It can be lonely at the top – be that as a small business owner or head of a large-scale corporation. As a leader and inspirational business figure, you’re often expected to have all the answers but who does the leader lean on?
Dr Alex Morgan and Amanda Daly, two of the most respected coaches and business leaders in the UK – and co-founders of The Insight Centre – a brand new, dynamic – and ‘disruptive’ – business coaching community, offer tips and sage advice for the new financial year ahead…
The Urgency vs Importance Matrix – helping you prioritise
When dealing with high-stakes decisions as a US Army General, President Eisenhower designed a tool to help him prioritise called the Urgency/Importance Matrix. Quite simply, tasks and ideas can be categorized in one of 4 ways: Important and Urgent, Important but Not Urgent, Urgent but Not Important, and Not Important and Not Urgent.
As an entrepreneur, it can be very difficult to focus, but this simple tool will help you take stock and reboot. Try using this prioritisation tool at least once a week, in a low-tech way on one side of A4. Just draw 4 boxes, and categorise your tasks and ideas accordingly. If a task is both Urgent and Important, do it today, do not become distracted! If a task is Important but not Urgent, diarise it for another day. If something is less important but urgent, then delegate this to someone with more time or headspace, if something isn’t urgent or important then ditch it altogether. Keep disciplined, keep focused.
Get to the heart of the matter – develop your Empathy
Entrepreneurs are by nature intuitive and ready to spot opportunities. They can mobilise fast to get things done. But as your business grows you become more and more reliant on the goodwill of others: customers, suppliers, distributors, investors, and employees. The same skills that enabled you to launch your business will need to be redeployed as people skills. You will need to become intuitive to people’s wants and needs, and you will need to be observant of team dynamics. In this way, you will enhance your empathy for others, the foundation of relationship building.
Be grateful – a thank you goes a long way
Many coaches and therapists recommend that their clients keep a gratitude diary, a log of perhaps random things from the day that they can feel grateful for. Gratitude has been shown to improve mental health. During the lockdown back in 2020, many people shared their gratitude for carers, relatives and friends, keeping positive feelings alive in a very difficult situation. Expressing gratitude is known to benefit both the sender and receiver. This might be a quick text to say thank you or a stickie or postcard left on a desk. As they say, a thank you goes a long way.
Believe in yourself – you deserve it
Many entrepreneurs get stuck in what is often called Imposter Syndrome or the Imposter Phenomenon. Essentially this is the inability to believe in yourself, feeling that your success is undeserved or even feeling like it is fraudulent, and sometimes feeling guilty about your success. These thoughts and feelings can be counterproductive, so make regular “check-ins” with the real situation. Get feedback from your team, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Fix the things that need fixing, but notice very carefully the positive feedback you receive. Make a note in your diary of the great feedback you received verbally, put nice emails on your notice board, and put a compilation of positive comments about you and your team on your website and social media. In other words, make great feedback a visible reminder that you are doing really well.
Communicate your vision – show people the way
Most professional executive coaches agree that helping a client craft a compelling, positive and exciting vision of the future is one of the most effective ways of making that vision reality. Make a vision board, draft a written vision, share your future ideas with your team, and keep telling people what you want and when you want it by. Not only does this connect your energy to completing your goals, helping you to believe it actually will happen, but it also brings together a powerful coalition of people who are also bought in and as totally committed to your goals as you are. Don’t keep your vision a secret! By sharing it, you will make it come alive.
Plan your way to growth! Work smart, not hard, work a plan to fruition
Strategy and goal setting. Statistics tell us those who set goals tend to be the most successful in wealth share and success. When you set goals and they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Realistic, Achievable and Timely) your focus and time are drawn towards necessary and important work as opposed to drifting over what you want to do and are most comfortable doing. Having firm intentions also reduces the levels of procrastination. Breaking down your activity into 5-year, 3-year, 90 days and weekly targets ensures you are so focused, time wasting is not an option. A great book recommendation is Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy. Do the big most important jobs first, the rest will then be easy.
Let go! Build trust and delegate more, so you can focus on your strengths
Are you the bottleneck in the business? Often when we own our own business, we tend to hold on to more tasks than we should. Perfectionism or even trust often stops us from redistributing work. As a leader do you work ‘on’ the business or ‘in‘ it? As leaders or successful managers, if we do not assign tasks to team members or outsource workload, there is a fear that we will maintain the ‘hamster wheel’ – an environment that is stressful and never-ending. Play to your strengths and find team members who can bridge any weakness, whilst you can maximise your own genius and strengths. If everyone played to their strengths and delegated tasks to those who are more skilled in certain areas, the levels of efficiency and output would be greatly enhanced. If you are not able to trust your team or delegate, do you have the right personnel?
Build strength in your team! Create a team that is capable of growth and eventually succeeding you
A good leader will know to employ staff that are more skilled and talented than themselves. Is a business even a business if it only relies on the strength, drive, and skill set of one person? What would happen if that key person were unable to work: will the business survive? Many owners do not plan for an exit strategy. Succession is a key element of success. Who are the next generation of rising stars and how well are you developing them? Studies show Millennials, Generation X and Z are more likely to quit or switch roles and companies if they are not happy with the working environment. Evidence also suggests the next generation of workers tends to be less loyal without ‘something for them.’ Succession is also a motivator for loyal staff and skilled staff to stay.
Create financial health and wealth! Be robust about business and personal finance so you have firm foundations
Financial freedom? How much do you need and when? When is enough, enough? Knowing your numbers for your personal wealth is as important as knowing your numbers for your business. Where is your cash gap to allow for financial freedom? Knowing this number helps you plan, feel motivated and add purpose to the ‘Why’ in your business and actions. Planning for financial freedom early creates the financial stability to do what you want to do in future life without worrying about your bank account. A good IFA will help define what monthly figure is needed. Often, through compounding. The rolling effect of accrued interest will often do the heavy lifting in the creation of wealth. The amount needed each month to create financial freedom is a monthly figure far less than you think.
Invest in the right infrastructure to facilitate success
Despite over 50% of employers wanting staff back in the office five days a week*, there is an enormous gap in what staff are willing to do and accept in 2023, with a quarter of the workforce favouring 2-3 days at home each week. Home working is here to stay, fact! As an employer and leader, your success demands that you not only invest in your infrastructure to enable productivity to be maintained – or bettered, but you and your workforce are mentally set up to excel in these flexible working conditions. This can be a lot to get your head around – and sometimes, an external person or coach can be an invaluable sounding board to help you get it right.
The Insight Centre and its community of coaches has been created with the aim of offering business members flexible access to a trusted community of coaches, consultants and therapists that can offer valuable coaching and advice for the business and the business owner – fusing ‘mind and business’.
Each month, there is a public-facing Lunch & Learn session that enables members and would-be members an opportunity to not only meet the Amanda Daly, Dr Alex Morgan and their community of coaches but also network with other motivated business leaders and learn something new from top industry speakers, in this bitesize, lunchtime session.
The next Lunch & Learn session takes place on Friday 24th March and will see a short session from Linda Neville – an expert in helping business owners take care of their own mental health and well-being.
Amanda Daly and Dr Alex Morgan invite you to join them, as their guest, at the next Lunch & Learn. Confirm your attendance by clicking HERE.
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