By Roberta
Chinsky Matuson
January 28, 2011
Business leaders complain all the time that nothing seems to
have changed in their organizations, despite their best efforts to make
things
happen. Yet they continue to do the same things and receive the same
results.
Well, it’s no wonder why nothing has changed!
Here are five reasons why your progress may have stalled.
- You have people on
board who aren’t pulling their weight. If you’ve ever ridden on a
bicycle built for two with someone who isn’t doing much pedaling, then
you know what it’s like to try and move forward with someone who isn’t
pulling their weight. It’s exhausting! Take a look around your
organization and do an honest assessment. Who is peddling hard and who
is coasting? Then make a commitment to remove those people who aren’t
doing much of anything. Now try moving forward again and notice the
difference.
- You’ve failed to
invest in your firm or your people. It’s easy to complain how
things are falling apart, yet you haven’t made any investments in your
company or your people in years. People are not going to become
stronger managers and develop better relationships with your customers
by osmosis. These are skills that need to be built and continually
reinforced. Loosen your belt and start investing in your people. It
shouldn’t be too long before you begin seeing changes.
- You have a hard time
delegating. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to move your
business forward when you are still in the middle of daily operations.
You hired people to help you, right? Then let them do just that, and
notice how much time you now have available to grow your business!
- You really have no
idea where you are going. I recently experienced this myself when
my husband and I were driving through Tuscany. Yes, the scenery was
wonderful, but after driving past the same church three times within a
two-hour span, it was obvious to me that we needed a destination, even
if it was just a gelateria! You will never get to a specific place in
your business if you don’t have a destination in mind. It’s a good idea
to look at your business every six months or so. This will allow you
ample time to make course corrections so you don’t find yourself
circling back to the place where you started.
- You don’t implement
recommendations. You surround yourself with smart people and you
ask for their recommendations. Sometimes you even pay for this advice.
Yet you never implement any of these recommendations. Is it any wonder
that nothing has changed?
I understand that change is hard and that
sometimes you’ll
experience even more pain before things get better. But in the end,
isn’t it
better to have tried something than
to have done nothing at all?
Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human
Resource Solutions (www.yourhrexperts.com) and author of the highly acclaimed book, Suddenly in
Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around (Nicholas
Brealey,
January 2011). Her
firm helps organizations create exceptional workplaces that deliver
extraordinary results. Sign up to receive a complimentary subscription
to
Roberta's monthly newsletter, HR
Matters.
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