When I was 18, I had no problems visualising that I could run a pub by the time I was 20. I could see it, feel it, taste it. I hit 20 and whilst I had been mentoring and training new licensees and business owners for 2 years (and won an award for it), I finally got given my own bar to manage. It was also short lived…I fell pregnant and moved back to Wales! but the point is that having a clear vision worked but visualising alone didn't.
I had to work hard and truly believe in that vision. I made it happen because I grafted, took scary action, had an unshakeable belief that I could do it and that it was ok to f*#k up and maybe blag it occasionally!
Move on another 20 years and I felt fear that I had never felt before…fear that said 'I am not good enough' but the reality was the evidence that I 'incredible' was stacked against me!
I am nearly 46 and have big, bold, dreams. Dreams of building a community of passionate leaders who are elevating the professional practice and low standards across multiple industries. I want to remove the mediocrity by daring leaders, experts and change-makers to stand out in an increasingly competitive market aka creating an #ExcellenceRebellion
The doubts, fears and (let’s be honest) a bold ambition has meant I have had to feel the fear and get real with myself. I have had to sit down and become conscious about my competence - written down my strengths, experiences, skills, wisdom and expertise. I had to clearly show to myself (cue face plant) the evidence; ask people who knew me to point them out and show me. I LITERALLY HAD TO SHOW THE BRAIN HOW AMAZING I AM AND GIVE IT THE EVIDENCE!
You see I had let my inner 'chimp' become feral!
He used to be contained and could cope with the unknown because I could soothe him during the fast pace of change and growth. I had the security of employment and the constant ‘well done’ and ‘congratulations’ from external people.
When you level up in your own business - go against the grain and stand out against those who don’t want to see change - your chimp will get scared! He is meant to for survival after all but that’s why we need a little help sometimes.
The inner 'human' is logical, rationale, and he makes effective decisions based on the evidence and facts and not just emotions and feelings. Now my human was the authority; trusting and not a micro-manager up until about 8 years ago when I started my business. He trusted the monkey to have his back and deal with the gremlins, but he was stupid…the monkey took the lead.
It wasn’t the past that debilitated me, it was the immediate present; not being focused, not having a clear vision and most importantly not owning my expertise and wisdom. I reflected over the past 25 years of experience supporting thousands of leaders, hundreds of managers, and more than my fair share of business owners, that only non-experts call themselves an expert, the real experts know that they are never really an expert and often feel the same as me.
A successful business comes from building a solid and robust infrastructure across 5 clear themes:
- PASSION: You as a person. Your vision, ethics and signature perspective
- POWER: You as an expert. Your 'toolkit' of experience, skills, insight and wisdom
- PLANNING: Your business operations. Your professionalism, Intellectual Property (IP) and assets
- PERFORMANCE: Your voice and visibility. Anyone can create a business but only real leaders can scale a movement
- PRODUCTIVITY: You can deliver a great service. You want to evidence change, growth and legacy
Growing and scaling takes a lot of visualisation but also stepping into a bolder version of you. This is exactly what we help our clients do. I become your personal cheerleader who takes a pragmatic approach to identify the risks, hidden harms and fears and manage these head on! I have been supporting businesses create professional and operational excellence for 25 years and the following are just some of the common issues I find in my discovery analysis
RISKS – ineffective systems and processes or worse no policies and procedures at all, not preparing for changing industry trends, not having the personal support to check for unintentional poor practice, growing too quickly, gaining additional services or diversifying without proper thought and consideration.
HIDDEN HARMS – unmanaged anxiety and overwhelm, unconscious mind traps e.g. telling yourself you can do it but unconsciously doubting yourself, wasting time and effort on perfectionism, poor productivity, not being focused, not believing that you have the credibility.
When I collaborate with business owners, I come from a place that can see what works and what is unproductive and unprofitable, or worse, will damage credibility and reputation. We want to feel successful, impactful, action taking, focused and accomplished; know that we are creating a legacy that's has a powerful ripple effect and is making a difference to not only the people we directly work with but also those they work with too.
Best practice has no room for wastage, errors, disempowering others, it’s all about the right action, duty of care, ethical and social practice. Every leader should be striving for best practice, its non-negotiable.
Together we will co-create that vision in your head, visualise HARD but also develop the habits and behaviours that that you need to so that you can identify and face the discomfort and the icky bits too and make the change.
If you need some support to get practical and map out the 'substance and the fluff' in your business, then let me co-collaborate with you to unleash your awesomeness! Together we will work out what actions, strategies and personal ownership you need to get there so that you are working smarter not harder, showing up and not hustling.
Share this post: