Do you have a vision for where your business will be in the future?

Do you have a sense of what you’re creating through your work and how it contributes?

Do you feel inspired when you think of what’s ahead for your work?

If you don’t have a Vision Statement, I invite you to consider what yours could look like.

If you haven’t yet landed on a Vision - or a written out statement - chances are, it’s somewhere inside you, un-articulated and yet defined.

Let’s look at the benefits of creating a vision statement for your business…

With the current light being shone on systemic racism, I see many of you checking in on your own understanding of what this means.

As am I.

If I were to ask you this question, “What is the mark of a good Leader?”

What attributes would come up for you?

What often comes up would be attributes such as:

• They are Visionary

• They develop others

• They set the goals for the organization

• They are good communicators

• They navigate change

Another that I’d like to add to the mix here, is: They recognize when they may not have all the answers.

How do we turn disappointments in your business and leadership into a profound path forward that will lead us to future wins?

We’ve all felt it. The time when our customer didn’t come on board.

That moment where our idea fell flat in the boardroom and ultimately was glossed over.

That moment when our proposal wasn’t accepted.

That time when our manager didn’t seek our input on an important direction, when you felt you had been integral up to that point.

Instead of going to down the path, which so often might occur, of spinning out in a spiral of feeling put down, de-motivated, which then can lead into, ‘am I cut out for this?’ or ‘why does this always happen to me’ I’d like to make another suggestion.

Growing a business and leading your organization can be fraught with ‘what-if’s’ and ‘maybe’s’ and general unknowns.

Deciding which way to go can feel like you’re at the fork of multiple paths.

So, how can you create certainty, when you don’t feel at all certain?

First, what creates certainty?

Is it more information?

Knowing you couldn’t fail?

Knowing if someone will buy?

So consider this, does having more information really create more certainty? Perhaps in some cases….but we can never really have ALL the information. Can we?

I write this as I sit here in the sun - taking my work outside to write to you today - because…..why not?

We, in the northern part of our hemisphere, are starting to experience the lovely warmth of spring and anticipating the coming summer days.

Some of us may even be starting to experience a relaxing of some of the restrictions that we’ve been living with for the past 2 months.

As the weather warms and I think ahead to the summer months - approaching summer this year is unlike any other spring ever. Usually, I have things very planned out. I know which weeks will be vacation, I’ll have everything booked, kids’ camps/activities booked and it will usually be mostly all set by now.

This year, in a year where we’re unsure from one week to the next what will be open or what we will be able to do, the coming months may look very different AND my level of planning around it has shifted.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to conversations that highlight the challenges and needs that are surfacing right now. These conversations take place in my client interactions but also with my network and beyond.

What I’ve been seeing is that you are evaluating how you’re moving forward over the next few months. Whether it’s deciding what services or products to offer now or how you will position or sell your services and products.

Businesses are looking at re-opening guidelines and looking to their provincial and state mandates to see what that means for them and how they can continue to operate or re-open (if they’ve been closed through this).

In addition to that, I see you wondering about what this means for your existing services and products and questioning how to get these in front of your clients over the next few months. What’s appropriate as a business? How can I continue to be viable? How can I continue to strive to hit certain business goals?

As a business leader are you currently wondering how to continue to do business moving forward?

Are you wondering if you need to pivot in some way?

Are you trying to figure out how to operate now as you prepare for the long-term?

I’ve heard these questions from a number of business owners right now.

Are these coming up for you too?

If you’re currently asking yourself these questions let’s connect.

For the next 30 days, I have a couple of spaces open right now to support and coach business owners through these types of questions.

If you’ve built a foundation for your business and are you wondering how to continue or if you are considering a shift in your offerings right now, let’s connect.

I want to see you be successful; to come out of this stronger than before

This is the next in a series of videos I’m sharing with you on the topic of ‘How to focus when it’s NOT business as usual’. And today’s specific topic is about UNLOCKING the energy to find FOCUS because it’s currently within you.

So for many of us, our professional roles may have changed significantly…and for some they’ve disappeared. And, we’ve taken on new roles like homeschooling and being an emotional support for anxious colleagues and employees.

It throws us into a strange situation of blending the personal and the professional.

