The CEO Elite

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What Happens During Transition Determines Where You End Up (Good or Bad)

In the immortal lyrics of The Clash’s song Should I Stay or Should I Go,  “This indecision’s bugging me”.

One of the toughest things about business is the decision making. It often feels like one wrong decision and your ‘toast’, ‘the game is over’, ‘the fat lady is singing’. OK, too many metaphors, but I feel the looming outcome of a bad decision can stop many from making any decision at all.

If I go there will be Trouble – If I stay there will be Double

Recently, I have been in a transition.  I have made some decisions around my focus for the next 1 to 5 years. I used a tool from Warren Buffet described in a book I am reading [Daniel H. Pink: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing] that took me through evaluating the 25 things I want to accomplish in the second half of my life and then narrowed it down to the top five priorities for now. Even with this type of clarity, it was still unclear to me what had to change to make these 5 core priorities my only focus. Do I give up everything I have built to put one of those five at the top of my list of five? Do I try to restart some of the programs I’ve let go of, to get back some of the successes I’ve had in the past that align with my top five? If I chose one of these, what happens with the choices I’ve already made? I really feel that if I go forward without clarity on the ‘what’ then I will be in trouble and if I don’t move forward soon I will equally be in trouble (or as the song says, “there will be double” [trouble]).

The Direction I Choose

One thing I have always had going for me is that my clarity comes from faith. Faith that the direction I choose, no matter what it is, will result in my future experience. “Well, dah!”, you might be thinking. The key here is that my future has always been where I want to be. Maybe because I am happy with a lot of different outcomes, or maybe because what I put my mind to I make happen. If the latter is the case then it doesn’t matter which choice is the right answer, it matters which one I choose. I can choose to follow a path, maybe one I described above or one I have not envisioned yet, or I can choose to not follow a path. By abstaining from choice I inadvertently make a choice that has the same consequences: I will end up going in the direction of my non-choice. 

The Business Key

Decision making is based on the knowledge and understanding of what choices are available. Making great decisions cannot be simply choosing from A or B if the choice turns out to be ‘E’ (not even C or D). If you have never invited the opportunity to explore ‘E’ then how will you get to the place where you make the best choice? I believe, from what I have experienced, we often rush to make a choice from options that do not adequately meet our needs. We can tell which of the two or three are better than the others, but we still feel challenged to make the call because unconsciously we know that none of the other three were the exact right choice.

So, over the past 3 weeks, I have been spending time looking for the exact right choice. I don’t usually take this long to make a decision. For me this feels like a failure, not making a decision. In fact, I would have made a decision already, if the opportunity had not disappeared at the time I was saying yes. This is likely because the universe knew it was not my option ‘E’, it was just better than the other options. Since then I have spoken with mentors, friends, peers, and spent time simply working on things that are my top five. From that has come an awakening to a new perspective on my business. For me, it was relatively sudden and came during meditation. For you, it may be subtle and repeated.

Sometimes we have to ride the wave of confusion and do the work to uncover the options that are not clear at first. If you feel like none of your options will result in an exceptional outcome than you too are likely trying to make a decision without all the information. Go find your option ‘E’.

Postscript

If you were wondering what my ‘awakening’ was, it was that; My business is not the business to grow & sell, it is the business that helps others get to a salable business. My business is me. Focusing on me in my business has never been my goal, but it shows up, over and over. I have had people say, “I want more of you”, “I was hoping to work directly with you”, “are you the one that does this work”, etc. The universe has been trying to tell me this for years and I keep working on building a corporation I can sell wondering why I can create millions of dollars for my clients’ corporations but not for my own. Hmmm, now I see it. Option ‘E’ choice made – Focus on ‘Me’ and my personal service as the product.

 

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If You Don’t Ask – You Don’t Get

question-mark-chalkboard

I remember as a kid I used to feel left out by those that received special gifts, access, or invitations to special events. I would think that maybe I wasn’t liked as well, maybe there was a problem having me along, or maybe someone else had suggested to not include me.  I know, a little therapy was valuable for this. But, as an adult, I realized I could still make myself feel this way when others got what I wanted.

What I found when I was young was also the answer to what I could do now. I had to ask.

Once, several years ago, when our kids were small and money was very tight, my neighbour had somehow received tickets to box-seats for a local hockey game.  She did not get them for free, but she had paid a good price for them and had six. She had two extra. I found out that she had invited a woman across the street, whom she barely knew, instead of me, a friend she saw weekly. I was hurt and stewed over the reasons behind this. Obviously, she or her husband did not like me or my husband. What else could it be? Several weeks after that incident I built up the courage to ask her and guess what I found? She had not invited me because she did not want to make me feel bad knowing that I did not have the money to purchase the $200 ticket.

Two-hundred dollars? She was right, I didn’t. She was wrong to assume I’d understand her reason when she didn’t tell me, but she was right I would not have purchased the tickets. So I asked her another question. “Would you always please include me and allow me to make my own decisions?”  She agreed.

