Do You Know How Leaders Should Think?
(By Gil Gerretsen) About 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci said "He who thinks little errs much." In modern times, as the pace of business continues to speed up in the face of constant change and new technologies, there are many signs that entrepreneurs are failing to learn from history, sit back, and think about what may lay ahead. Too often, quick actions are taken without adequate contemplation and planning.
In the field of entrepreneurship, taking the time to think about the right things, at the right time, in the right way, is often the difference between failure, mediocrity, or great prosperity. Knowing what to think about, and taking the time to do it are vital keys to success. They should not be avoided.
So, what should you focus on? Not long ago, Inc. Magazine helped prove this point by conducting a survey that asked entrepreneurs about their thought process and priorities for starting their business. Here were the top five results:
29% to create something new;
24% to take control of their life;
14% to make money;
14% to be their own boss; and
10% to prove they could do it.
However, those motivations didn't automatically fuel prosperity after launch. The key to prosperity was elsewhere.
In his 1982 book "Out Of The Crisis," management guru W. Edwards Deming declared that "94% of success belongs to the system." He further explained that the system that people work in, and their interactions with others, is the primary driver of peak performance. He declared that, to prosper, you must eliminate corporate choice and digression at the basic levels. You must generate predictable results at all levels of the business through reliable core processes.
His prosperity formula became quite simple. Process + Reproducibility = Success.
Most entrepreneurs understand this to be true with their production lines or service processes, with their bookkeeping, and even with their employment policies and practices.
Sadly, though, they often neglect the importance of building reliable core processes in their revenue operations. Since business development (and any reliable results) often feels mysterious, entrepreneurs often fail to think about and create revenue production processes which they can count on.
Yet, every business needs to have a revenue production system (marketing processes) which they use according to a proven schedule. If a business seeks to grow, they must create a reliable marketing and sales system that allows them to expand upon, and project, future results based on past successes.
Said a different way; To grow your business faster, easier, and with less financial risk, you must first establish a clear story worth repeating, build channels to repeat it, and then energize it so the story gets told over and over in a way that produces results. THAT is what you should be thinking about!
The system you use can and will be different from anyone else. The key is that you need a system. There are some good design tools available in the world which can help you get started (i.e., Gazelles, EOS, or the BizTrek Method). As you move forward this year, take the time to look at your system, evaluate it, and contemplate it’s reliability.
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