to the poor result. It is far better to take the team into the boardroom when things have gone well to dissect and analyse every action that (may have) contributed to the good result, ie get the team to focus on what they are doing right. If you get/see what you focus on then it seems mad to focus on what’s gone wrong and it seems obvious to spend more time looking at what really works. Don’t take it all too seriously No-one enjoys working with a bore and while we are at it... Don’t forget why you are doing this in the first place When you are on your deathbed you will not say “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” Get real, have fun, laugh and lighten up!
Final thoughts by Whitehall Having tried to put the above into action, I can vouch for it not being easy. I have managed to keep Lombardi Time and I don’t have my Blackberry with me 24/7 for office use. However by just adopting two or three of these actions I’ve found that I’m less stressed. I find it’s similar to going to the gym. I may not leave looking like a model, but I certainly feel like one inside and that’s the addiction. Robert Craven is the keynote speaker and author of the best-selling business book ‘Bright Marketing - why should people bother to buy from you?’. As MD of The Directors’ Centre, the consultancy for growing businesses, he works with ambitious directors to break through constraints on business growth. He can be contacted at rc@directorscentre.com or on (0)1225 851044.
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Whitehall business magazine I 5