“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”
Giving your brain, and body, the chance to slow down and rest can be a great way to reset.
I like to take short walks outside around my neighborhood. getting fresh air and movement is a great way to get clarity.
Unless you know what to look for…
Are you not getting the results you want in your business or life?
It’s amazing how much of our world and even our mind runs on auto-pilot doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing.
It’s not usually until something breaks do we think about it.
What do I mean by that?
Take a moment to think of what the world would look like from outside your body.
From this position, you’ll start to notice that the world is a collection of interconnected systems.
Start small and work your way up…
Look outside at the flower in the yard
The leaves the flower is connected to
The bush that grows from the ground
The trees on the edge of the property
The creek that runs beyond it
The mountain far away where the water for the creek comes from
Or take something closer to home and look in your pocket
Open an app on your cell phone
The collection of apps on the home screen
The different buttons and cables connected to the phone
The cell phone tower near your home
The data center your phone connects to
The internet that connects it all together
There are many other examples of independent systems in your life that you may not have noticed until now.
The washing machine in your home
The car in your garage…
The roads you drive the car on…
The schools you attended…
The grocery story…
The airplanes you fly in…
Each one has a purpose and in most cases is tied to something bigger.
Your life and your business are no different.
All outcomes are the results of the systems in place, even the bad ones.
So if you’re not happy with the results you’re getting right now take a moment to look at the systems in your business and life.
Maybe you have seen these but just did know what they were caused by. Here are some common symptoms of poor performing systems:
1. The feeling of stress that there is never enough time to get everything done.
2. The need to micromanage your staff because you feel they just won’t be able to do things correctly or the way you would do it or worse deciding to redo everything yourself.
3. Unexplained high staff turnover.
4. Reoccurring missed deadlines or customer problems.
5. The feeling of fire killing and that you can never seem to stay on top of all the problems that come up during the day.
Does this make you think of any systems in your life that could use improving?
I was talking with a former employee of a client and this little gem came up and it reminded of a recent Gallup poll I had read.
As an owner or manager, the #1 reason you’re losing your best employees is that they are unhappy with the management style of their direct supervisor.
And the data supports this assertion, according to a recent Gallup survey of 7,712 at least 50% of former employees left because of a bad manager.
“Having a bad manager is often a one-two punch: Employees feel miserable while at work, and that misery follows them home, compounding their stress and negatively affecting their overall well-being.”
You can check out the original survey source here. It’s pretty eye-opening.
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/182321/employees-lot-managers.aspx
In many cases, this negative effect on their well-being eventually causes them to seek a transfer or quit altogether.
It’s an all too common occurrence especially in smaller organizations we have worked with where there is a reliance on star talent in the rush to profitability.
In this case, you hire a great person who knows their stuff for the position you hired them for but later you find out they can do X, Y, and Z too! Thanks for being a team player…
In cases like this, the person hired as the receptionist has more on their plate than they were hired for and their responsibilities are a hodge-podge of many different positions.
This can lead to ambiguity in job roles and confusion about performance responsibilities, especially if there are no defined job roles or training standards which are common in most small companies.
If you’re working through this in your own organization here are some areas to look out for if you’re experiencing unexplained staff turnover.
1. A lack of clear expectations and a defined job duties are a recipe for disaster. Most employees want to be good at their job. However, not knowing what their defined job is or what they are being held accountable for will always cause problems in the end.
2. Communicate consistently and often, not just at the annual review time. Every employee is different but it’s important to keep an open channel and check in frequently.
3. Focus on the staff member’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. Sometimes transfer a person to a different position is better for both the employee and the company.
Have you run into any of these issues in your business?