Marathons and business ownership
Why am I writing about road running and racing in a business-y newsletter? When it comes down to it, road running is quite similar to running your own business. Good runners and business owners engage outside influences to help them attain their goals.
Business coaches are very popular these days. The purpose they serve is to keep the executive or owner focused on achieving goals. For example, with one of my business-owner clients, we structure our meetings to focus on the following five areas:
- Recent sales and pipeline
- Marketing efforts
- Customers
- Personnel and Operations
- Cash flow
This structure allows the owner to prepare for each meeting. She takes notes during the meeting and comes up with a to-do list—many of these action items she reports on the following week as we go through the five topics again. And this goal-setting approach gives us the ability to look back and see the progress over the years. It’s also cathartic for her as she gets to share with someone, who is involved with her business as a coach/consultant, the issues that may not be appropriate to share with her subordinates or of interest to her husband.
Building a business, like running, is easier if you’re not doing it alone. If you’re not hitting on all cylinders for business (or your career), consider getting a proven business coach to improve your results. Remember, in down business cycles, you have to think differently to achieve outstanding results. Mike Oleksak 2009
