How do you move towards your destiny?

How can you create your destiny? How do you live an inspired life?   How do you do the things that only you can do to help change the world? For many founding entrepreneurs selling their businesses or bringing in new leadership struggle to reconnect with the strengths, gifts, and life experiences that made them successful in the first half of their lives.

For serving leaders, the gap may be even larger since many founded their organizations to serve a need they saw in the world. It’s interesting to me because many of the entrepreneurs I work with spend more time planning their next big vacation adventure than they do planning the rest of their lives.

So that’s where our destiny comes from, our life’s works, experiences, and accomplishments. How do we take inspired actions based on our earlier process of discovery, dream, and design? I have three questions to help reignite your passions and allow you to meet your destiny in a way that only you can.

The first question is, “Why me?”  The following questions help clarify this question.  Why must I go in this quest? Am I the only person who can do this? How might I bring my unique strengths to bear on this situation?

The second question is, “Why now?”  I have all the time in the world to accomplish my destiny. Why must I start today? What forces have conspired to put me in this place in history?

The third question is. “How will this impact family, friends, employees, and community for the better?” I’m going out on a limb here, but I bet you have a strong group of stakeholders involved in your life. So many people counting on you, how do you choose the right course of action?

All these questions are just that, questions, until you begin to take action on them. I don’t know if you noticed but it takes a little longer to get out of bed today than it did twenty years ago. You’re more easily distracted than you were when you started your business. You see things differently and you have the wisdom of your life that can provide you with an edge. How you chose to use it is really up to you.

So how do you meet your destiny? My father taught me many years ago that we are always making decisions in our lives.  Our decision choices are yes, no, or no action. All our decisions are moving us towards our future.  We can’t stop time no matter how successful, wealthy, or prosperous we might be. The clock keeps ticking.

So, my final question I have for you is, “What do you want to do?” Are you willing to invest the time and resources to create your own destiny or do you want it to create you?  Paraphrasing Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”  Are you going to be the person that creates and shapes your second half or the one that lets events shape your future? Since you’re still reading this, I bet I know what your answer is. See you here next week as we continue sharing ideas that transform your life and help you create your destiny.

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How Do You Turn Your Future Plans into Reality?

Last week I talked about the Discovery phase in your approach to developing your second act. We focused on discovering your key strengths and life experiences. This is an exciting time for you to re-engage your strengths and your prior life experiences to have the life you want after you leave your business.For many entrepreneurs, we’ve spent a lifetime building our businesses. Sometimes you’re not sure what’s available next.

There are two key factors that connect you to the future of your dreams. The first, understand your financial goals and the second, understand your personal goals. In this series of blogs, I focus on your personal goals and dreams. If you need more help on your financial goals, how to increase the value of your business, and how to sell your business, we discuss this at our sister blog at the High Growth Business Report

This week, we go further in the 4D Appreciative Inquiry process. The second step is the Dream phase. I challenge you to dream again. For many of my technology clients, this phase is hardest because they make their living dealing with facts and figures and see their analytic skills as a critical component to their success. As a group, technology entrepreneurs forget what helped them succeed was not their skills, but their vision of the future that drove their successful businesses. During the dream phase of this process, I again challenge you to see the future to create the life of your dreams. During the dream phase you should consider what you enjoy doing and how you would like to live your next phase of life. During the dream phase, I ask you to not limit your own future. Take time to consider what you enjoy doing and what role you would like to have in your family and community.

When you explore your hopes and dreams, consider what you really enjoy doing on a daily basis. What would you prefer not to do during your day? Design your future life around what you want and enjoy. I have found the more you focus on what you really want, the clearer your vision becomes. If you’re stuck, there are many assessments that can help you determine what you do better than others and how you can apply it to your future life.

The third step is the Design phase. The design phase is critical to your future. Until now we have spent our time discovering and dreaming about your perfect life. Congratulations, you have advanced further than most people do in planning for the second half of their lives. You should be feeling reenergized and reconnected to your life. You should be feeling good about the unlimited possibilities that exist in your life. Most of the people I work with on these stages are regaining confidence and control of their own futures. Since you are creating the vision, it is now time to start putting together a roadmap for your future.

