46. When Autopilot Makes You Boomerang
1. BLUF
Know where your business is going & why
Have you defined your company's NorthStar?
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2. The Boomerang
What “Wow, that was fast. Did we take a shortcut?”
I burst out laughing because no – no we did not take a shortcut! We just actually followed the correct directions this time.
You see, three days prior on the outbound leg of a weekend trip to West Virginia I took a wrong turn.
With the car loaded down, we left after dark. Hungry family in tow, Chick-fil-A provided a scrumptious meal before continuing down dark, winding, high beam inducing roads.
Along the way, I questioned the route, fiddled with Google Maps, and somehow reversed the directions sending us – you guessed it – back to Chick-fil-A.
Scouring the road for deer and on autopilot, I didn’t realize the mistake until it was too late…
The 2-hour trip took 4 hours.
Silently fuming and resisting the urge to explode, I took a deep breath, found a new audiobook, managed collective expectations, and we continued…
3. Know Where Your Business is Going & Why
The drive gave me a lot of time to think. In business and life:
1. Define Your NorthStar – Know where you are going and why. Your NorthStar is your compass and keeps you focused. Like my trip, it’s easy to get distracted.
Define what success looks like for your business.
Establish your firm foundation – Vision, Mission, Values
Clarify your near & long-term targets
Identify your go-to market plan & potential obstacles
2. Pay Attention – Too often, I set and forget GPS directions without checking in to make sure the trip is on track. Businesses fall prey to this as well.
It’s setting a strategy but never assessing progress throughout the year.
Have market conditions changed? Is there a new competitor? What’s not working and needs to be addressed?
Simple check-ins make all the difference.
3. Keep Calm & Carry On – When, not if, your strategy hits a speedbump or dead end – how we respond to it matters. I’m glad I took a deep breath and didn’t blame my navigator because I finally realized the error was mine.
Every business faces challenges – a down quarter, a less-than-ideal project, a mis-hire, you name it. Those experiences don’t define us. It’s what we do with them that matters.
The most effective leaders are not harsh & critical but gentle & firm to drive accountability and results.
No speedbump merits treating our team or ourselves poorly. As we celebrate World Kindness Day this week, consider – our words have the power to build others up or tear them down – so let’s choose kindness.
Start by Defining Your Company's NorthStar...
4. Application
So, what does it look like for you?
What culture do you want to create?
How will it inform your 2024 priorities?
What is one thing you can do today to drive greater clarity?
To your strategic success.
~Susan
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