“So, ARE you

The Boss,

or not?”

(Part II of II)

    I heard a couple of resistant barks over my post last night which identified business owner / manager / operator limitations as being “self-imposed,” and which attributed business behavioral limitations to titles.

     Okay, I can accept that certain out-of-touch types of people find it difficult to buy into the thinking that they could possibly be doing themselves in, but the truth is that every limitation IS chosen and self-imposed, or is the result some choice that set that limitation in motion to start with.

     As for behaviors attached to titles, one need not look any further than government and corporate life to see evidence of this. For those who inhabit such grand seas of incompetence — titles are security blankets. Titles are used more to impress others than to designate responsibility.  

     Here’s what happens: I ask you what do you do for a living? You define yourself by saying, “I’m a business owner. I run the Outer Space Music Company; you know, songs for the future; that sort of thing.” I ask you for some recent examples. “Oh, my New Release Manager handles those. But I could check my Archive Manager for some older titles. What is it you’re looking for?”

     Well, I hate to tell you, Good Buddy, but if you own and run a business and have to rely on others to answer questions about the products or services you produce, you have let (chosen for) your title to get in the way of success. You are thinking “I am the Boss.

     When you think of yourself AS the Boss, you think you are entitled to let your specialists handle the day-to-day stuff while you go to The Downtown Presidents’ Club, the Better Business Bureau, and the Chamber of Commerce, and lunch with the bankers and play golf with the investors and . . .”

     You have created self-imposed limitations to be doing what you think you SHOULD be doing instead of what needs to be done. 

     There are in each person’s mind different specific sets of words, terms, responsibilities and behaviors associated with every title. Here’s a quick little word association game for your brain . . . What do you conjure up in your mind when I say: “President”? “CEO”? “Business Owner”? “Senior Executive Vice President”? “Practice Administrator”? “General Contractor”? “Captain”? “Post Master”? “Sales Manager”? “Officer”? “Shrink”? “Lawyer”? “Coach”? “Consultant”? “Princess”? “Union Leader”? “Community Organizer”? “Trainer”?

     Try these titles on 100 different people; you’ll get 100 different answers.

     When you think of yourself as “The Boss” you are preventing yourself from taking necessary steps outside that “Boss Box” to move your business forward. You are limiting yourself, and consequently your business. And it’s your choice.

Open Minds Open Doors. 

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

So, ARE you the Boss, or not?

(Part I of II)  

     Other than bad news from your accountant, there’s very little you can hear that’s worse than, “It’s not my job!”  Nor does it make any difference which of those four words is most emphasized (and of course the absolute worst place any boss can hear these words is when an employee says them to a customer!).

The example, though, serves to make a point:

You’re “The Boss” . . . What’s YOUR job?

     If you want to start making more money by tomorrow morning, you’re going to have to change a few things. If you’re going to change a few things, you have to be very clear and keenly aware of what exists right now — beforeyou charge in with your wheelbarrowful of shovels, dynamite sticks, battering ram, hammer and nails, concrete, and power tools.

     Probably the most important first step (which, by the way, takes at least 3-6 seconds!) is to accept the fact that the sooner you can get yourself to STOP thinking of yourself as a “business owner” or “operator” or “manager,” the quicker you’ll get to that money-making part. Why? Because . . .

Because  the minute you think of yourself as some title, like “the owner,” there are certain defined behaviors and privileges that go along with that title, and each of those is limiting.

They unconsciously require you to behave in certain ways.

They actually block you from exercising your true entrepreneurial pursuits, your innovative ideas, and your ability to move your business forward in high gear.

     To put aside your self-imposed limitations, you must first put aside your thoughts of being “the owner/operator/manager,” and start to think of yourself as more of the free spirit that started your business, or that started working with it from that very first day. Remember that? You were all cranked-up and uninhibited in your thinking?

     Forget about what happened since then and focus on where you are right this minute. And as for “down the road,” if you know where you want to end up, don’t waste time checking the finish line; stay with your heartbeat and pulse and breathing! 

     This “New You” also needs to throw off any and all “Get Rich Quick” schemes. Reality note:There is no such thing! Forget about all those slick email and Twitter and Facebook and YouTube come-ons and one-time-only deals that promise transformation of your life and business into an overnight kingdom for just four easy payments of $29.95.

