Tammy shares tools that empower you to design your own fresh perspective, an action plan for today that will change your tomorrow.  "It's all in how you look at it."

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Stop Running!

Do you find yourself running your business so fast that you are tired and out of breath? That is a common 'drama factor' for business owners. There are no simple cures for the dis-ease that I call Working at the Speed of Whoosh. The only thing that I have found that works is similar to the same technique they teach us in elementary school, if our clothes catch on fire. Stop. Drop. Roll.

Ok, do I have your attention yet? When we are running our business, and are unable to catch our breath it is commonly because our business is running us! I have designed a few tactics for the weary business owner that reinforce the proven technique Stop. Drop and Roll.

Step number one: Stop (and breathe)
We need to stop and consider what we are doing to ourselves by running. How are we taking care of our staff and client/customers if we are too busy to notice them? When we are running at a fast pace we are likely giving off the appearance of being scattered, worn and unavoidably out of control. Is that the impression you want your staff and customers to see of you? I say no.

So, how do we stop? Well the action is in the four letter word. Sit, Think, Oversee, Perform. Sit down and relax, allow your brain to unwind and just be in the moment. So that you can think of what obstacles have gotten in your way to taking better care of self. It has been said that we are to work On our business, not In it. That means to oversee the systems that you have set in place, not running every detail. Then you can truly perform to your potential as business leader, manager, CEO.


Step number two: Drop (everything)
Be willing to drop everything. (Oh, did I hear a collective gasp from the readers?) Yes, drop it. Many have become accustomed to running their business, office, team, instead of allowing their system to run the business. Micromanaging at it's finest is often disguised as "I am too busy" for a life, to exercise, to _____(fill in the blank.) When I am working with my coaching clients that are in breakdown and need to drop everything, I take them through an envisioning process that helps them to see their end-result, what they really want. Then, we fill in the details of what is getting in the way to getting to that place they envision. Most often my business clients see they are in their own way, their micromanaging the details vs. allowing the system they built to work for them. So, they drop what they are doing and replace it with a new action plan that requires less of them and more of others.


Step number three: Roll (just go with it)
By the time we get to Roll, people are typically feeling a sense of relief. That is because they've caught their breath, discovered what has gotten in their way, made a plan to responsibly work toward their goal and now it is time to just go with it. Work the plan and allow the plan to work for you. As coach, I encourage clients to set in place a review process that is date specific, so that they are not still pushing to get to 'it' and they are allowing their plan to work itself. This is very important for the roll-with-it factor, we commit to looking at our plan in the future and to assessing how it's working at a set point vs. every day. When we do that, we are less likely to keep running in circles or toward burnout.

Bottom-line, the responsibility to stop is on us, the individual. No one is making you do anything, draw a boundary for yourself, envision what you want, create a plan to get there and go for it. Stop. Drop and Roll.

Tammy Redmon
NW Coach and Business Growth Strategist

Redmon & Associates - Empowering Today's Business Leaders



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