Page 57 - AVN December 2013

Here are eight ‘must-dos’ to tackle before the end of the year:
Hold a 2013 post-mortem.
Start by analyzing whether you’ve been an effective leader. A
skill every great leader has is the ability to self-analyze, away
from the high fives of success and the consistent pressure
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tight cash flow brings.
“This is a good chance to gauge the effectiveness of your
leadership,” says McBean. “Good leadership begins with defining
the destination and direction of the company and deciding how the
business should look and operate when it arrives. If you haven’t
done those things, you aren’t leading, and if you aren’t leading, no
one will follow.
“Ask yourself: Did your business have a successful year? What did
it do well? What could it have done better? Where are the future
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opportunities that will grow your business? What are the threats to
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your company’s success, or what is holding your business back?
These are serious questions that demand serious answers. And once
answered, then it’s up to you to define the leadership skills needed
to move your business from where it is today to where you want it
to be tomorrow.
“The good news is that the most important aspects of leadership
can be learned,” he adds. “And, the sooner you start, the better your
likelihood of long-term success. But a note of caution: Before you
can lead a business forward, you have to define where it is today,
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evaluate your personal strengths and those of your business, and
compare those evaluations to those of your competitors. This self-
evaluation is an important part of being a successful leader. Because
at the end of the day, if your business is equal to those of your
competitors, it’s the owner’s skill that makes the difference between
one business being successful, and another being below average.”
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great leader has is the ability to self-analyze, away from the high fives
”Start by analyzing whether you’ve been an effective leader. A skill every
of suc cess and the consistent pressure tight cash flow brings.
Do a top-to-bottom walk-through of your
systems and procedures.
Examine what is working and what isn’t. You may find that a
system that once worked well no longer does (because the market-
place has changed, your competitors have changed tactics and
strategies, or your customers’ needs have shifted) or that your business
has fallen into bad habits that hinder success. In particular, look for
21.41.93.7 7.78.84.5 0.35.86.0 inconsistencies in how employees handle tasks, especially those that
directly impact customers and those who handle the data you use to
make decisions about the business. This allows you to catch problems
before they develop into crises.
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“It may not be politically correct to say so, but if you’re not control-
ling your procedures and processes, you don’t really ‘own’ your business,”
notes McBean. “You’re just a spectator watching others play with your
money. Great procedures and processes need controls, and these controls
in turn create great results and skilled employees. The key to understand-
ing the importance of processes is to understand the concept that
processes operate your business—and employees operate the processes.”
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