     Instead, you might give some thought to what you could do for your your business yourSELF for the $119.80 [oh, right, “plus S&H” . . . or now it’s “P&H” . . . “P” for Processing. Apparently “Shipping” is now free and you pay only for “Processing.”  Hmmm, “Processing” PLUS “Handling”? Aren’t employees PAID to do “S” and “H” and “P”?  Is somebody double-dipping?]

     Okay, here it is. This is what you’ve been waiting for . . . 

          To get ready to make more money starting tomorrow morning: 

1) Start focusing on what you can do immediately to shed your mental cloak of limitations that revolve around BEING (insert your title), and instead take 3 bold, positive steps toward framing your business in some exciting new, more realistic, more authentic, more transparent directions.

2) Order more deposit slips. 

 Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

 Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make it a GREAT Day for someone!

THANKS FOR

STOPPING BY!

I Hope you’ll take advantage of my blog post archives (scrolling or search window topics) while I take a blog-breather today and tomorrow.

I’ll be back Monday (4/5) with a special 2-part series for business owners and entrepreneurs on how to adjust your thinking Monday night to start making more money Tuesday morning.

Please join me. I look forward to seeing you then. Best as always – Hal

~~~~~~~~~ Visit Hal’s Recent Guest Blog Posts ~~~~~~~~~

“SHOW ME THE MONEY!” @ http://bit.ly/c7AdQB ; “Don’t Give Away The Store” @ http://bit.ly/b4HumK ; “What Sport Is Your Sales Pitch?” @ http://bit.ly/9cy9xX ; “Every Sales Pro A Small Business Owner” @ http://bit.ly/7K0s4a ; “The SALES Snow Job” @ http://bit.ly/bYHmXx ; “Got A Sick Website?” @ http://bit.ly/6iYe6g ;  “Leadership Puzzles” @ http://tinyurl.com/yfsczbk ; “What’s Your T-Shirt Say?” and “Are You Selling or Juggling Seagulls?”@ http://bit.ly/7K0s4a   

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! Blog via RSS feed or $1/mo Kindle. GRANDPARENT Gift? http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

If you failed to teach a

key employee 

something important

today, are you

missing the boat?

     With what I presume to be 55% of American employees being UNhappy [See yesterday’s blog post below this one], there’s very little “happiness-transition” wiggle room for a business owner or manager to exercise. The first important step, though, in the direction of kicking up productivity is to more fully engage employees in the day-to-day operations of your business. 

     Should you flat out trust the one person who seems most likely to head off to a competitor? Should you risk sharing critical product development or service expense information with people who you’re not confident will even be there in six months? Does it make any sense to encourage the employee your classmates would vote “Most likely to be brain-dead,” who you’ve kept around to do the slug work nobody else will touch? Sometimes the least likely people rise to the occasion. Think on that one.

     How about — instead of asking those questions about your employees — you ask some questions of your SELF? Where, for example, are you and your business headed right now? Where do you expect to be in five years? How (what’s the process you’ll use) do you expect to survive the next five months? What will you be doing differently then than you’re doing today? Why are you waiting five months?

     Keeping on that track for another minute, what’s something new you’ve learned about your business today? What’s something new you’ve learned about your SELF today? (Yes, both events did in fact occur; you just blocked them out or didn’t give yourself enough credit for the discoveries.)

     How will any of that new information help you tomorrow? When was the last time you and your family depended on someone else’s decision making? When was the last time you put yourself in your employees’ shoes and thought about their perspective of your business and your decision making? How do you think dependency feels?

     When was the last time you stopped long enough to teach an employee something important that she or he can use to do a better job, or be able to take home to share with family? Do you take active interest in your people every day? Why not? They may never admit it and you may never believe it, but all studies ever done would reinforce that you can be sure they take active interest in you every day, probably every hour! 

     So, that means you’re obliged to return the interest? No. You’re obliged to do everything you can possibly do to cultivate employee enthusiasm for the work they are doing. When financial reward is not possible, emotional support and psychological reward and teaching by example have to suffice. And if you’re consistent about making those money-substitutes work, they will. All human beings need reinforcement and reassurance. Employees need it from their bosses. Are you on it?                                                                              

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! Blog via RSS feed or $1/mo Kindle. GRANDPARENT Gift? http://bit.ly/3nDlGF