Could and should are different.

When you have a business with a team and some resources, lots of things become possible.

But just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.

Saying yes is fun for an afternoon, but it is a lot of work and it can be expensive.  

It can also take attention away from your core mission.

You could, yes.  But should you?

Discounts come out of net profit

Revenue – direct costs = gross profit – indirect costs = net profit.

If you give a discount, your revenue goes down, but your direct and indirect costs stay the same.

The discount comes right out of net profit.

Discounting is not a good way to get new business.

Double down or change course?

If an idea doesn’t work, don’t necessarily double down to make it work.

Maybe it was a bad/dumb/wrong idea in the first place.

Leaders need to recognize the best course of action.

What is not working in your business or life right now?

Ask and listen – what a concept!

Leaders are used to fielding questions.  It’s easy to get the idea that you are supposed to have all the answers – or that you do – or that your answers are the best ones.

You have a team who knows a lot about the problems.  

Ask them – How do you see this problem?  Listen.

What do you think should or can be done about it?

How would you approach it?  Who else knows a lot about this?

Hopefully and finally, “Would you take responsibility for getting that fixed for us?”

You don’t have to go along with their idea exactly or at all – but you will learn something in any case.  

Who, not how. 

Ask the right people the right questions, and listen.

Are you a good leader?

Leadership is bringing out the best in others while accomplishing the goals of the organization.

Are you accomplishing the goals of the organization?

Are you bringing out the best in people while doing it?  Or are people upset, feeling mistreated, and disengaged?

How can you align what your team wants with what the organization wants?  

How can you bring out the best in people?

Are you a good leader?

Be effective

“Efficiency is doing things right.  Effectiveness is doing the right thing.” – Peter Drucker

I’d rather be an amateur at doing the right things than an expert at doing the wrong things.

Do the tasks that are going to move the needle for your organization – even if you have not done them before and are not good at doing them.

Do the right things when you work

If your only strategy for making your business go well is to work longer and harder, you are going to be quite disappointed to learn that that doesn’t scale and doesn’t work.

You only have so much time in a day, and you will crowd out your family, rest, fun, and relationships by trying.  You will not be happy.

You have to make your job smaller so you can do the things that are essential for a leader to do, until you can get it done in 45 hours and be home by a reasonable time to live your life with others.

Your business is supposed to improve your life, not be your life.

Be nice to everyone. Here’s yet another reason why –

Good and bad, fair and unfair, people can light you up on social media like never before.

It’s best to treat everyone like your grandmother (who has 90,000 followers on Social Media).

Maker (creator) in the morning, manager in the afternoon.

I have many related businesses.  But basically I wear two hats.  I create content, and I am a leader.

These are very different.  Creating content involves thinking and writing.  I do this in the morning on most days in a place where I get quiet time.

The leading part involves talking to other people.  I do this in the afternoon on most days.

I’d like to say I set up my days so I can do both my jobs well by design, but it was more of an evolutionary process born out of necessity.  I can’t get creative work done when I’m interrupted or bombed by people stopping by my office, or when the time is broken by conversations that could take my mind to a hundred other worlds.  And I can’t notice what is going on and what problems need to be solved with a creative project by sequestering myself in a quiet room all day every day.

It works for me.

What is most important for YOU to do in your business?

How can you set up your schedule for some or most days to get it done?

About being productive…

“Productivity is not about being a workhorse, keeping busy, or burning the midnight oil.  It’s more about priorities, planning, and fiercely protecting your time.” – Margarita Tartikovsky

Are you trying to do everything?  Do you let others take you off track easily?  Are you easily distracted?

Do you prioritize and work on the most important thing and protect the time to do it?