The Design phase helps you understand what needs to happen to help you achieve your dreams. It is designed to help you take practical steps towards your dreams. Designing your life supports your larger aspirations. For many of my clients, during this phase they decide how much involvement they want in their business. They begin discussing this with their spouse and family to help decide what plan of action they could take. They also talk to professional advisors who can help them develop the infrastructure that is required to support their dreams.

Many entrepreneurs and executives spend significant time to create the life they want. They need to go through a series of meetings to help determine what they need to do to begin putting their plans into action.
I have found talking with peers and people with similar backgrounds helps you work your way through the process. A warning here for many founders of organizations who have spent most of their lives invested in their organizations, this process can take between 12-36 months to work through to create their exit planning strategy. I know this can be hard work but the payout in your life can be amazing. The more time you invest in this phase, the better your outcomes are.

Next week we talk about the final stage of this process, Destiny and share additional resources to help you work your way through this entire process. See you here next week.

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How do entrepreneurs launch into their next opportunities?

How do you create the future you want? As your business grows and transforms, you find new challenges to deal with. Many leaders struggle with their futures. For the serving leader, it is critical to get beyond the day to day activities and begin to develop your plans for the future. Many business owners have a difficult time determining what’s next for them beyond their business. Over 80% of entrepreneurs claim they built their businesses to be sold. Then why do so many struggle to disconnect from their business? Having interviewed many founders of high growth businesses, I have discovered how difficult it is for these leaders to create a great second act for their lives beyond their businesses.

I thought it might be helpful to share a process I use when working with these business leaders. I use a four step process that helps them reconnect with the things they enjoyed when they started their businesses while applying the knowledge they gained through growing it.

Before you start, make sure you are in a positive place. I typically spend time with my clients choosing a positive approach to the challenge we face together. I set several strategic ground rules for what we achieve. By defining these ground rules up front we are more likely to get the results we desire.

The first ground rule is focus on your successes not your setbacks. In this way, we are able to get a better handle on what you do well and what strengths you possess. This allows you to better understand your own unique gifts and strengths.

The second rule is discuss ideas without judgment. The idea is to give you an environment where you can talk freely and discuss many options before choosing one to act upon. Try to remember a time where you had endless options to pursue, for example.

The third rule is develop a plan from what we talk about. You can have many options during the early stages but whatever you decide, we work together to help achieve what you want. A universal truth in life is what you focus on, happens. Make sure your focus is on the positive things you want to achieve. If we do this process correctly, you not only become clearer about what you want but we begin identifying different resources and people that can help you achieve your goals. Suspend any negative thoughts during the early stages to help increase your likelihood of success.

Now, let’s start with the 4D process. The first step in the process is Discovery. During this initial stage you should start to uncover what your gifts and strengths are. Think about what you’ve accomplished. How have you succeeded in the past and what are your most positive attributes? How do you apply these successes and attributes to your past situations? It’s not enough to get short answers, spend significant time looking for specific stories that help you reconnect with your earlier successes. Identify key success themes that can be found not only in your current role but across your entire life. During discovery, you also uncover what kinds of things you enjoy doing. For example, if I’m working with an engineer or financial leader they sometimes struggle knowing what they do better than others in their professions so I ask what activities would they do for free or what hobbies do they enjoy?

By the end of the discovery phase, you’ve started to build a foundation under your success. For many senior clients, this is the first time in their professional career where they have spent time talking about their own unique gifts and strengths. When done correctly you can see the person start to enjoy the discussions and dig deep to recover their past in a positive way.

Next week, we go through the next several phases of the 4D process, which include Dream, Design, and Destiny. By the time we’re done, you begin seeing the possibilities that you have for your life. See you here next week.

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How Do You Guide Others Through Changing Times?

