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Are you Too Close to the Problem?
In+vs+On

Remember that boyfriend (or girlfriend) who was really awful for you? All your friends knew it, but you couldn’t see it. Remember tuck rolling your acid washed jeans? It was cool at the time, but looking back it seems pretty ridiculous. And do we even need to talk about perms?

My point is, when you’re close to something it’s difficult to see the full picture. You get caught up in emotions or trends or the very small piece of the picture that is right in front of you. It’s not until you have the luxury of time or distance that you are able to see the full story.

The same goes for leading your business. When you are completely consumed with working IN the business every day, you are likely facing problems. These present themselves as feeling overwhelmed, having difficulty making decisions, and frustrations from things not going as planned. Sometimes you don’t even see the problems. If you’re knee deep in the hoopla, you might not even recognize that you have opportunities to make better decisions, simplify, or realign.

Working ON the Business

You may have heard this phrase before: working IN the business vs working ON the business. When you are working IN your business, you are doing any of the many tasks or management activities that make it possible for your business to run today. In our fast-paced world where there never seems to be enough time in the day, you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks and management activities on your plate. This fact may make it seem impossible to ever step away, for even two hours, to spend time working ON your business.

Because breaking away from the day-to-day can be so challenging, I’m going to share four tactics for ways to pull yourself away and give yourself, and your business, the much needed time spent working ON the business. Before I get into these ideas, let’s address the frame of mind you need in order to successfully work ON your business.

When you work ON your business, you are focusing on strategy for tomorrow’s success. The first step is to understand and believe in the importance of taking time to think strategically about where you want your company to go. If you see spending time thinking strategically as a waste of your precious time, then don’t do it. You need to be committed for this to be valuable. Otherwise, it is a waste of time. It’s also crucial to be open to new ideas. If you have no plans of changing how things are done, then there’s not much benefit to stepping away to focus on strategy.

Tactic #1 = Communicate

Okay, so you’re excited about thinking strategically and you’re open to exploring new ways of doing things. The next question is: How? I’m sure that running your business could easily consume 24 hours of your day, 7 days a week if you let it. Obviously, you don’t let it do that. You sleep, you eat, and hopefully you make time for your family and friends; as well as recreation, wellness, and hobbies. These activities fit into your life for a couple of reasons:

  1. Because they are important to you, and

  2. Because you have created a culture where the people in your business understand that you sleep, eat, spend time with family/friends and have some sort of  personal life.

Similarly, you can make working ON your business fit in if it’s important to you and you create a culture where the business understands it’s a priority. We already talked about your mindset around working on strategy, so clearly it’s important to you. The next step is to communicate with your team about why it’s important and how it’s going to look. Share your vision for your company and your belief that to achieve your vision you will need to think differently. Then tell them what it will look like.

Tactic #2 = Get Out

Set aside a specific time on your calendar. The best plan would include about 2-hours a week at the same time each week. If this seems impossible, shoot for 2-hours every other week. Still too much of a challenge? At the very least I would recommend 4-hours, once a month. Pick a time of the day or the week that would be considered your “slow time,” if there is such a thing. Whatever you land on that works well for you, stick to it like glue. Put it in your calendar. Schedule other things around it. Make it a priority.

Then leave. Get out of your office, your store, or your facility. Don’t tell your team where you are going. Take nothing but a pad of paper and a pen. That’s right, leave your cell phone behind if at all possible. Go to a coffee shop or a park or the library. Find a place that allows you to relax and your mind to explore new ideas.

As stated in Tactic #1 – communicate this plan and the purpose of it to your team on a regular basis. By communicating and following through with your plan, it will become part of the culture.

Tactic #3 = Create Accountability 

Does this all sound great, but you know yourself well enough to know that this might last for two weeks before you will find excuses for why it’s more important for you to stay IN the business? If so, consider finding an Accountability Partner to support you. This could be a partner, a spouse, a team member, a friend, a mentor, or another business leader. Explain to the person what you want to do and ask them to help hold you accountable. You may even find someone who wants to do this with you, kind of like a workout buddy.

Tactic #4 = Outside Help

There are times when engaging outside help is the best option. A coach, a mastermind group, or any other peer group are all things to consider if you feel like an outside set of eyes would be helpful. These resources can help give you a new perspective, consider new ideas, or hold you accountable for the things you want to do to reach your business vision. An outside set of eyes will challenge you in ways that you may have never considered, and will push you to do things you might not commit to on your own. Most coaches and peer groups provide a free discovery call or visit so you can explore the different options available to you.

Next Steps

Once you have your time-away plan, either on your own, with a partner, or with a professional, use your time effectively. These steps can help:

  1. Stay laser-focused on where you want to take your business. If you don’t have a vision yet, this is a great first step.

  2. List out all the challenges you face that are preventing you from reaching your goals. Prioritize. Peel back the layers. Often the first thing that comes to mind is a side effect of the real problem.

  3. Once you get to the heart of an issue, explore strategies for working through it. Come up with as many strategies as you possibly can. Determine which best match your brand, your culture, your values, and which will best solve your problem.

  4. Decide.

  5. Plan your communications. If you have regular staff meetings (which I hope you do), add the decisions made to your meeting agenda. Communicate your thoughts and develop any action steps required to roll out the strategy.

  6. Tackle as many issues as you can in your allotted time. Save others for your next Strategy Session.

Put Your Mask on First

There is a strong pull to convince ourselves that business cannot possibly continue to operate if we are not there. Are you really needed all the time? Or does it make you feel good to be needed all of the time? If your business cannot run without you in it for every hour that you are open, I might suggest this as one of the first issues you tackle.

“In case of a drop in cabin pressure, put your own mask on first so you can assist others.” Same goes for your business. Thinking short-term: I have to help my child or my seat mate, is similar to focusing only on the daily tasks. You’re only going to be able to help for a finite period of time. Thinking long term: If I put my mask on first, I’ll be able to help many others, is the equivalent of taking the time to think strategically about your business. You have to think long term in order to take care of your business.

Some lessons can only be learned through experience (like that awful perm), others (like the health of your business) you want to proactive work to solve.

If you would like to explore how coaching or consulting can help you work ON your business, email me at kim@athena-coco.com to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Calm the Chaos by working ON your business so you can find time to focus on what’s important to YOU.

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