Let's Keep it Simple
Why do we make running a business more difficult than it has to be? I’m not saying that running a business is easy. It’s not. That said, so often I find business leaders make running a company more difficult than it should be. I’ve run several companies throughout my career, and I can tell you that one of my main keys to success has been simplicity. As a leadership coach and business consultant, it blows me away how often leaders overcomplicate running a business. I see companies spend tens of thousands of dollars and an ungodly amount of labor hours implementing complex solutions in an effort to make the business better.
My formula is much simpler:
1) Stay in your lane- Be clear on the things you are great at and spend the vast majority of your time doing those things.
2) Backfill for your weaknesses- Be clear on the areas where you struggle and develop simple and disciplined processes that accommodate for your weaknesses.
3) Build your fortress- Hire extraordinary people who have different strengths than you do and are passionate about learning and crushing work.
4) Communicate clearly- State your expectations clearly, provide regular guidance, and get the hell out of the way.
5) Fix with permanence- Address mistakes and problems immediately and permanently. Don’t allow problems to be boomerangs.
6) Provide real feedback- Hold people accountable AND celebrate their successes frequently.
By running my companies with this approach, I have avoided most of the issues many businesses face. So often, the solutions and programs leaders put in place are more difficult than the original problem itself. They overthink it, add lots of layers of people and complexity, solicit too much information, and change direction as soon as they hit the first hurdle. The reality is that regardless of the industry, there is a pretty simple formula to running a business. The basics don’t really change that much. It will require your time, attention, and discipline to implement, which I know can be challenging but you’ll be grateful in the end.
If you run a good business but it’s not firing on all cylinders the way you’d like it to, here’s what I’d recommend:
Sit down in a quiet place for a couple of hours and make a list of a few challenges you’d like to solve in your business. (And yes you can do this. You’re not that busy that you can’t grab a couple of hours, even if it means Sunday morning with a cup of coffee) Walk away from the list and come back to it another day and spend a few more hours devoting your brain power only to solving the issues. I recommend you do this with a few smart and trusted people inside your organization, or even with an experienced consultant.
Keep your solutions simple and easy to execute. Let’s be honest, you spend a ton of your time solving problems already. The problem is that you do it on the fly while bullets are hailing all around you. Imagine what’s possible if you spend your time solving problems in a calm environment BEFORE the bullets start to fly?
I can tell you from experience… it is glorious.