With their emergencies and urgencies, entrepreneurs and leaders are quite often the biggest culprits in triggering havoc on their teams. As the famous quote goes, “Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.”
The call typically starts with, “I can’t get to my growth (money) projects because of ALL of the distractions, interruptions and sidetracks this week.” When I have them track for one week every one of the issues and scan me their list, I am never (ever) surprised by the weight of it: printing, scanning, letters, emails, phone calls, checks, invoicing and my all-time favorite booking travel reservations. These details are certainly important, but as the late Stephen Covey stated, list them in the “not urgent” column.
I’m not going to go into unnecessary expenses and/or the violation and/or absence of process. That deserves its own post.
Entrepreneurs, if your urgency list resembles the above, you are operating in manager mindset. You should immediately enroll a member of your team or hire a part-time assistant who can meet with you each week to take all administrative thoughts away from you. Ask yourself: During the “in between time” of meetings, appointments and commuting , do your thoughts involve “Need to book my flight, remember to register for that event, got to follow up with Bob, check with Sue if the Millers ever hired us, remember to email Tim about….” If so, it is time to mind shift.
We get the same worried calls from business owners: the frenetic outpouring about not making payroll, their phone not ringing, having to babysit and micromanage their team, having to possibly lay people off or close up business and go get a job.
Our favorite calls are the ones muddled with panic, confusion and urgency. These emotions are the greatest motivators. Tony Robbins says, “Where focus goes, energy flows.” We quickly formulate a short-term plan to get them out of the battlefield. They leave the call determined, loaded with unstoppable heat. We agree to meet on Friday at end of day to look at what worked and what didn’t, and refine.
Friday: “I couldn’t get to compiling the leads and revenue #s, writing down what we are currently doing for marketing, attending the one networking event, writing an article and recording two 3-minute videos because of the ‘urgent emergencies’ of booking a flight, registering for an event, 1-hour call with upset client, meeting with Sue on the Millers and getting the undelivered work for the Millers.”
If your urgency isn’t fueled with thoughts and conversations about revenue, KPIs, metrics, up-leveling your conversions, future, creativity, visual dreams of marketing launches, books, workshops and podcasts, then we invite you to register for our FREE webclass to find out how to quickly create a transition (and mind shift) plan into one of entrepreneurial urgency instead of administrative urgency. Click here to save your spot now.
