I had the opportunity to be an SBA Business Coach for their newly imagined THRIVE Emerging Leaders program. Over the last six months, I saw the transformation of 28 CEOs and business leaders as they took accountability for their business and mapped out a three-year growth plan.
As a creativity and growth executive coach, it was a pleasure to help each leader develop their personal leadership and business goals. No two businesses are the same and neither are their leaders, so we explored the power of authenticity and intention. I took them through the TAPE Framework and Assessment and together we clarified what they were looking to grow, what pace best fit their business, and what skill sets they could leverage or strengthen.
In the end, the two cohorts had a 78% retention rate, graduated with a three-year growth plan that they can continue to update and refine. Three of those leaders were recognized as top performers across the country based on keeping pace with the learning regimen, creating a capstone presentation and accessing the wide selection of subject matter experts available to them.
Despite their individuality, it came down to what small business owners know all too well: small changes can drive big results.
Here are five small changes you can make for your leadership and organization as you look forward to 2023.
Invest in your leadership.
You hear the adage invest in your business, but what’s a business without a fully-equipped leader? According to the International Coaching Federation, businesses that worked with a leadership or executive coach increased revenues on average by over 20% over a four year period. If you could drive that type of growth or more (you know you’re not average) would you? What’s stopping you?
Invest in your team.
Business owners and/or leaders can see the path, but often they fail to communicate and bring their team into the conversation and planning. Today, one of the top skill sets missing from leaders and teams isn’t in the area of learning new ways of doing but rather new ways of being. Navigating the path to empathetic engagement and strengthening emotional intelligence. Using a regular assessment tool and EQ action plan such as Genos 180 or 360 for Leaders and Teams opens the door to authentic feedback and engaged leaders.
Put your plan in writing.
What if you could do one simple thing that would elevate your success and allow your business to grow 30% faster? According to the Journal of Business Ventures businesses that plan accelerate their growth according as compared to businesses that spend the time acting and reacting. A Harvard Business School study found that 3% of respondents had written down their goals. They were three times more likely to succeed than the group who had some plan in mind.
Be accountable.
A study by the Dominican University of California found that people who shared their written goals with friends and updated them regularly had the highest achievement rate at 76%. That is why cohort programs can be an added asset as well as having a business and/or team executive coach.
Prioritize actions that move forward.
Much has been written on the art of reflection but spending too much time in evaluating past behavior can only help you recreate successes or learn from failures of the past. Innovation requires future or forward thinking, especially useful in disruptive environments. Actions that have the ability to move you forward are strategically prioritized in alignment with your goals.
The inertia of large institutions or structures often requires leaders and teams to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset in order to have breakthrough changes. That requires both a culture of thinking small in order to grow big. That’s what small businesses know well and why programs like SBA THRIVE that use an accredited coach or business cohort are so impactful.
Break the Tape Leadership helps leaders unleash creativity and potential in themselves and the organizations they lead to generate meaningful momentum. (And we love thinking small to win big!)
Comments