How would you like a process that can help your people deal with changes faster and easier than you ever thought possible? What if the process not only opened you and your team to endless possibilities but also ensured faster buy-in from all the various stakeholders you impact. I’ve been guiding serving leaders through change for over 20 years, from small startup businesses to family businesses over 100 years old continuing to change to keep up with the many challenges businesses face as they grow and prosper. In one client engagement, I was dealing with a large medical practice. I was assigned a psychiatrist to work with to determine how medical professionals deal with change in high stress specialties. I asked several of my better clients to be involved in the pilot program. This allowed me to explore the topic further and it gave me access to a great team of people who deal with high stress on a regular basis.

I can’t imagine a much more stressful job than running a small or mid-market privately-held business today. I share the best process I found and help you apply it to your life starting today. I use this four step process when dealing with my clients to help them see the possibilities in their life and organizations. The process is called Appreciative Inquiry Method and was originally developed by David Cooperrider, PhD. He has continued developing and evolving the process over the years.

It’s a simple four step process that focuses on a positive “what’s working well” approach to uncover potential ideas to help you get the results you want. The reason I find it helpful is that this process brings up positive emotions from the very beginning of the process. It’s a world view approach that works with my strengths-based model that I’ve used over the years with many high performing people. Most of my work in positive psychology is based on the feelings that individuals are doing the best they can in the moment and that most people would do even better if they were given an opportunity. By appreciating the positive from the start, I remove many of the negative emotions surrounding failure and allow my clients to almost immediately become unstuck.

I specialize in exit planning strategies. The biggest change most business owners ever encounter is leaving their business. Most people don’t even think about leaving their businesses until the time they want to walk out the door. The time to begin planning is several years before you want to go. This gives you an opportunity to think about what’s next, and to plan your goals. The four step process lets you start to think about what you want to do after your business, even if you want to stay in it.

Now, let’s see if this system can help you better deal with all the change in your world. The four steps in the process are: Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny. In my next blog, I start explaining each step and how you can do it. If you want a sneak peek at the process, you can check out the following resource: http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/
See you here next Tuesday.

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First responders are constantly training and practicing new things everyday.

After the events in Boston last week and several calls from friends in the Boston area, I’m reminded again of how fragile our lives are. When you spend time around first responders, you learn how quickly things can change our lives. Over the years, I’ve had many friends in the military and in first responder units and still spend time working out with many of these fine men and women. After the events of last week, one reminded me of what he learned in the Navy SEALs, “the only easy day was yesterday.” It seemed to me that might be an interesting topic to share for this week’s blog. How can you apply what our finest in the military and first responders already know to your life and your business? But first, let me thank all of the people who help keep us safe. Thank you for all you do and all you’ve taught me over my lifetime about being serving leaders.

Here are four strategies I’ve learned from first responders that you can use in your life and business today. The first strategy the military and first responders embrace is they are constantly training. These men and women work day in and day out to improve their performances. They constantly train at high levels and are always getting immediate feedback on their performances. They practice constantly so that in an emergency they can instantly react. In many corporations, training is not a way of life. When I taught at Fort McNair, I shared that too many small and midmarket businesses spend little time on training their people. Because of this, they allow the business environment to control their destinies. They see training as a waste of time and their results show it. If you want great predictable results, consider adding regular training to your team’s schedule. When I add training to my clients’ businesses we achieve record sales months in less than 60 days, month in and month out.

The second strategy we can learn from first responders is how to assess risk. When you work with the layers of management within a first responder unit you begin seeing how complex their decision making skills are. They don’t only talk about how to make good decisions, they are always making them. They have learned to focus on critical elements within their decision making matrix. The other interesting thing is how quickly the can assemble their teams to get all the important information that impacts risk assessment on the scene of the accident. Key people on their team are responsible for collecting information in real time. I received my first pop quiz when travelling on an ambulance during a disaster drill with the fire department, when the Captain asked me to debrief the accident victim. It was quite an interesting experience. I got graded right in the field. This helped me to adjust my questions to the given situation in real time. All the team members shared information while entering the scene and this allowed for increased flexibility in reacting to the disaster. In business, it allows you to make better decisions because you have learned what information matters and what doesn’t when making a decision. The best time to learn decision making is when the decisions are smaller.

