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What is the purpose of being in business?

To earn money and live well maybe? This is true up to a point, but there are other ways to earn a living.

Perhaps having a business means that we have freedom to choose? I would say that that is a key element for me and I revel in the fact that I can buy items of stationery without having to fill out a form and then waste precious minutes of my life asking a manager to authorise a 50p biro. There is something liberating about being able to buy pens when I jolly well like! (Funny how the little wins in life can seem to have the most value to us).

However I wonder that being in business is really all about doing something that we love.

I’ve noticed that the successful people I meet at networking events, or on our weekly radio show, all seem to really love what they are doing. I don’t mean fake media ‘love’ that many people project, in order to impress others (it never works).

I’m talking about genuine, sparkly eyed affection for their product or service. Honest, enthusiastic love.

I know some people find the L word over-used, or difficult to make sense of, and that is ok. If ‘love’ feels too heavy for you then feel free to swap it for fondness, affection, joy, interest, or excitement. I like the L word because it has power and a sense of density to it.

Doing what we love makes everyday a new exciting challenge, instead of a foot-dragging chore.

I will admit that I do love being a business coach as much today as when I started 15 years ago. My next client feels like my first client and I love the excitement of starting a new project and building a new relationship.

Doing what we love can involve us making tough decisions. Setting up in business was scary and there was the risk of zero income to contend with. Well, haha, what am I saying …the risk was reality as all businesses start with zero income! However, at the time it didn’t feel as much of a risk as getting another PAYE job would have been, as that would have involved me doing something I didn’t love. Taking second best can be an easier road to travel, as it means we can take what is on offer in front of us, instead of turning away to travel further down the road.

There is no shame in taking second best and if needs must, then it’s the right decision. We can always choose to review that decision later on, once the crisis has passed. I subscribe to the view that we can all make choices and can think for ourselves. If we choose not to, that is still a choice we are making. When the time is right we will make the decision that is right for us.

Doing what we love may take time to achieve. I spent the first 10 years of my working life in factory jobs that paid the bills and didn’t nourish my soul. I hated them. Then I made a decision to not get a job after redundancy and to go back into education, which put me on a path that lead to me setting up my own coaching business. I had a ‘defining moment’ at work one day and knew I had had enough of working for other people and wanted to work for myself. Defining moments are precious things, they land when we least expect them and they shake our thinking and set us off in a new direction.

What would you love to do, for paid work? Are you in a business where you work hard, but lack enthusiasm? What is your secret ambition? If you want to make a change, what are you frightened of and what’s the reality of that fear?

A few questions for us all to ponder this week. We often know what we love and can be too scared to find the words and confide in a trusted supporter. We can think about the questions above and we can do some thinking to acknowledge our feelings about what they stir up inside us.

We can all do what we love.

Next week: Trump The Media

Leadership in business, was to some extent redefined after the publication of the classic book ‘Good to Great’ (Collins). When looking at successful businesses and researching the factors that made them so, the question of leadership naturally came up.

What the researchers discovered, was that the more successful corporate businesses were not lead by charismatic, gung-ho, celebrity type leaders. In fact they were lead by diligent, thoughtful, unassuming, motivated types. Leadership, for these people, was about finding out the facts, pooling the corporate brain power and then sticking to well-researched strategic plans.

Not a sexy, media-friendly approach, but a quietly efficient one.

I rather like this finding, because it shows that leadership is about people and performance and not about being the ‘big I am.’ In fact, in the book, the businesses who had arrogant leaders often over-reached themselves. Nobody dared to challenge the big boss, and so when he (it usually is a he, sadly) decided on a crazy plan, everyone followed …over the cliff.

So here is my take on leadership, in 7 words. We can make the subject complicated and draw neat models, or we can cut to the chase and highlight essential elements of success.

1 Awareness – we need to be aware of our own behaviour. What are we really like under pressure? Are we being angry, or approachable? What feedback do we need to hear and take note of? What do we need to recognise in ourselves (so that we can make changes)?

2 Repertoire – we do need to have some skills at our fingertips. Can you draw the Situational Leadership model from memory? Do you know 10 great coaching questions? Is there a useful template for contracting in your notebook? We need to have tools and skills that we can use from memory in the moment. We can choose the skills we need for our environment and we need to know them, so that we can use them.

3 Consistency – people like to know what they’re getting and not be spooked by sudden outbursts of anger, or be faced with a back-sliding boss. If we agree something then we need to stick to it. If there is a process, then we need to uphold it. Consistency brings safety into the room and enables colleagues to be more confident with their own decisions.

4 Flexibility – if we can’t make course corrections then at some point we will end up hitting a rock and sinking our business boat. Flexibility can mean taking the time to pause and reflect. It can mean cancelling an order half way through and capping the money wasted. It can mean responding to new information and abandoning previously cherished plans.

5 Determination – if the leader lacks the energy to complete plans then what chance does the rest of the organisation have? A determined leader focusses on achieving their goals and organises themselves to ensure they are not side-tracked. A determined leader is allowed to be tired and to support tired colleagues. What they can’t do though is to give up, whine, or be blameful of others. They need to cut through the mist and keep finding solutions.

6 Fairness – ethics and equality need to be embedded in any organisation. The leader needs to be their champion and be unswerving in upholding the rights of individuals. Fairness means being truthful and maintaining transparent recruitment and promotion processes. If we are not fair, then our bias will undermine the organisation.

7 Humility – easy to say and hard to do in practice. When did we last admit a mistake, in public? When did we own up to not knowing an answer in a meeting? When did we say yes, instead of admitting ignorance and saying no. Humility means to be self-effacing and recognising the boundaries of our competence. We all have limitations and the best leaders know theirs and delegate their weaknesses to better able colleagues.

This week, if you had to choose one of these 7 to work on, which one would you choose?

Happy leading!

Next week: Do What You Love!