We all know that business owners are looking for answers to their growth concerns, not more questions. When you talk to a business owner about the Non-Negotiable Rules, they have a tendency to get a bit ‘prickly’ because entrepreneurs don’t really like rules.
The value of the NNRs are quite simply:
They help a business owner figure out what they don’t know
They help get that business owner thinking about areas of their company they hadn’t thought about before
They focus the business owners efforts on the mission critical aspects of their stage of growth
They give that business owner headlights into the future to be prepared for what’s coming
They provide a rallying point for the entire company
The facilitation of the Non-Negotiable Rules exercise during an X-Ray is where 80% of the issues you’ll be capturing, show up.
The conversations are:
Enlightening
Rich
Emotional
Fun
Educational
Revealing
Intense
It’s worth your time to help a business owner solve the Non-Negotiable Rules for their stage of growth While the X-Ray allows the business owner and his/her team to do a deep dive into their current NNRs and the two earlier stages of growth, you can also engage a business owner in a conversation centered around their NNRs.
If you are meeting with a Stage 3 business owner, here are a series of questions you can become curious about in order to 1) get a conversation going and 2) help that business owner drill down into areas that need their attention.
RULE #1: DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY TO CAPABLE SUPERVISORS AND MEET WITH THEM REGULARLY. • Have you appointed a supervisory team and do you meet with them weekly? • At these meetings, do you delegate, track and review specific authority and responsibility to each supervisor? • Have you identified and developed a company-wide daily key indicator system?
RULE #2: CREATE A FINANCIAL REPORTING AND PROJECTION SYSTEM. • Have you organized your profit and loss statement based on revenue groups? • Have you developed a weekly cash flow report? • Do you have a profit plan and are you reviewing it monthly with key employees?
RULE #3: INSTILL A TEAM-BASED MINDSET THROUGHOUT THE COMPANY. • Have you created a team credo? • Have you outlined clear roles and responsibilities for all team members? • Have you identified the values that will drive behavior and instill accountability?
RULE #4: OVERHAUL THE BUSINESS MODEL. • Have you challenged all assumptions regarding vision, mission, goals, objectives and strategies of the company? • Do you regularly challenge all assumptions about the customer, the competition, the market and your company’s offerings? • Are you focused on reorganizing the company’s resources to meet the new business design conclusions?
RULE #5: WITHOUT FAIL, CLARIFY AND STRENGTHEN ANY AND ALL COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES. • Do you clearly communicate the goals and direction of the company to all employees? • Have you established and demonstrated the company’s core guiding values, preferably with input from your employees? • Are you consistently meeting one-on-one with direct reports each week?
Getting focused on the right things at the right time leads to success for any leader of a growing organization. Getting an entire team of people focused on the right things at the right time is what separates good companies from great companies.
Our Stages of Growth X-Ray™ process provides the clarity a team needs to succeed. By helping a business owner understand the rules of the road for their stage of growth, you are providing them with solutions that will lead to improved profitability.
I’m thinking they would strongly appreciate your help! What are you waiting for? Have that conversation today!
I cover all of the Non-Negotiable Rules in my series of books on the 7 Stages of Growth. Looking for a gift for a client? Or a great resource?
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http://gcspecialists.com/products
Questions? I’m just an email or phone call away and I’m here to help.
Your success. My passion.
Laurie Taylor, FlashPoint!