The third strategy you learn is how to put your solutions in order so they have the maximum impact on the situation with which you are dealing. The most important decision a leader can make is where she puts her critical resources first. When dealing within multiple injuries, this can make a significant difference on who survives and who doesn’t. By organizing your critical decisions early you have the most time to adapt a winning strategy throughout the crisis.

The final strategy is being willing to change quickly when it’s required. There is ego when teams are performing at high levels. For example, it was tough on the police to spend all day looking for a subject and having to announce there were no results for the day. The police received a tip that ultimately led to the capture of the alleged co-conspirator. This was no time to point fingers. They responded quickly and they were able to capture the second person. How many times in our businesses do we stick to a bad decision? We are given a chance to change our minds and we let our egos get stuck going the wrong direction. We have too much invested in our bad decision to let go of it. As our businesses continue to grow, we must learn to let go more quickly. For to many years we have thought our leaders infallible in their decisions. We must commit to increasing our own flexibility as well as with the teams we lead.

The events of the last week will change the way we live and lead. It is critical for serving leaders to remember “The only easy day was yesterday” and the only day we can change is today.

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How do you graduate to the life you want?

Two weeks ago I asked you three big questions to get you restarted on seeking the life you want. I asked you to think about what it is you really want in life and, as importantly, what you don’t want. How will you know when you’re successful? I promised this week to help you begin the changes required to live the life of your dreams. To do this you have to answer several more questions, to keep moving forward.

Before we begin this journey together, I have to ask, “Are you committed to making the changes you need to succeed?” Let’s face it, it’s very difficult to change. By nature, many of us feel that we are right and, to be honest, we see change as a painful event. At worst, it is an experience that should be avoided, if possible, and, at best, something that happens once a year, needed or not. So, before we take another step, are you ready to change? If you’re not, that’s okay, but understand the cost if you don’t change. You can hide behind all the crazy ideas in the world. You have everything you need, all you have to do is wait and the world will come to your door. I have another question for you. How’s that working for you? If life was working out the way you wanted, you wouldn’t be reading this blog today, would you? You would be out taking positive action towards the change you want to be in the world.

The reason you must commit to change is that you’re going to start marshaling your resources. Before you go out and ask for help, determine if you really want to do this. There is nothing more sad or difficult than seeing your same friends and not being able to share your progress. So now let’s get to the next three questions you need to answer if you want to succeed in taking charge of your life.

The next question is simple. What dangers or challenges do you face that need to be eliminated? Simple, isn’t it? There has to be a reason that you aren’t doing what you love. I’m sure given a clear opportunity, you would pursue the life of your dreams. There must be something stopping you. So what is stopping you? What would happen if you took fear out of the equation? We all fear something and to achieve our dreams we must confront our fears.

The third question begins transforming your life in an instant. It gives you the confidence to know you can be all you want to be. You’re now moving forward and since you’re moving, you must be willing to ask the question, “What opportunities in your life need to be captured?” We all see opportunities, what we do with what we see defines our success in life. So what opportunities do you see today? Every one of us sees hundreds of opportunities to make a difference. What do you see and how might you begin pursuing these opportunities?

The final question is one that insures that you achieve everything you want in life. The final question is, “What strengths do you need to maximize?” Every person has a unique set of strengths. There are no good or bad strengths, they just are. To have the life of your dreams, you must be willing to take your strengths up a level. You must leverage who you are to achieve all that you can be. When I coach entrepreneurs and business leaders, this is the most powerful step in our work together. You must embrace who you are and what you do well. So many people don’t go that extra mile and refine their strengths. Instead, they spend all of their time trying to fix their weaknesses. It is funny to me that most people spend their time working on their weaknesses rather than embracing their strengths. I know it’s not easy. Most people are afraid of being all they can be. They fear what would happen if they unleashed their gifts on the world.

