Are you a business owner with a insatiable need for speed? I don't mean driving a car type of speed, I mean "running a business" type of speed. You know, that urge to move fast, decide fast, act fast...think later. If you are not taking the time to slow down, think, and properly decide BEFORE you act, you unfortunately are not alone. You my entrepreneurial friend have the dreaded condition known as the need for speed. Be warned, if you run a business too fast and by the seat of your pants, you may very well lose control and wreck.
As I said in prior business coaching blogs, I think busyness, denial and distractions are some of the greatest enemies to the focus, effectiveness and success of business owners. The need for speed is another one of those enemies. With a tougher economy, our in-demand Growth Coach business coaches are reporting that they see business owners, more than ever, caught up in a panic mode of making hasty decisions and taking rash actions. They truly need our help. Do you have this need for speed?
As a business coach, what do I mean by a need for speed? The habit you may have to make sudden knee-jerk decisions. Sound familiar? Those immediate, emotional, and unilateral decisions you make without discussing them with your key managers. Those isolated decisions you make and actions you take without considering implications to your customers, employees or to the different departments of your business. Those quick gut decisions you make without looking at the financial data. Those half-baked, sure-fire ideas you launch before seeking any dissenting views or opinions. Your need for speed with emails. Running your business from your Blackberry. Taking shortcuts. Having an aversion to management meetings. You know what I mean, the general need for speed.
Today, more than ever, owners seem to be in a hurry to get things done. They rush and rush until life's no fun. OK, you caught me, I liberally borrowed those last few lines from a country song written by Alabama. But it brings up the truth, we tend to be in a hurry but don't know why. We act before we think. We rush, rush, rush. While speed is essential in the implementation stages, it can be disastrous in the thinking and planning phases. Since most owners tend to suffer from attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders (at least in how they lead and manage), it's no wonder they rush around like maniacs and bounce from idea to idea and fire drill to fire drill. Stop speeding. Learn to slow down!
I am reminded of the classic Napoleon Hill book, Think and Grow Rich. The title was carefully and deliberately chosen. It was not called Act Hastily and Grow Rich. The focus of the book is on the need to think first, act second. All great innovations, advancements, and breakthroughs occur first in the mind. The order of business success is critical...first a well thought out idea, then aggressive implementation. Do you have the need for speed?
Since you are probably guilty of speeding, most of us are, you need a speed regulator to prevent you from killing yourself, others, and/or your company. This business coach suggests you get a business coach or accountability partner within your organization to serve as your speed regulator... to help you slow down, catch your breath, reflect, think, and then act. As an owner, you need to learn that constantly putting the pedal to the metal and speeding along, without a road map and destination, will get you somewhere fast...but most assuredly to the WRONG PLACE. Think before you act.
Daniel M. Murphy
The Growth Coach
President, Founder & Business Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System