The snow in the Rocky Mountains in February can make for the best skiing in the world. At the age of 22, I was loving every minute of a ski trip with my buddies. The sun was warm, the sky was blue, and the temperature was perfect. Skiing on a run aptly named Hell's Kitchen in the back bowl of Lake Louise with my friend James (who was a much better skier than me) made for an exhilarating afternoon. Our other companions had taken an easier run to the bottom.
The hard snow crunched under my skis as I gathered up my courage to head down the steep slope. I had only made two turns on the hard pack when I lost my balance and fell backwards.
Sliding down the mountain, head first, on my back and out of control, I careened towards the rocks and the cliffs below.
As I was propelled towards the danger I knew instinctively that the collision with these rocks was going to seriously end any future skiing enjoyment (and perhaps my life).
I felt desperate. I was grasping for anything that could save me. My adrenaline was rushing and my mind screamed through my available options. In what seemed like a lifetime, but was really a millisecond, I understood what I had to do. I flipped my skies over my head and stood up. The change in direction was immediate. The force of my weight on the skis sent them shooting across the slope away from the danger.
A business in trouble is like skiing out of control. As owners we feel desperate, our adrenaline is often racing, and we grasp for any straw that can help us get out of the danger that is threatening to end the life of our business.
Tanya was also sliding out of control when I was invited by her husband to work with them to get their business back on course. Tanya had been working too many hours. In fact, she and her husband were competing to see who could put the most hours into the business. Tanya was exhausted from working so much. As a result, she felt overwhelmed, under-supported and unappreciated.
The family business was making money but should have been making more.
Like many other business owners, her belief was that she had to do everything herself if she wanted the jobs done right.
The couple had bought the business from her father-in-law several years before, thinking that they were on the path to financial freedom. Instead, Tanya now felt like she had been sold into slavery. She was unsure that business coaching was going to be anything more than an additional unwelcome cost to her business.
I started working with Tanya and her husband as I do with all clients, with the belief that they know their business better than I ever will. We started off by determining what they wanted out of the business and proceeded to move in that direction. I worked with Tanya to start scheduling her time at work. I challenged her on her need to micromanage the business and Tanya and her husband started training their staff with systems to make the business staff accountable for their actions. Tanya and her husband set goals for what their business would look like in one year, five years, and 15 years.
They wrote down the steps to achieve these goals. This all took time, but what transpired was similar to what happens to a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, the business started to work like businesses should.
No longer out of control, Tanya felt less stressed and the business became more profitable. Tanya and her husband started to have a healthier relationship at work and it showed.
The key to the change was when Tanya and her husband agreed on what they wanted out of the business and started working towards that vision.
Dave Fuller, MBA, is a certified professional business coach who helps business owners who feel out of control. If you or someone you know needs some help in this area, Dave can be reached at dave@profityourselfhealthy.com.
