There I stood.
In front of the man who had fired me and left me with nothing but a
dainty severance package after my years of dedicated service. This was my only time to tell him how I
felt. I stood there, in the
pouring rain, surrounded by all of his new employees. I was speechless, and everyone just stared
at me. I felt people laughing at
me with their eyes, while others tried to hide the obvious looks of disgust on
their faces. Why do all of these people despise me? I felt as though my world was closing in. I was looking my competition right in
the face and my former boss was standing in front of me with an evil smirk on
his face. As the raindrops hit my
cheeks, a sense of rage came over me. I was not only sad that I had lost a great mentor, but also angry
about something entirely different. I could feel my blood boiling as tears began running down my
checks. Finally I said to him, “Are
you happy about what you did to me? Are you out to ruin me? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
I woke up completely drenched in sweat and I could feel my
heart racing. I was lying on my
couch and had fallen asleep reading The Social Animal by Elliott Aronson. Was it the book that had provoked such
rage? Was it the fact that I
seemed to have my former boss haunting me in my thoughts quite a bit lately? What had provoked my anger and triggered
such a vivid nightmare?
As a new business owner, we all have those haunted memories
and lucid nightmares of how our lives used to be. We often wonder why we ventured out and started our own
business. In the past, I worked
for a small consulting firm as a senior manager. Like many in that position, I was overworked and underpaid. The same old song and dance we hear over
and over again. The difference is
that I decided to turn things around and create my own path by starting a team
building company that aligned with my personal values and vision.
We are the products of our own vision and we all want to
create our path to success. So
what is holding us back? Why was I
using my former boss as a scapegoat and fearing the potential competition of
his new employees?
I spent the next few days thinking about where my business
is now and where I would like it to be in the future. I also spent some time mind-mapping to
see what I was doing right and what I might have been overlooking. The question that kept lurking in my
thoughts was this: “what barriers am I creating that are keeping me away from
success?”
Although I began to fear my response to this question, I
wrote each of these barriers down and was shocked by my findings. In order of importance, my list
included: time, money, and fear of my own success. The third was the barrier that was enabling time and money to
halt my professional growth and success, so I decided that this was where I
should focus most of my attention. My business was doing well and I was experiencing great
outcomes, but it was never up to the standards I held for myself and fear was constantly
holding me back. I was afraid of
taking that leap of faith and putting myself out there to blossom fully. I found that I was comfortable with the small
business struggles (as if I could justify these everyday hurdles as a reason
for avoiding the imminent possibility that I might be good enough to succeed
and surpass my competition). I
began to see that I offered better programs, lower prices, and a great staff,
but that I was still not where I wanted to be because I constantly had this
little voice in my head telling me that I was not good enough. How would I gain the confidence needed
to really reach for the stars? Using
my mind-mapping model helped me revisit the barriers and identify the goals
that needed to be realigned with my business strategy so that I could finally
overcome my challenges.
Below are some of the examples of my mind-mapping experience
along with some ideas to help those who are dealing with the same sorts of
challenges:
Time: Why do I
not have enough time? What I am
doing with my time?
I started looking at my daily tasks and what I was actually
accomplishing in a given day. I
found that I do not delegate enough and that my to-do list is often so long
that I am constantly overwhelmed. I also spend too much time working on tasks that are not
necessarily profit-related. Sound
familiar?
Here are three strategies to consider implementing over the
next six months to help overcome your time barrier:
§ Keep your to-do list to a minimum of five tasks
per day. First, take one page to
list out all of your weekly tasks, then, break that list down into more
manageable daily task lists. In this way, you can ensure that everything gets
done throughout the week (versus cramming it all into one unrealistic day).
§ Spend time organizing your week so that you can
get rid of the overwhelming feeling of being busy all the time. Since I am an adjunct professor and
business owner, I need to schedule my time more efficiently. I struggle with putting out all the day’s
small fires versus focusing on tasks that I have planned to do. If you are like me, try picking one
calendar (Blackberry, iPhone, day planner, or whatever you think is most
realistic for you) and stick to that one organizational tool. Too many calendars for different areas
of your life can lead to major confusion and distraction.
§ Start delegating tasks so that you are not
trying to control every little thing. Train your employees to do organizational tasks that you’ve
been trying to handle on your own and then actually let them do some of those tasks. It may be difficult at first, but
sharing theses duties will help build trust between you and your team and will
also give you more free time to handle the organizational development of your
company. Also, consider letting
some of your employees attend networking events to represent your company. Your team will feel valuable as they
make new professional connections.
Money: What is
holding me back from making more of a profit?
I began looking at my business strategy more closely and
found that I am focused on product differentiation. I have a unique service that helps businesses create group
productivity to increase their ROI.
I decided to switch my focus to attracting the clients that are looking
to build their employees to be accountable and productive. To create this model, I use team-building
tools that increase the overall performance of groups. This is all great, but it all takes me
back to the original questions: how can I make more money? What does my dream have to do with all
this?
If you are faced with similar dilemmas along your path, try
analyzing your dream more closely. When I did this, I began to realize that I
fear competition and I view that competition as looming around every corner as
I venture down the road of sales. With this knowledge, I began to wonder how I could
realistically take a step ahead.
One idea for getting over this hurdle is to reset your focus
on the core competencies:
·
Revisit the basic needs of organizations
·
Adjust your services to fit those needs
Fear of success:
what is causing this resistance?
This is the most critical question that business owners need
to ask themselves. Time and money
will come and go at any given moment, but creating your own barriers around your
success can hold you back. My
biggest hang-up is how to get from point A to B. Is it the fear of putting myself out there and realizing that
my services are not needed? All
business owners have that same fear, I’m sure, but we can’t talk about it
because we might look less competent. The reality is that we are still very competent, but we need
to talk about these fears and learn to support and lean on one another for support. This will help us in our quest of being
authentic and honest to ourselves.
With that said, I have implemented three strategies that,
over the next six months, will help me overcome my fear of failure:
§ Create an action plan for each of my new programs
and follow the steps and timelines.
§ Spend some time working on mind-mapping and goal
setting. Using these two tools to envision where I want to be and my plan for
getting there.
§ Enjoy doing what I do best: facilitating,
teaching, designing team building programs, and not fearing my competitors.
Now it’s your turn!
What is your biggest hurdle in your path to attaining success in your
business? What does your list of
strategies look like?
My nightmare was a wake up call. We all need reminders from time to time to help us refocus,
realign, and readapt to our ever-changing business environment. I like to think that if I ever do get a chance to run into my former
boss, I will smile and say, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do what
I love!”
From the nightmare on corporate street to corporate America,
we all need to focus on using our instincts to build our businesses!
