The Leadership Spoke

In the last writing we introduced what we refer to as the “Wheel of Business” – an easy and effective way to view the key areas that must be paid attention to, nurtured and mastered “IF” your business is to achieve its ideal level of “health”. The “spokes of a wheel” like this …

*The “NP” stands for New Patient.

It’s essential that we pay attention to the various “spokes” of the wheel and keep it “balanced”. When we DO, the business rolls along nicely. When we forget about a spoke or fail to address any of them in a consistent and effective way, the wheel (aka our practice or business) wobbles, slows down and may ultimately blow the tire completely out! Let’s do some check and balance by hitting each spoke. First, let’s talk about “Leadership”.

Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of GE and well-known example of business leadership excellence, said this:

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

Take note of the key words there: Create. Vision. Articulate. Own. Drive. To start hitting these key factors, it may be helpful to ASK YOURSELF these simple questions:

• What is your Primary Aim? Have you defined what your real AIM/PURPOSE is?
• What is you Strategic Objective? What does this business look like when it is fully developed?
• What is your Company Story?
• What are your KSI’s (Key Strategic Indicators). In other words, how will you track progress towards your Strategic Objective?
• What will your TEAM need to look like to achieve your Strategic Objective? What are the Gaps and needs of your TEAM?
• What is the Culture you are building? What and how do you intend to develop it? What is and isn’t working?
• How do you SCORE or track your progress? What are the Monthly, Quarterly and Annual goals? Does your team know them? Really?

If you have not already done this exercise, you may find it beneficial to answer this set of questions. In addition, bear strongly in mind what good leaders (and assess for yourself) …

• A leader creates the right conditions for success.
• A leader motivates individuals to work together optimally as a team for a common cause.
• Leaders reduce confusion, clutter, wasted time and energy.
• Leaders empower those they lead to make better informed decisions.
• A leader creates clarity about where the business or organization is headed, why, and how each employee or team member can contribute.

And, perhaps most importantly, a leader MUST accept 100% responsibility. Good, bad and ugly, your business is where it is because of your level of leadership – period! For your leadership level to change, you must change … or nothing will change! You must change your thinking and beliefs to change behavior. You must re-engineer your mindset and escape old habits and assumptions. You must try new strategies and approaches. After all, if you keep doing what you’re doing … you will keep getting what you’ve got!

Building a truly great practice/business (and life) depends on only ONE person…that’s YOU! Become a student of life, and never stop learning. First and foremost, work to become a better YOU. Simply put, a great practice and life starts by working on yourself and becoming a role model for those that you serve.

In closing, we want to share an excerpt that was given to us many years ago and has proven vital for us and those we lead in the Activate DNA Weight Loss family of providers. We encourage you to read it daily. Share it with others. But, most importantly, LIVE it!

10 TRUTHS about Leadership:

1. YOU make a difference! It all starts with you and what you believe in yourself.
2. Credibility is the foundation of leadership. In short, if people don’t believe in you, they simply won’t follow you.
3. Values drive commitment. People want to know what you stand for and what you believe in.
4. Focusing on the future sets leaders apart. The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is a defining competence of all leaders.
5. You can’t do it alone. What strengthens and sustains the relationship between leader and constituent is that leaders are obsessed with what is best for others, not what is best for themselves.
6. Simply stated: TRUST rules. You have to give trust before you can get trust.
7. Challenge is the crucible for greatness. The most revered leaders are always associated with changing the status quo.
8. You either lead by example or you don’t lead at all. Leaders have to keep their promises and become role models for values and actions that they espouse.
9. The best leaders are the best learners. Leaders are constant improvement fanatics, and learning is the master skill of all leadership.
10. Leadership is an affair of the heart. Leaders make others feel important and love is the motivation that energizes leaders to give so much for others.

As we said before, it’s not always easy to keep all the spokes of the “Wheel of business” straight and properly functioning. It’s easy for a business owner (or an entire organization) to lose focus or take their eye off one or more these key areas of business. Need help? Want to learn more? Just click or call today!

Be well and LEAD BIG!