So what are your strengths? How well developed are they? What would it mean if you used all of your strengths? Think how you might apply them to make a difference in your life and the lives of your family, friends, and community. I’m waiting to hear how you’re changing the world. See you back here next Tuesday.

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The partners you choose can make a huge difference in our world

On Monday, April 8, 2013, we lost a truly remarkable lady and leader. Before there was Condi or Hillary, there was a woman who could stand up to men and lead their country to greatness. To paraphrase Churchill, I would say Prime Minister Thatcher was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. When Prime Minister Thatcher spoke, the world listened. After the she left the world stage we heard very little from her again. She was a paradoxical leader at a time when world freedom was at stake. She was a conservative feminist. She chose to lead in difficult times. What can we learn from this unique woman who helped create the world we live in today?

There are three key strategies that all leaders can learn from Margaret Thatcher. The first strategy is be careful who you align yourself with and then, once aligned, give it your all. She came into power at a time when modern women were just beginning to understand how they could change the world. Before she met President Reagan, she was reluctant to commit to his plans. Lifetime English diplomats warned her away from recommitting to the alliance between our two countries. They told her that this new president was a cowboy and truly out of his depth with being on a world stage. She was told the United States was on the decline and this could present her country with an opportunity to become the preeminent power again. So what did Thatcher do? She chose to meet with this new president to see who he really was. After meeting with him, she understood there was more opportunity in working together than to try going it alone. The partnership between the Reagan and Thatcher increased the world’s safety and created an even stronger relationship between our two countries than existed in the past. One based on trust and equality. It ultimately helped bring down the Iron Curtain without firing a shoot.

The second strategy we can learn from Prime Minister Thatcher is to be true to yourself and your strengths. She once said, “If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” She surrounded herself with brilliant people and would often seek their advice. However, once she got the advice, she didn’t shy away from making the decision herself. She then expected her people to fall in line. She was a strong leader because she understood that some decisions cannot be made by committee. She reminds me of President Truman in this way. He was known for having many advisors, but always felt that a true leader was there to make the tough decisions not just the easy ones. Both of these leaders were part of the country’s political establishment, but upon taking office, they chose to make the right decisions for their country, not their political party. The both had a flair for tough language earning Prime Minister Thatcher the nickname Iron lady.

The final strategy that we can take from Prime Minister Thatcher is be who you are not who others tell you to be. My favorite quote from Lady Thatcher was “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” Now how does this relate to you as a serving leader? I think it’s the essence of serving leadership. When I work with different leaders, I look for clues to who they are, not only in what they say, but what they do. It’s easy to be nice when you’re in front of a camera, it’s what you do behind the camera that reveals who you really are. In the case of Prime Minister Thatcher, she understood the role she played for many younger women. She did not shy away from it and she helped create a generation of women who are ready to take on the world with their own gifts and strengths. She saw nothing wrong with being a conservative and a feminist. She once said “If you want something said, ask a man; If you want something done ask a woman.” She strongly believed that the world was a better place with strong women, not because of weak men. So, rest in peace, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thank you for providing us with a great model of a strong, serving leader.

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What tools do you need for your new climb?

How do you decide what you want in life? I find many of my clients are facing changes they couldn’t imagine in their careers. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what they are involved in, many are going through major life transitions. Some are as young as 30 and some are older, in their mid 60’s, but this extended, uncertain economy has given them a chance to reexamine what they do with their lives. I thought it might be helpful to share several questions I use to help these people reconnect with their passion and purpose in new ways. I use these three questions as an assessment with people to see what’s going on in their lives when they seem listless or just don’t seem like themselves. I use many different assessments in my role as strategic advisor. Most people enjoy them and I find they increase learning velocity versus more traditional methods used in the coaching and counseling profession.

