This series about mistakes my ActionCOACH colleagues or I have witnessed, mostly by potential clients, that can potentially hurt your organization continues. The following are several more mistakes that you should avoid.
- Ignoring compounding
In his brilliant book “The Compound Effect” Darren Hardy presents a compelling case about the long-term benefits of taking incremental steps to drive improvement within your company, and for yourself. One of my clients had a negative reaction to the addition of the “New Behavior or Improvement” box on our weekly Coaching Focus Sheet form. “Another box I have to fill out?” he asked. I pointed out that if he listed one small improvement in each weekly focus sheet, he would make massive gains by the end of the year. That small step resulted in vast improvements in several areas he focused on.
- Delaying hard conversations or meetings
Simply put, living with the stress and fear leading up to a necessary difficult meeting or conversation is more damaging to yourself and your company than the potential after-effects of that conversation or meeting. Furthermore, do not underestimate the damage to your competitive position by delaying these types of meetings or conversations and decisions that may be an outcome of these meetings.
- Putting off decisions
It is impossible to gather every piece of information to make a “perfect” decision. It is better to be decisive after gathering information, reviewing the risks, and being committed to flexibility than to delay making decisions. This is not to say that you should be reckless, avoiding any thoughtful decision-making process. I have seen business leaders who have engaged in “creative procrastination” to great benefit. In all these situations the executives were always moving toward finalizing a decision.
- Not understanding how your team is motivated
Each member of your team can be motivated differently depending on their values and personal mission. For example, some may be mercenaries, motivated by their earning potential. Others may be eager to learn and grow, their sites focused on promotion and leadership. You may also have some team members who are deep divers in their existing expertise. These differing team members cannot all be motivated in the same way.
I am not done yet, there are many, many more potential mistakes you can and should avoid. I will continue this topic from time to time. A Big Thank You to my colleagues and other readers of this blog who have contributed to this growing list of damaging potential business mistakes.