Creating Time to Think
Leading a business, a team of people, can be draining - intellectually, emotionally and physically. This coupled with the growing busyness of day to day life can be overwhelming at times for many business leaders.
While there are significant benefits from regular exercise, meditation, breathwork, morning and evening routines. I recognise these take discipline and may not be everyone’s cup of tea. This month I am making good progress on the exercise and the evening routine but the rest are patchy at best.
A more practical approach for you as a business leader is to carve out one morning per month where you THINK STRATEGICALLY about your Business as a SHAREHOLDER.
Remember, we are comfortable doing things because:
We can see a tangible result
We can tick it off our list
We have probably done it before
We feel momentum from action
It can be much harder to spend time THINKING about how to solve the bigger issues in your business:
How do we break into a new market?
Why is this partnership challenging – do we both want different things?
Why can’t the team launch that product or implement that price increase?
Some of the reasons why it can feel harder is because
It’s often new stuff, we have to find our way.
So on this dedicated morning, I recommend you start by taking yourself off for breakfast (somewhere you won’t be disturbed) with the only purpose being to think about your business. Take time over breakfast, don’t overthink what will happen. Then pose the following questions and write reflectively on each one:
My vision for this business is…… – think customers, benefits, people, financials, suppliers etc.
My unreasonable ambition / dream for this business is….. – be completely wild and unrealistic here – you never know what might come up
What 3 things will I start to do to support my vision / my dream…..
What 3 things will I stop doing to support my vision / my dream…..
Following this reflection you may need to find a thinking partner to support you / give you space to develop your thinking, or if you have a business partner / advisory board they may be able to support the thinking.
The key here is to carve out the time to THINK and support yourself with the right resources to make this happen.
In summary, below are the key steps
Prioritise TIME to THINK
Go to the right place for you – quiet, peaceful, calm
Imagine that wonderful future – the vision
Ask challenging questions
Be open, Let it flow/ come
Reflect, write, reflect
Resource the process once started – thinking partner, board, your team.
If life feels too busy and you are being dragged this way and that…
If you feel you can’t stop doing / can’t get off that treadmill…
Then get in touch and I can support you to create the time and space you need to THINK. It can be the next step for your business to expand internationally, to launch a new product, take on a new partner, it can be getting ready for retirement, it can be starting a new role. The investment in spending time reflecting, asking those big questions will always pay back by delivering the best result for you.