Just Beyond the Horizon: Employ Staff Who Lookout for Dangers

A Business Owner Cannot See it All

As a business owner, you are only as good as the people that you employ. You need a secret sauce, a winning combination of elements to succeed.

You need staff that possess the following traits:

• Are smarter, more nimble and flexible than yourself. These are mini rockstars within their own right.
• Can work together well and resolve internal conflicts.
• Can see the business journey in its entirety.

Your Business is a Journey

You have a beautiful vision as to how you want operations to succeed. You hire staff that buy into your vision and want to see it manifest. We all will cross the great plains to arrive at your destination. The journey feels arduous and hard, but you can make it if you make it together as a team.

We all want to arrive at the final destination: scenic, tranquil and calm. We have access to our spoils and there are no threats or competition to our resources. Paradise arrived.

But, wait..no one around you told you that along the journey, there will be obstacles along the way. No one told you about that, because they were only focused on the end part and not the middle. All they saw were blue skies. Their minds were so focused on the bonuses, profits and prestige.

But this is all part of the process. Everyone journey worth having will be filled with struggles, pitfalls and short backs. Business is no exception. That is what distinguishes the average from exceptional. Success is shown by how we choose to work through, not around our struggles. Part of the “work through” process include the recognition of obstacles.

We all want to talk about reaching summits but I do not hear a lot about how we get through the gutter, valleys and ravines. I do not hear about the dirty part of the process, just the successful end. You need to have staff that welcome it all, the good, great and the ugly.

Anticipate, not Avoid the Struggle

In business, you need to have at least one brave soul that can anticipate all potential obstacles and be able to come up with solutions. Consider this as your organization’s lookout guide. These people:

1. Are fully committed to your business vision and values.
2. Are aware of your organization’s resource limitations.
3. Anticipate in advance work arounds or solutions for each known limitations. Solutions include using existing people or products.
4. Research competitors that may pose a threat.
5. Assess threats within the organization that may undermine operations.
6. Provide a timeline or process to complete each performance objective.

Successful is not formed in a vacuum or with one person. You alone cannot lead your organization to victory. You need to have players that work overtime to make sure that the path is cleared of potential obstacles. Make sure that your crew is filled with at least one such person. These are the people that will help your business thrive in all times, the good and bad.

Thanks for reading this! Got a question or comment? I would love to read it, please drop me a line in the comment section below.

Originally published at victornovis.com on January 21, 2019.