Poor Leadership 101: How to Keep Your Business Mediocre

Ok, so my last post was about why a system is important. Now I have another lesson for you.

How do you keep your business mediocre? That’s what everyone wants to know right? Well, Don’t fret folks I’m here to tell ya.

I have been able to look inside of this company that has a structure much like the one about which I last posted. The owner, unfortunately has never read anything about building a system through which her employees could learn the business and be successful and as you can imagine there are just too many variables for On-the-Job-Training to build successful people. I’m gonna try to get across how it all went down without dropping names or brands, so bear with me.

This company had only one area in which it is focused. It was working, but it wasn’t great there was definitely room for growth and expansion not only for new offices, but new opportunities. So, when another opportunity came around the owner decided to go with it, the model had already been proven ( I have seen how successful it can be first hand) and the overhead was minimal. A few people were sent off to “train” on this new product and after a few days of chaos and confusion, the 3 employees, all very new to the business returned. They had learned a lot considering there was no formal training whatsoever and everything came from watching someone who knew what they were doing. The problem is, while for the most part that form of training, if you can call it that may be sufficient (minimally IMHO) for the current work going on in the company, it is simply dangerous for this new venture because of potential loss of confidence in the brand and ultimately to potential lawsuits. I won’t try to explain why, that’s not the point here. So, after only about a month or so this new venture, which is potentially much more profitable as well as another avenue through which the company can grow is canned. The employees were not producing enough and the whole thing was shut down. There is a little bit of political stuff going on, but 90% of the problem lies with the fact that there was no system for them to follow. No roadmap to lead them to their destination.

So, onward they go, after losing 2 of their most hopeful employees. A response to a lack of confidence in the leadership of the company. So, there you have it. All it would have taken to take this person’s company to the next level was a SYSTEM. If you want to have a mediocre business, follow this example, you can’t lose. However, if you want to build your business the right way you need a system. If you have not seen my last post check it out, it’s just a little something to help you get ideas and give you something to think about.

The bottom line folks, is to be a leader.  Take charge of your responsibilities and do it right. Position yourself as a leader and people will follow you. They will be the ones who bring your success; you’re level of commitment to leadership however will determine its magnitude.