You have the idea of how you want your business to grow and succeed, but how do you unlock these “secret” ideas and make the most of the opportunities.
I wrote this in advance of the Budget but there were very few secrets about what was planned, we just needed confirmation of the extent of the pain. We should, of course, focus on the things we can control and Labour Government tax policy is probably not one of those.
Focusing on what we can control is a Mindset issue and one of the three areas our business advisory works on. Along with Mindset (Want to change) we need a Toolset (What to change) and a Skillset (How to change).
So, we come back to the secrets and the hidden potential in your business: the opportunities to improve things and move more quickly towards your goals (despite Government policy!). The key is the Toolset as that unlocks the opportunity. Implementing the changes requires the right Skillset and Mindset. We are often working with clients on all three areas.
One of the challenges that we all face in business is “noise”. We are overloaded with data but lack knowledge. Automation is driving the speed and quantity of information but what is it telling me?
Information needs to be timely, accurate and insightful. How certain are you that your data meets these three fundamental criteria?
AI may provide some of those answers, but it is yet to be a complete solution. The real risk with automation is producing information at the touch of a button without any testing of accuracy or meaningful insight. Making the wrong decision faster is not the answer!
Our work with many businesses over many years has allowed us to build a wide variety of tools to offer to clients to help them realise their potential. This includes diagnostic assessments that are freely available to you and your teams, providing fundamental assessments of your business. These provide processes and key issues. The value in completing the assessments to understand what to tackle first and how to go about fixing it is obvious.
We can add an analysis of teams (Team Performance Scan) and Individuals’ behaviour and relationships (Everything DiSC ©), which are two of the most powerful tools in the set, as they explore the most common and most impactful issue: people. These are much more than just diagnostics. They are designed as learning tools to generate dialogue, knowledge and increase understanding and trust when used appropriately. Successful use of these tools does require an experienced facilitator so for more information please contact us.
What is the value?
One key part of the value that may be overlooked in using any of these tools, is the dialogue that is generated between participants.
This can really bring issues to the surface and then identify actions needed to remedy. It does need a skilled facilitator in the room to ensure positive and constructive outcomes. This provides internal communication and ideas and builds team buy in and trust that is essential for successful implementation.
Where is the external perspective coming from?
This is where our quarterly Business Bootcamp comes into play: a group of business peers coming together to gather some of the latest global leadership ideas, learn from and share problems and progress with each other and commit to clear actions in the next 90 days. Remember how you keep promising to work on your business? This is where you spend time doing just that and bringing external ideas and thoughts into your strategies.
How does this all fit together?
The final piece of the jigsaw is the one-to-one mentoring and coaching. This is where we can really home in on your goals, your issues and your secrets to unlock the unique solutions for your business needs.
Our experience is that you want to be constructively challenged and working with your teams and peers in a group will provide an element of that. The truth is that there is nowhere to hide in a one-to-one session and it is where you are focussed on becoming the best version of yourself. My belief is that the best and only way to grow your business is to grow yourself.
The analogy I use is the hare and hounds. You need to keep growing to keep ahead of your hounds (your teams) and we need to keep growing to keep ahead of you, our client. It is why we continue to innovate and offer unique advisory solutions to our clients.
Here are a few questions for you to reflect on to help you understand how our experience and approach may help you in your business and a suggested diagnostic assessment to inform your thinking:
- How do you identify which issues to focus on now? Business Performance Assessment
- What elements are missing from your Strategies? Strategic Planning Assessment
- How well do you rate as Leader? Leadership Performance Assessment
- What could you do differently to build your Team? Team Attraction and Retention Assessment
- How could you add value to your business? Exit Readiness Assessment
- How could you generate more sales? Sales Performance Assessment
- What are the key strengths and weaknesses in your business? Business Performance Assessment
- What are the key strengths and weaknesses in your team? Team Performance Assessment or Team Performance Scan
Contact Will Abbott for more information by emailing will.abbott@randall-payne.co.uk or call 01242 776000.
Source: You have the secret. We have the key | Randall & Payne
