“Turn your business into a collaborative act of creation.” – Vishen Lakhiani, Founder of Mind Valley
Last weekend I attended Serious Business in New Orleans. While the weekend was powerful, the closing keynote presenter, Vishen Lakhiani delivered an empowered message that spoke to my core values and beliefs as a business coach. He shared how he has built an award-winning business culture and stressed the importance of giving your team room to develop and grow in their life journey while they work in your company.
Mr. Lahkiani’s message mirrors my ideological views of running a business: You are only as strong as the leaders you have around you! The more you work to include people in the decision-making process, the stronger they are and the stronger the business is for it! With that in mind here are some important reminders to help you create a culture of inclusive growth.
- People choose to work with you, not for you! What attracts technicians to your business is YOU. It’s what you value, how you lead, the type of culture you fight for. This is what will make people move mountains to work with you. If this isn’t conveyed clearly from the start, you may find yourself with a team of people there for a paycheck, to grow their business, and they may move on sooner rather than later.
- Collaborate often. Not only should you commit to collaborating with everyone on your team, it should be in the schedule and happening on a weekly and monthly basis. People get involved in what they help to create. If they are a part of the process that brainstorms and creates new ideas, they are more apt to buy in.
- Acknowledge first, coach second! Take a conscious look at how you lead. Do you look for what is working or what isn’t working? When you catch people doing things right, do you praise them? Are you more inclined to look for what isn’t working? Be aware of this. People are more apt to accept critical feedback if they are regularly acknowledged by their leaders.
- Ask for feedback. A great quality of empowered leaders is asking for feedback from their team about how they lead and how they can improve. Be transparent. Give the team the opportunity to share what they appreciate about you and the culture. Make them feel safe enough to share any concerns they have. Building a successful business is a process. No one gets it right all the time, including you. Be open, selfless and committed to grow as a leader. When you are, they will be too.
