To transform your business, you need to transform yourself. Because if you don’t change, how can you expect to change your organisation?
People want leaders they trust and respect. They don’t want hypocrites. You need to walk your talk. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Leaders need to lead by example. Culture, performance, productivity and profitability are top down, and your team looks to you to set the direction.
Do you lead the way you want others to behave in your organisation?
How to transform yourself
The first step to transforming yourself is to conduct a self-evaluation. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do people trust you?
- Do you have a personal vision?
- Do you know how to turn your vision into a plan?
- Do you know how to engage your staff in your vision and plan?
- Do you know how to manage your staff effectively?
- Are you their preferred manager?
- Do you know how to transform your people from good to great?
- Do you communicate consistently and effectively?
- Do you hold daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly huddles with your team?
- What do you do to be the best leader possible you can be?
Your answers will show you the direction you need to take to go from being a good leader to a great leader. These changes will, in turn, affect the transformation of your business.
How to transform your business
Now, it’s time to evaluate your business:
- What is your business’s vision?
- Can you communicate it clearly in 3-5 words?
- Do your people and customers relate to your vision?
- What are your business’s values?
- Can you communicate them in 3-5 words?
- Can everyone in your organisation understand these values?
- Do you trust your team to deliver?
- Do you have a one-page strategic plan that’s simple enough for everyone to understand?
- Does your organisational structure meet your business’s needs?
- Is your business an industry leader?
- Do you look to the future and implement new technology?
The truth is, a business should be in a constant state of transformation. The world is forever changing, and organisations need to navigate these changes, to adapt and overcome to survive and thrive.
We recently worked with a highly successful business owner who knew he needed to transform his business. However, he didn’t have a strategic, operational or quarterly plan. He advised his team that together, they would develop and implement these plans, then he held himself to account with weekly, monthly and quarterly goals.
The business owner soon came to understand that by transforming himself with these goals, he was transforming his business. By improving his performance, productivity and profitability, he improved that of the organisation. It was a win-win situation.
Is your team involved in your change effort?
When you transform yourself, you need to transform your people. You need to manage them differently, hold them to account, and have different conversations. This means mentoring, upskilling, delegating and training your people. The idea is to nurture them into leaders of the future – emotionally intelligent, excellent communicators and technologically savvy.
A great way to start transforming your business is to conduct a Business Health Check. You can do yours for free here.