On a non-toxic Tuesday and Women's History Month, CPR's Moral Leadership Coaching tidbit shared a quote from an American icon Ms. Lena Horne. Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Ms. Horne was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. According to Ms. Lena Horne, “it’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.” So yes, we all have baggage, but Ms. Horne noted it is not the size of the burden but how you carry it. Today, as business leaders, CPR asks how you carry your burden or load. Do you wear your burden as a badge of honor, or do you attempt to lighten your burden? From a practical standpoint, CPR identified seven business burdens from a 2018 article in the Business Journal with practical solutions. For a more in-depth faith-based perspective, but sure to view CPR Moral Leadership Coaching tidbit episode #12: Carrying a Burden-CPR provides Solutions. Let's dive into the practical solutions to dumping your business burdens:
1. The burden of focus: If your salespeople don’t know where you’re going, how do you expect them to get there?
Solution: Be disciplined and create a written action plan for the team. Focus on your No. 1 goal in the plan, not ten goals, as a team.
CPR suggests that, depending on the team's size, you may assign 1 or 2 goals to your executive team to manage. Leaders do not micromanage.
2. The burden of hiring: Great sales leaders recruit and hire well. (More than sales, this may reflect recruiting the best fit for your business.
Solution: Develop and document your recruiting and hiring process. Your process must empower you to hire the best and ditch the rest.
CPR recommends using a survey tool to screen out poor candidates and only meet with those who meet the pre-screening criteria.
3. The burden of compensating people: How you compensate salespeople makes a difference in your ability to hire and retain the right producers. To do this, you must know the market for talent in your industry.
Solution: Develop an appropriate sales culture and compensation plan for your business model, industry, and staffing needs.
CPR is valid for all industries, not just sales. Also, in the 21st century, leaders must consider the different types of compensation. For example, compensation can pertain to an alternate work schedule, work hours, vacation, money, trips, etc.
4. The burden of coaching: Coaching is a process. Learn to coach more than the train.
Solution: Coach your people daily. Beyond training, foster a sales culture of continual learning and growth.
CPR-an alternate is to lead by example. The most effective method to coach is modeling the behavior you desire.
5. The burden of managing activities: Great leaders and producers manage daily activities. This is better known as juggling several assignments.
Solution: Coach your people to know their daily activities & hold everyone accountable.
CPR recommends not adapting to multi-tasking, which creates burnout but setting clear daily goals and giving your team the autonomy to do so. However, be sure not to be overly ambitious.
6. The burden of implementing technology: How much does it cost to work with a broken website, no sales pipeline, or a customer-relationship-management system to empower your team?
Solution: Optimize and implement suitable technologies and systems that empower your people. (Don’t buy marketing automation software at a seminar. Do your homework. Do it right.)
7. The burden of learning from data: There’s a reason NFL players and other athletes analyze their performances and those of the competition: They seek to win championships. This is why top professionals gather and learn from performance data, then adapt their strategies and plan.
Solution: See No. 6. Build a dashboard by integrating key performance indicators into your technologies. Watch the numbers. Learn. Adapt.
CPR metrics are essential. If crunching numbers are a handicap, recruit an expert on your team and learn from that expert. Do not remain in a state of ignorance.
In life, there are a plethora of issues that may present a hardship. Applying a customized approach to problem-solving is the best solution. The same mindset must be applied to resolve professional burdens to ensure you do not commit business sabotage.
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Warm Regards,
CeeCee