Article contributed by Sandy Geyer.
We need 4 primary areas of strength to drive effective business leadership.
They are as follows:
If any one of these areas of strength becomes deflated, our “wheel” becomes difficult to turn. If we have gained some speed with our businesses, the loss of pressure on any one side leaves us feeling unbalanced, out of control and literally “stuck in the mud”.
So we need to consciously develop and maintain these areas and here are some tips on how do this:
We will find our wheel maintenance in our daily habits. Business leaders consciously program their habits with these 4 areas in mind. They know that certain things need to happen, in most cases daily, regardless of whether or not they feel like it at the time.
The EnQ strengths wheel presents a simple model to carry out a “pressure” check from time to time.
Mental Strength: This is the strength that drives us to do difficult tasks as and when necessary, and to act as if we are brave when in reality we are often terrified. We get our mental strength by being connected to what matters most to us, and by programming our subconscious minds to drive our actions appropriately. Affirmations work well for this purpose (they need to be in the positive and in the present in order to work). Mantras can also work well to build and maintain mental strength. A personal example of how this worked for me was during the early stages of our first business venture when we faced a legal case against an employee who had stolen a lot of money from us, and then proceeded to sue us for unfair dismissal. We were a young, cash strapped and very vulnerable company in an almost impossible situation. Each morning as I stood in front of the mirror I would tell myself “ I have more to give this day than this day has to give me.” I also had the advantage of having to apply make-up which I pretended was my war paint. This mantra and little routine did a lot to strengthen me mentally each day and we came through that situation, in tact, and a lot wiser albeit a little battle scarred.
Financial Strength: Is needed for growth, to endure seasonal cash flows, costly production mistakes and unexpected lost orders and clients. Financial strength comes from facing the brutal facts up front when planning the year ahead as the business leader. This can often be achieved by setting up and updating a cash flow forecast, consistently, as a habit. Loans might be needed, sales expanded, costs controlled but identifying pitfalls and planning ahead instills a habit of achieving financial strength. Many business mentors advise their clients to run their businesses as if they are always cash flow tight. Why? Because they maintain the habit of staying right on top of things and will seldom get caught out by changes en route that they didn’t plan for. Mental strength is sometimes needed to build financial strength too – nothing quite like facing a cash flow forecast to separate the cubs from the warriors.
Emotional / Spiritual Strength: We all need to feel significant and entrepreneurship is one of the most difficult places to achieve this on an ongoing basis. We work so incredibly hard and often feel that our efforts are invisible to everyone else, especially when we don’t get the results we were hoping for. Some of us get our sense of significance from our religious beliefs and some of us get it from creating and focusing on our own strong sense of purpose. We also get a lot back from seeing some kind of visible progress from our efforts. There is an insightful 5 minute presentation at the link below on dealing with feeling invisible by Nicole Johnson:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0&feature=youtu.be. She takes a religious view, but regardless of your feelings about that, it offers a really lovely perspective and is worth the watch.
Physical Strength: Very possibly our most important strength. We don’t all have to be body builders or food radicals, but we do need to ensure that we are firing on all cylinders at all times. Just about every successful entrepreneur has some kind of routine to ensure that they stay physically strong. There are a gazillion articles to be found online about the habits of successful entrepreneurs and most will include some form of physical routine designed to keep them physically strong to be able to lead their businesses effectively. There is also a very helpful EnQ webinar with guest presenter, Sonja Gardiner, from Sonja Gardiner Nutrition on the important topic of “Business Leaders -You are what you eat”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCmdrPQEVPY
Remember, that the power of our wheel will be found in our habits. Effective business leaders programme their habits consciously.