When our circumstances are so uncertain and we miss and grieve for our old routines and structures it can be really easy to slip into the feeling of “letting things wait until this all over” OR ease into just “letting things go.”

We need a reason to get going each day professionally and we need that internal motivation to stay front-of-mind.

And if you’re struggling with that right now, of staying internally motivated, this video is for you.

I hope you are well and finding your way at this time.

I had a few people reach out to me, sharing their challenges of trying to get things done.

These were centred around the area of time management and productivity….in the midst of managing other things at home now.

This is aligns so well with the topic of personal productivity that normally comes up in the work and coaching I do with business owners and leaders. And it aligns with the concept of showing up even when it’s a challenge and you don’t feel like it. This is a skill in leadership.

However, that being said, while I love the topic of personal leadership, at this time, I believe we can serve ourselves and others well, if it’s tempered, with more awareness and patience for ourselves and others during this situation we’re facing.

Yet, at the same time, there are still things to be done.

The idea I’m sharing with you today is practical and in the area of productivity & time management.

However, for the next few weeks, I’ll be leaving productivity and moving into other ideas on how we can conduct business at this unusual time.

Tune in here to another idea on how to shape the way you work at this time…

This is the first in a set of videos that I’m going to be sharing with you on the topic of How to Focus When It’s NOT Business as Usual.

Over the coming weeks, I’m going to share an idea or strategy per week to support you in staying motivated, productive and as focussed as you can be in your business and work.

I have so much to share with you, yet I want to keep these videos short! (Today’s video is 7:22)

So, never before have we had to deal with so much going on in our lives as we move through this Global Health situation.

I love the phrase that’s going around now on social media, maybe you’ve seen it. It states:

“You are not working from home….you are at home, during a crisis, trying to work” (- Posted on the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association and Foundation's Facebook page)

Even if you normally run your business from your home office, you know this is different…

if you’re still able to work right now, chances are, you have team members in other locations that you’re managing. I know many of you are leaders and business owners.

Whether this is new to you – maybe you’ve normally worked in person together – OR maybe leading a virtual team is something you’ve always done,

Here are some ideas to consider as you continue to lead your team at this time.

In this time of working from home, with so many distractions and major worldwide issues unfolding AND having others in your home, having a strong morning routine can mean the difference between a great day and an unfocussed one….which can sometimes add up to many unfocussed days.

I wanted to go back to basics here, because this is what we are all facing right now. Our regular routines have been disrupted. Where we work has changed for many. There are others in your space that may not normally be there…..

I will add a disclaimer here as well…sometimes we need time to process, time to adjust, reflect and adapt, with patience, compassion and grace. I am in favour of taking the time to process all the changes and challenges that you’ve been through or are facing. If that means working at slow speed, making space for more family time, I am all for it.

When you are ready…and I know you will be. You’ll be wanting to get some things done. And, feeling like you’re able and capable of getting things accomplished will be a form of carving out your own control in a situation that is very fluid now.

So when you are ready, here are some ideas for you.

We are living in an unprecedented time. COVID19 represents difficulty and complexities for us all and that doesn’t even include those who are ill and our skilled health-care workers facing this in a more acute way.

Setting aside ensuring your family and loved ones are safely tucked away, as a business owner, this can be a daunting time. But ‘how’ daunting is how you look at it.

In one of my past live’s, I had the opportunity to co-lead and build a pandemic response for a Fortune 500 company in Canada, which fed into the Continuity planning for the organization. That experience has given me the opportunity to look at this situation from a unique perspective.

Have you ever heard the quote:

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” by Albert Einstein?

Einstein suggests that shifting how we look at things provides us with the clarity to find solutions. In order to shift our thinking though, understanding our behaviours can help identify how we think or feel about things. So, let’s look at your leadership behaviours.

First, what do I mean about next level behaviour?

This is the higher level behaviours we use when we are at our best selves and step into a more evolved or expanded version of the role we are striving to inhabit.

As an example, for the business owner, next level leadership behaviour may come when you consider what you would do if you thought about what your business needed from you. Or, what you would do if fear wasn’t in the way?

What behaviours would you need to lean into more fully in order to execute in a critical area? This could be what your business needs to enhance it’s marketing or sales process, for example. Or, it could be what’s needed to improve any process in your business, for that matter.