The first question I ask is, “What do you want?” I then listen attentively and allow them to share what they want. Sometimes I ask them to write out their answers and really think about what they want. For my younger clients, this seems to be easier than with my older clients. When I talk to young adults, they are buzzing with passion and energy. I let them share the hopes and dreams. It’s as if this is the first time anyone has ever asked them what they want. Many times, they go on for 30 minutes about what they want. When dealing with older clients, they sometimes struggle with this question. It makes them vacillate as if they’ve never really thought about what they want. They sometimes say, ” I don’t know,” or “I don’t really feel I have choices at this stage of life.” In many cases, I have them think about it for several days and then send me their best answers. The act of writing it down sometimes frees them to say what they want. I also think some of their answers are uncomfortable. They feel that they don’t have the right skills, strong network, or any plans to move ahead on.

The second question I ask is designed to help put focus into your think. The second question is, “What don’t you want?” Now this question really gets people thinking about their lives. Some people can tell me a hundred things in a very short time. For older people, it seems easier to say what they don’t want than what they do. There are as many different answers to this question as there are people. My standard follow up question is, “Why?” A quick head nod and affirmative body language all go together to allow people to share without any judgment. The more people say the clearer they become. After sharing twenty different answers, people are very focused on what they don’t want and why. For many women entrepreneurs, it’s the first time they’ve been asked this question and, more importantly, have been heard without judgment.

For business owners selling their businesses, these answers can be emotionally charged. I hear answers from “I can’t imagine life without my business” or “I’m afraid I die if I don’t go to work” to “You know only lazy people don’t work.” Because it’s easier to say what you don’t want, it’s easier to understand what you might want, but not always. The opposite of a negative isn’t always a positive. It can be a neutral, and in my experience, neutrals do not give you the power you need to move forward. To put this another way, many people do more to avoid pain than they do to find joy.

The third question I use has evolved over my professional career. When I first started working with clients I would use a metaphor to describe it, but today since most of my clients are involved in emerging technologies I use a more direct question. The third question is, “If we took a time machine out three years into future and then looked back over the past three years, what would you need to see to consider your time invested in this new direction to be worth your investment both personally and professionally? How would your life have changed for the better?” Then I shut up. Let me tell you this can be very challenging for me. I don’t say anything until after they have spoken and have begun seeing their potential future.

I bet you’re thinking, It can’t be this easy. It has to be harder than just three questions to change my life.” Here’s a pop quiz, try it out on someone else. Focus your attention on listening and supporting their answers. Help them share with you by being a great listener. Now, when you’re done ask them how they feel. Ask them, “Do you feel closer to your hopes and dreams?” Then ask how they feel about what they learned from this exercise. Many of my relationships go back over forty years. Whenever I get together with people I do this check in. In my whole career, I’ve never had a person not get back to me when I’ve called if I’ve done this exercise with them, ever. Next week, I’ll give you the final two questions that make anyone virtually unstoppable when they answer these additional questions. So I guess it actually takes five questions to turn your life around. See you then.

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How do you deal with challenging times?

In my home, growing up, I met my first serving leader. I was introduced to him by my grandmother at a very early age and he has been with me ever since. He will never leave me. My life has been blessed by many serving leaders who have helped me become the man I am today. I wonder if the leadership lessons I learned so many years ago still hold up in today’s changing world. Its Easter week and growing up it was always a very special week in our household. To honor him, I would like to share the several critical leadership lessons I learned about Jesus, my original serving leader.

My grandmother shared the first leadership lesson at a very early age. She was a cancer nurse when cancer killed almost everyone that it touched. She taught me that change is inevitable. She would tell me stories about how Jesus came into her patients’ lives and He would help them deal with change. It was an odd lesson to be taught, but she felt it was critical to understand the nature of life and also the event known as death. She would say that there was only one constant in the world she knew and it was Jesus. She wanted me to know what she had learned in her seventy plus years. When you’re an only child and you spend all your time with adults, you learn how short life can be. She taught me that Jesus was timeless and though He helped you deal with change, He himself was changeless. He was not fickle but could provide you with stability in your life. Her experiences in life changed her, she lost a child through suicide and another child was in an iron lung with polio for several years, but throughout this time she never changed the way she looked at the Lord.

