The biggest challenge high growth businesses face is mentoring and creating the next set of leaders. A recent project reminded me of the lessons I learned while attending the University of British Columbia which you can apply to help yourself and your next set of leaders continually grow.
As a coach, I work with clients to get really clear on what resonates with them. When we are reaching for a future state that resonates with our deepest self, we can overcome almost any barrier to that vision. All of us have visions for ourselves at one point or another in our lives. Few of us take the time to really figure out what a powerful vision for ourselves truly looks like. By identifying those aspects of a day that our ideal for us, we then have the building blocks to put into our future vision. This makes it easier to imagine our vision and to write it down. The most powerful visions we have are the ones we actually write down and then tell other people about.
Entrepreneurs are by definition leaders. It takes a leader to see a market need, come up with a product or service to satisfy that need, and then to go out and sell it. Those are all leadership acts in and of themselves. If you are an entrepreneur who has hired contractors or employees, you lead even more, by showing up for those individuals who work for you every day.
I was walking along the promenade in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Stretched in front of me were vendor after vendor selling to the evening crowds. I love cake. At one table, a woman and her family had the most amazing cakes for sale. I bought a slice of the chocolate one and sat across from them to enjoy it. Afterwards I watched as between busy periods the woman and her spouse were close together.
An outline of Ray Zinn doing a hand stand is featured on the cover of his new book Tough Things First. While I can’t do hand stands, I did do a head stand in honour of Ray and his book.