Over that past several years Case in Point has been apart of the organizational development of companies such as Aramco, Zain Telecom, National Talents and many others. We noticed that there are several things in common with our clients who met their organizational goals that distinguish them as high performing, fast growing organizations.
These are the valuable lessons that our clients who met their goals shared with us.
Business success, or lack thereof, is their—and everyone in the company’s— responsibility
This can be a hard pill to swallow for many business owners, especially those who look around their more successful counterparts and think, “They just got lucky.”
Taking responsibility and becoming a true owner of your organization means owning up to your mistakes just as you would your successes. It means dropping the “blame game” and understanding that every single person in the company is responsible for achieving the company’s goals.
If the company succeeds, that’s our doing. And if the company fails, that’s also our doing, and not just a single department’s or person’s.
There are answers and solutions out there, and even when found you keep looking for better ones.
There is always a way, and it is their responsibility to find that way.
When talking about ownership, it encompasses the whole concept of being an owner; owning a company, owning your job, owning your mistakes, and lastly, owning the steps you’ll take to get to your ultimate goal.
You can’t just sit there and wait for the lottery—you have to go out there and actively seek out opportunities and ways to move your company forward.
You must understand that you aren’t just going to “happen” to stumble upon success. If you are just going to rely on luck, then you won’t go anywhere.
Focus and attention are irreplaceable for business success.
You see this and you think the kind of focus we’re talking about here is the one related to things like getting work done on time, managing your time well, and not wasting a single second on meaningless distractions.
While all of that is important, focusing on your work isn’t the only thing that will help your company to reach its goals—your number one focus shouldn’t be day-to-day tasks, it should be the goals and vision of the company.
Homing in on what matters—like your OKRs, for example—is what helped our clients sharpen their focus, which in turn helped them reshape their daily operations to match the company’s goals.
There is no “perfect strategy”—be comfortable being in the “gray” area of business
Owning up to your mistakes doesn’t mean beating yourself up for them. And owning up to your mistakes certainly doesn’t mean obsessively avoiding making a mistake either.
In fact, the fear of making a mistake is a common fear amongst entrepreneurs—statistics show that about 30% of entrepreneurs fear going out of business. Avoiding mistakes and constantly finding the “perfect” way to do something will hurt your business in the long run.
Our clients realized that the perfect strategy doesn’t exist, and that in order to see if it’ll work or not, they were going to have to try it out and embrace the possibility that, yes, they might certainly fail. Because at the end of the day, some of the most well-known companies in the world eventually find success.
If you want to succeed, you’re going to have to be OK with making a lot of mistakes, and then learning from them.
Failure isn’t the end of your business—get up, learn from your mistake, and charge forward towards your goals. And feel free to make a mistake yet again.
Complaining is of no value and a complete waste of time.
We all know these people: all they do is complain about their job, the challenges of the daily grind, and how hard it is to manage their team. And let’s admit, sometimes we can be that person. Maybe more than we’d like to admit.
One of the factors that influenced our clients’ success is this simple habit: instead of complaining about the problem, do something to solve it. Instead of complaining about a colleague, engage in a fruitful conversation with them. Instead of complaining about a nagging customer, find out what the problem is and address it head-on.
Gather your team and start brainstorming ways to solve or manage the problem at hand. Business owners and CEOs who are serious about getting their company to the top will do everything in their power to make the company’s vision a reality—they will hire a consultant, train their teams, and stay up to date on the latest digital transformation trends.
And lastly: They’re present
The fears and worries you have about the future of your company are all just hypotheticals. You can’t fully control what the future might have in store for you and your business, but the one thing you have most control over is your present.
Focus on what matters to your company now, the goals you have set at this moment, and the opportunities laid out in front of you right now.
Interested in getting a head start to your organization’s success? Schedule a meeting with our consultants today.