“WE” not “ME”
Growing a business from a sole trader or a small business and then taking the next step to employ people can be really daunting. When I grew my business, I had limited resources, limited skilled people and limited opportunity for growth. But I used the “WE” not “ME” principle to attract the right people in order to achieve common business goals.
Wanting to grow a business is normally a period where people are scared of failure and second guess themselves at the increased workload necessary to “scale up”…..
Well, if you have a strong desire to become a large employer, remember:
- People work best when they feel success,
- Nobody ever goes to work to fail,
- People won’t find another job if they are fulfilled in the job they have,
- People want to see a future in where they work.
If you consider each of these points, it means you want to become an employer where the workforce will be considered a team, a team with a culture of ‘being successful’….. If you want this, then you have to position yourself as a “WE” not “ME” person.
People, especially business owners, can be so caught up in the here and now, that they really cannot see how the workforce perceives them. Generally it takes years to reach a point where growth becomes a new focus, and, the owner will fight heaven and earth to make it a success. Because it is so hard, the owner often identifies employees as a risk that could jeopardise the business.
The easy way to control the risk is to ‘Micro-Manage’: tell people what they ‘can and can’t do’, to re-iterate ‘what is yours and not theirs’, to identify ‘what must be done and steps to get it done to your liking’….. even as hard as it may feel, these are all “ME” characteristics which will eventually hinder progress instead of empowering growth and opportunity.
Taking a Fresh Approach to Growth = “WE” not “ME”
After years of self struggle, often people can easily consider everything that they have built as their own doing (which is right, but employees want to feel the love too! They have contributed immensely to your success). In business, taking the business to the next level requires the biggest discipline, which is recognising yourself as a team leader; leading from the front and encouraging your team members to follow you.
This is the moment when you are no longer a “ME” person, but from now on, everything you ever say is about “WE” “US” “TOGETHER” “LET’S” “WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT…”, and by taking this approach:
- You genuinely consider yourself as a business driver, where other people can contribute to your ultimate success,
- You want to see your business succeed but you are concerned about ‘how do I go to the next step’, that you openly commit to your employees and encourage their input and commitment,
- You often consider it difficult to ‘recruit the right people’ and find ‘natural attrition’ a risk to your ultimate growth success, this is where your team will follow your lead.
Before every meeting, decision, idea and process; take a moment and bring people along on your journey with you. Become the “WE” not “ME” and you will see a huge turnaround in people’s personal behaviour and how they reprogram their commitments to ensure their career is aligned with your business.
After all, if you want to grow a business you cannot do it alone. You need people to believe in you, and, for people to believe in you they must believe they have a future within the business.
Written by Geoff Pike, Entrepreneur, Speaker & Business Mentor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-pike-australia
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ABOUT GEOFF
Geoff founded a sole trader plumbing business in a remotely located and vastly underpopulated location in outback Australia. Starting business with only enough money to pay 4 weeks wages, Geoff persisted by growing the business into a multi-disciplined trade services company. Over a period of 12 years, the company Geoff established grew to employ a workforce of over 300 personnel covering an area almost half the size of Europe, receiving international award recognition with an annual revenue of over $30mil. Geoff knows what it takes to overcome adversity.