business success Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Capacity Building Solutions

Leadership Thought #356 – You Need to Have Decision Making Filters

How an organization makes decisions greatly affects whether or not it will have sustained levels of success. Any company can get lucky every once in awhile, but relying on ad hoc judgments is not a good strategy. One of the most important things a leader does is make decisions. He/she must also create a culture that knows how to make sound judgments without relying too much on any one individual. In essence, you want to foster an environment where you, your management team, and other key employees use decision making filters to increase the likelihood of making the right choices.

Leadership Thought #355 – Growth Comes with Its Own Challenges

Business ownership has never been for the faint of heart. On-going change and adaptability is part of the success equation. Even when things go well there are problems you will have to navigate. As you grow, your company and you should be prepared to experience many if not all of the following issues:

Leadership Thought #329 – Never Settle for Mediocrity

Never settle for mediocrity in others or yourself. Greatness is a choice although sometimes it can also choose you. Far too many businesses limp along or merely survive rather than thrive. Far too many people are dissatisfied with the outcomes in their life. To achieve anything of significance requires passion, diligence, hard work, commitment and raising your expectations of what’s possible. As I watched Bruce Springsteen perform last night in front of a packed house for nearly 3 hours at age 62, I couldn’t help but think that besides his obvious talent, what still makes him great is that he cares so much, loves what he is doing and gives it everything he’s got.

Leadership Thought #323 – Are You Just Going Through The Motions?

If a leader isn’t properly motivated then it will eventually trickle down throughout the organization. We all look to our leaders for both inspiration and direction. Every organization has to maintain a certain edge in this regard and must continually fight complacency. It’s hard to stay on top. You must never accept the status quo or rest on your laurels. High performing leaders are never just going through the motions. They show up to work every day with a sense of purpose and responsibility to do what’s needed and what’s right. They don’t need other people or external factors to force them into action. They are self-motivated to build the best possible organization they can.

Leadership Thought #322 – It Has To Be About More Than Just Money

The most successful business owners I know are focused on building great companies and/or fulfilling an important mission instead of just making money. Financial success should be the end result not the driving force. This becomes especially apparent after the business experiences some level of economic success. Instead of becoming greedy and short term focused these leaders often double down and invest surplus resources in continuing to grow the business and its people. They genuinely appreciate the importance and responsibility of having a positive impact on others and adding real value to their marketplace.

Leadership Thought #317 – You Have To Learn To Hit Curve Balls Or Find Someone Who Can

There comes a time in every young baseball player’s career where he has to learn to hit a curve ball. It isn’t easy to learn this skill. With fastballs it’s just a matter of focus, timing and reflexes. Curve balls are often unpredictable and anticipating ball movement can be quite difficult. The same thing happens in business. At first you just need to pick up the fundamentals. Much of this knowledge is easily acquired and is just a matter of applying what you learn. With certain skills sets, practice will make perfect. However, as you become more successful and the stakes get higher, the level of complexity will tend to increase in a corresponding manner. It no longer becomes just about fundamentals.

Leadership Thought #296 – The Business Danger of Unrealized Potential

am back from a week long business trip to theBahamasat the Atlantis Resort. It is a very impressive venue. I cannot imagine how much money was invested to create the experience. It literally is one of those rare “spare no expense” properties. There was a TV show you could watch that documented the attention to detail in the construction process and I was blown away by the vision and commitment of the main developer. You don’t get to stay in many places like this in your lifetime. In addition, I haven’t met many people as nice as the local Bahamians.

All the above being said, I was very disappointed by how poorly the operational side of the business was run.

Leadership Thought #275 – Leaders Lead!

There is no such thing as passive leadership. Leaders lead – it really is that simple. Instead of shying away from a challenge, leaders embrace it. When others are hesitant to take action, leaders step up and seize the initiative. Instead of folding under pressure, leaders thrive under the spotlight and find the harder parts of their job the most rewarding. Leaders intuitively know that everything important begins and ends with them, but the middle part is a team effort and they allow others to step up and share their individual and collective strengths as needed. The best leaders only say “I” when it involves shouldering the blame, but say “we” when it means sharing the credit.

Leadership Thought #263 – When You Have Something That’s Working, Stick With It

Change for the sake of change is never advisable. All change should be rooted in some obvious reality that requires a shift in the status quo. When you have something that is working stick with it. This doesn’t mean you run it to the ground, but also doesn’t mean you abandon it too soon either. In general, there are usually more things that are right rather than wrong with an organization unless of course it’s a crisis situation. There should be many positives you can lean on and leverage for both short and long term benefit.

Leadership Thought #204 – Your Business GPA

…the ultimate goal of any business should be to have high quality employees who are focused on providing value-added services to a loyal and growing client base in an efficient and profitable manner.