By Michael Gidlewski

Between uncertain economic circumstances and the expansion of the global marketplace, many businesses are being asked to do more with less, and yours is probably no exception.

Often, it takes all of your energy just to get through the day-to-day, leaving little time to consider how your company is going to grow and become more productive.

Not stopping to look around is a common but crucial mistake. In fact, a recent study concluded that 95 percent of organizations fail to execute their strategies successfully. The urgency of everyday tasks consumes even some of the best business leaders, leaving their businesses without a plan and vulnerable to unexpected stresses.

Fortunately, it’s not too late for you to take a better leadership role. There are simple steps you can take that will dramatically improve your business’s productivity, starting today.

1.) Lead on purpose, not circumstance.

Leaders often focus on what they want, which usually leads to a business that’s based on what is happening in the moment. Instead, center your leadership on a long-term overall purpose. What are your company’s important goals? Are your actions leading toward those goals, or are they merely reacting to what’s happening in the moment?

Keeping your eye on the vision, mission, and purpose of your business — and making sure your team knows what that is — will help foster a culture of support and teamwork, increasing productivity.

2.) Simplify, eliminate, and delegate.

Many business owners try to do everything themselves. If you want something done right, then do it yourself. Right? Wrong.

In order to be a successful leader, you have to first simplify the tasks at hand. Focus on what’s important and what has to get done, and don’t spend time doing extra work just for the sake of doing it.

Second, determine what can be eliminated from your plate and daily tasks. Ask the question: Is this critical to my success and the success of my business? And finally, wherever possible, delegate tasks to others.

3.) Don’t confuse activity with results.

Some leaders say that they never focus on what they want, only what they and their business need. On the surface, this sounds like a good philosophy, but in practice, it leads to overwhelming to-do lists and projects that stretch resources to their limits. Creating a perfectionist culture that’s obsessed with addressing every little detail only emphasizes a negative focus on what isn’t done yet.

A good culture has a focus on results — achievement of tasks that matter most. By eliminating irrelevant checklists, you and your team can concentrate on a faster and higher quality accomplishment of what’s truly important.

4.) Transform, don’t change.

Positive change isn’t about mere change, but transformation. What’s the difference? We’re often asked to help “change” organizations. Our response is that change is automatic and will inevitably happen regardless of the work effort. Good leaders transform their organizations according to important goals and priorities; they don’t try to direct automatic change.

When change is left to occur naturally, productivity is often the first thing to suffer in the absence of clear direction from a leader.

5.) Gain awareness by asking questions.

The best leader in the world still has blind spots within his or her organization. It’s simply impossible for any business to transform and move forward in a vacuum of insight. Growing organizations have an ongoing process to stimulate awareness at every level of the organization, so that insights have every opportunity to surface and help contribute to overall goals.

Try asking the following questions. You’ll most likely find at least one area to improve and gain awareness, and a business with awareness is one with productive goals in mind.

• What are or blind spots in communication?
• How do we identify future leaders, and how do we develop them?
• What is this organization’s uniqueness and competitive advantage?

6.) Plan, plan, plan.

As you’ve probably noticed by now, a leader can’t do much without a plan! Think about what a plan does: It forces you to think ahead about what you really want to achieve in the future. Without a plan, you can’t have a defined future, which means you have no idea what your important goals are.

Personally and professionally, a well-defined plan is critical to your success, and helps you and your team to work smarter.

7.) Grow people, not business.

A business is only as good as the people running it. If you want to grow your business in the best way possible, you must first ensure the positive growth of you and everyone you work with. If you focus on the business itself, you’ll only be able to grow it as large as you can personally manage.

Properly executed, these steps will take you far, but they’re also only the tip of the iceberg. Achievement Unlimited can help take you and your business even further, unlocking potential you and your team didn’t know you had.

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Michael Gidlewski is President of West Chester-based Achievement Unlimited, Inc., as well as a growth catalyst and motivational speaker. He works with motivated business owners and entrepreneurs to clearly define the elements of what they dearly want their businesses and lives to look like, then helps them connect all the moving parts that make up those visions to consistent action and habits. Michael can be reached at 610-793-6609 or via e-mail at michael@achievable.com.

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