The second person who introduced me to Jesus taught me a different lesson about Jesus. He taught me that everything changes, especially our perspectives. He taught me that if you weren’t changing you were dying. He was a strong man who had a different way of seeing the world. I would spend a lifetime learning from him. He was my father and he would share his experience of Jesus from the position of a man who had seen death often in many different forms, from battles in Korea to searching for storm survivors on the lakes. He would return to the Lord with more questions than answers. During different times of his life the answers would change. He believed that serving others was Jesus’ ultimate message. His life was invested in serving the Lord through the people God put into his life.

He was a hard man in an era of hard men. His story reminded me that the men Jesus chose were tough and able men, willing to die for what they believed. He reminded me of the early Christian martyrs that gave up their lives for what they believed. It was not easy to be an early Christian and it should not be easy to be one today. His message of service is what I built my life on. It has given me many opportunities and has provided me with strength in even the most challenging circumstances. It’s easy to see who I am today based on the stories I heard from my father. As he lay on his death bed he asked me a simple question. What one lesson did I learn from him in my life? I told him it was that change happens. There are things that we never understand during our lifetimes but learn to accept there is a greater reason for almost everything. Look for it and you always have inner peace.

The second half of this blog will be posted on Market Leadership Journal on Wednesday. See you there.

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How does a serving leader build a sustainable business?

Why do so few entrepreneurs reach financial independence? I believe it’s because many entrepreneurs are willing to settle for less. They build an organization that will not grow without their involvement. Previously, we talked about the first three reasons why entrepreneurs start their businesses. To build an organization that people want to buy, you must be willing to work outside of your organization. Today’s blog talks about my favorite kind of entrepreneur, the serving leader. Let’s talk about what happens when you do everything right and achieve your goals that take your business from good to great. By thinking about how you’re going to leave the business early and often, you begin to create the future of your dreams. The difference in your results is staggering. The quality of your life changes in ways you can’t even imagine today. So, let me share with you how we can work together to change the world.

The fourth reason entrepreneurs start their businesses is to change the world. I find most of my better known clients have an incredible drive to change the world. They are passionate about what they do and they never tire of working with people and their key ideas. These people are visionaries and serving leaders. During the early stages of their business, they are able to woo people to their ideas and their business. They reach out to many different stakeholders in their communities.You can feel the energy coming off them when you sit down to talk with them or if they are in a room full of people.

They started their businesses because they saw the opportunity to make a difference in many other peoples’ lives. They were willing to work with their customers and their partners to make this happen. The reality is you can’t think small when you’re trying to change the world.

When these entrepreneurs choose to sell their business or move on, they find another passion to fill their time and master it the way they did their business. Most of them have built important relationships within their communities. Because many of these leaders have grown their businesses beyond $100,000,000 in annual sales, most of them no longer work for the money. So the critical question is how to you build your business’s sales to over $100,000,000 annually? What would you have to change for you to reach this goal?

I work with them to reach their goals in sales and profits. This not only allows them short term success but provides long term financial independence for them and their families. A large part of the work I do with them includes developing and mentoring future leaders, developing stronger strategic partnerships, learning how to enjoy their success, and deciding how to invest their time and money in future adventures. For many, they continue setting big goals and look to continue their work with their favorite causes. In many cases, I meet them through their philanthropic work and continue to help them identify new ways to contribute to society.

The time to start planning your exit from the company is when you start it. When you plan to sell your business it forces you to:
• Decide who to put in key positions
• Determine what your financial and personal goals are for your business
• Create repeatable processes that don’t constantly require your input
• Identify and attract the best partners to expand and grow your business
• Attract and maintain key client and customer relationships centered on the services your company provides, not just you
• Evaluate your business’s worth in the market

When you plan to sell your business it gives you freedom, control, financial security, and the chance to change the world. And isn’t that why you started your business in the first place? See you next week.

The post Are You A Purpose Driven Entrepreneur? appeared first on Developing Serving Leaders.