As a business leader there are behaviours that contribute to the success of your business and there are behaviours that are neutral (may not have an impact either way) and then some that may even put up challenges to achieving success.

Here are some behaviours I have observed that can prevent us from evolving in our leadership effectiveness:

If you’re looking to make big changes in your life, career or business and wondering where to begin, you may be thinking too big.

Stay with me here…

I’d like to suggest that it’s the small things or small steps that can make…sometimes….the biggest change of all. It would get you into action.

What would be an example of a small step that you can take that could make a difference to you right now?

Here are some examples to consider, depending on what you’d like to accomplish in your career or business:

Do you listen to podcasts?

I really enjoy podcasts. I love how they can get me thinking about new strategies or different ways to look at things.

One of the topics I enjoy listening to is about productivity. (I know…..but I’m owning it.)

As a business owner, wearing a number of hats can feel overwhelming with all that needs to be done.

I’ve mentioned before that productivity issues can be a symptom of something larger - not keyed into a vision or goals, not focussing on the ‘right’ things, etc.

But at the end of the day sometimes we just need help managing the number of items we have on our plate. So, sometimes a new idea or a strategy is what we need to support our planning and ‘the doing of things’.

If productivity or time management is something that you struggle with or want to learn more about, I thought I would share a list of podcasts that I’ve enjoyed.

I’ve found these podcasts helpful in giving me unique perspectives in how I run my own business, support my clients and apply the concepts to other areas of my life.

Here are 3 to check out:

“I’m too busy growing my business to think about processes”

“Process stifles creativity in our organization”

“Process is considered a dirty word in our company”

I’ve seen too many companies suffer from their belief that if they put structure and flow into their business, their people will feel ‘stifled’.

You know what lack of process, or infrastructure does? It inhibits communication, reduces role clarity, creates inconsistent performance, creates uncertainty when problems arise, and slows growth. Unfortunately, the list doesn’t end there.

What a question…..and, a question I’m often asked.

It can also be a deeply held belief that some of the business owners I begin working with have: that their business can’t possibly grow because they are already maxed out….or close to it.

This is where the intervention begins :)

Yes, growing your business is hard work and you will have to put the work in. I want to lay that out right now.

However, it’s where you put your energy that counts as you grow and expand into a future vision of your business that delivers results…..and maintains your sanity and personal relationships too.

It’s about laying the foundation for growth.

A house cannot be build on a faulty foundation. It doesn’t sound fun but it’s soooo important and you’ll find that when you do have a solid foundation….after you’ve put in the work to create one…it IS fun. It’s exciting to see what you, your team and business are capable of at that point.

So what does a foundation for growth look like?

I deeply admire and am inspired by business owners.

They take a chance….make a leap….to create something from nothing. To take the untravelled path, taking a chance and a risk, no matter how calculated…there’s always some degree of risk.

As the business grows from start-up to an established business, typically people are hired or contracted and the team grows. More people benefit from that business’ existence. Not only the customers buying the product/service and the people who are employed or contracted, but there are the spin-off effects of that.

Somebody’s child gets to play soccer that year. There’s a family vacation. There’s a charity that gets a donation or even a larger donation. A spouse that gets to have the freedom to then choose their own career path. The spin-offs are endless…..as long as that business does well.

We all benefit directly or indirectly from those ‘small’ businesses starting, growing and thriving. (A Small Business is defined as a business with employees 1-99: source Statistics Canada)

Yet, the challenges many of them face are…

Time, Stress and Money

These three power-hungry forces show up everywhere. They’re sneaky and like to assert their power over everything.

And, when it comes to running a business, this is no exception.

And, every business has had to deal with these power vortexes at some point. Some have battled back and have asserted their control over the 3 forces…and others are still battling valiantly.

The analogy of a ‘battle’ can be fitting because when you’re dealing with lack of time, lack of money and an overabundance of stress, it can feel like an uphill battle to grow your business.

The fatigue, the overwhelm, and loss of confidence can be crippling to a small business owner who has big dreams and wants to provide a secure financial future for their family.

So, we need to shift the power dynamic.

We need to rise up and establish who’s boss….a rising of the defenders and protectors of sanity, confidence, and calm presence. An anti-dote, if you will, to the power-hungry forces that want to dominate.