In business, this happens often. People are afraid to ask for the sale and to make follow-up phone calls to find out if people are ready to purchase or to simply ask what people need in their business. It feels salesy, and we all hate to feel salesy.

Years ago, when my focus was technical writing for medical device manufacturers, I had a prospect that had indicated he needed my services. I phoned several times in a few weeks, sometimes leaving messages, usually not. Then I reduced the frequency to once every two weeks, then once a month. At around the 6-month mark, I left this message, “… I don’t want to harass you and I don’t want to stop calling if you need me. Please let me know if I should stop calling…” and left my contact information again. Can you believe that he called me later that day? He apologized for not returning my calls earlier. The company had run into some regulatory issues and they had been running full-out these past 6 months. Yes, he still needed me, but they were not ready. Please keep checking in. So I did, and I got their business.

I’ve had other instances where following up, which sometimes feels salesy when you are making 6 or more calls, resulted in a sale. I have never had someone be upset with me. Ever! Recently, I was surprised to find out that one prospect had put me on her vision board. I am her next step to growing a bigger business. All I had to do was reach out.

If you want to really make leaps in your business, don’t let your assumptions about what people want, or why they do what they do, stop you from finding out how you can help them. If you want something, you have to ask for it.

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Don’t Hang Around with Red-Light People

Stopped in city traffic while driving

Strangely, I have had cause to tell this analogy three times in the last two days, so I thought it was a ‘tap on the shoulder’ to share it more widely.

The Tragedy of Yesterday

Yesterday, a young musical artist (rapper) named  XXXTentacion (Jahseh Onfroy) was shot and killed. My daughter brought him to my attention and was following the news of this tragedy, looking through his life, watching how he changed, feeling sorrowful for the man he was becoming. It was interesting to see how she would speak about how he had come from a troubled background, the things he had done and had done to him. Then she would explain how he was making a huge difference to the world by changing himself. Yesterday she was touched by the public outpouring of grief of loss. This morning she came out angry, because of the haters online.

We all know of haters in our world. They don’t trust, don’t love, don’t say positive things, and are usually looking for the worst in any situation. This is what my daughter started reading this morning and it is no way to start a day. In fact, it was encouraging her to witness more of the same, because it was giving people permission to speak more of the same. (Like begets like). So I told her my “red-light analogy”.

Red-Light Analogy

traffic signal redWhen I drive around town I realize there are two states I can be in. The red-light state or the green-light state. When I am in the red-light state, I see red lights at every intersection. I feel like someone is purposefully trying to make me late. Maybe Kharma is working against me today. I feel impatient and the cars around me seem to be filled with aggressive, stupid drivers. When I arrive at my destination I am angry and frustrated. Even if I’m not late, I will apologize and then rant about my terrible experience with all the red lights.

On days when I get a lot of green lights, I feel like I have done something right. Someone out there is rewarding me for the good things I do in life.  Somehow I deserved the green lights. This is also not a green-light day as it assumes that we have no control over how we feel about what we experience. As if it was because someone else gave us a gift of green lights that we can now feel good about our journey. traffic signal green

On green-light days I choose to acknowledge the green lights I see with a smile. I don’t think of them as good or bad, just as an experience of traffic. I choose not to acknowledge the red lights at all. I simply stop because that is what is required of me. I am grateful for the opportunity to drive, for a place to go, transportation to get me there, and for people to meet. Life is about the journey so focusing on what you have and what you are grateful for makes it easier to soften the experiences that make us feel hurt or angry. On green-light days, I get to my destination and think, I don’t remember hitting any red lights today. Hmmmm. Of course, there are no less red lights on my drive than there had been in the past. I just don’t focus on them and that delivers me to my destination in a mood to laugh, share, engage, think, and connect with people that can make a difference in my life and business.

Green-Light Days in Business

If you often find yourself focused on what other people are doing, thinking and saying, about the politics, world economies, the dollar, the leaders, the by-laws, the taxes, etc. you may be feeling discouraged, doubtful, negative, pessimistic, overcome with emotions, overwhelmed by the negative possibilities, unsure of your own future, and helpless, then you are likely focusing on the red lights instead of the green. In this mental state, you cannot focus on growth goals, finding solutions, making powerful connections and partnerships, or building for the future, because your brain is telling you it is a hopeless venture. You have to get your brain on board the green-light route.

When you focus on the people that are doing what you want to do and that are spreading the message that it is possible, you start to see more and more people that are living in a positive light, doing amazing things that support a happy life for themselves or for their family, community, country, and the world. When you train your brain to look for the best things, it sees more of the best things. It is not that the negative things disappear, or that you become ignorant to the challenges of the world, it is just the opposite. You become stronger and more competent at what you do. Your business becomes more sustainable. A world full of competent, positive people running sustainable businesses creates more for everyone.

Honestly, it takes each person the commitment to lead a positive life for themselves that will build a world full of positive and powerful change. Applied to your business, this powerful, positive perspective allows you to attract the resources you need, like people that can help you get to where you want to go.