Do you wake up excited for the business day ahead? Do you relish the opportunities you'll have to use your unique skills, live your purpose, and contribute by making a positive impact on your company and your customers? If that doesn't exactly sum it up for you, you may not be playing your ideal role in your own business. Quite the opposite, you may be doing something you think you have to do, instead of what you are naturally meant to do.
In last week's article, "Consciously Designing Your Ideal Business," I discussed how to design your ideal business--the one that expresses your passion and purpose, solves the problems and meets the needs of your customers, and generates expanding profits. Your ideal business is the one that makes the positive impact that you find joy and fulfillment providing. This week, we'll explore your ideal role in your business--the one you are best suited for and find the most enjoyable.
We each have specific skills and interests. Think of your natural skills, or strengths, as ones you do easily, with little effort. They seem to fit who you are because they feel natural to you. Now, it's certainly possible to work outside your skills and interests. In fact, that happens all too often. However, doing so will generally not give you the most pleasure, nor will it be in the best interests of your business. If you want your highest ROI, both financially and in terms of your fulfillment, you must use your natural strengths in your role within your business.
What are your natural strengths?
For example, if you are a naturally outgoing people-person, it's probably not best for you to spend your time stuck at a computer writing reports, analyzing data, or crunching numbers. If you are a natural introvert who loves to write, program, and handle accounting, you may not be the best person to be generating leads, making sales, giving presentations, or closing deals.
Of course, there are exceptions, but, in general, your ideal role is closely related to your natural strengths. Some people are great at making sales, some do the paperwork, some inspire and lead the team, some court investors, and so on. . .
If you are trying to do it all or are doing things you are not particularly good at, your business is going to suffer--probably significantly. That may be one of the biggest reasons a business struggles--it has the wrong people, in the wrong positions, doing the wrong tasks. This leads to job dissatisfaction and poor performance as well as interpersonal conflict within your organization and with your customers.
Narrow your role to what you enjoy doing--and do best!
When you are the owner of the business and intend to live the vision of making a difference--the bigger reason, the higher purpose, that you started your business--it's imperative that you examine your best role in your business. The place to begin putting the right person in the right role is with yourself. As an entrepreneur or business leader, it all starts with you.
It's imperative that you know what you are good at and what you like to do, so you can build your business role around that. Everything else should be delegated or outsourced, to others who are better at and enjoy doing those tasks. Once you've defined your ideal role, then you can define the other roles you need and find the right people for those roles on your team.
So, begin by defining your ideal role. What are you passionate about doing in your business? What are your greatest skills? When you imagine yourself in your business in three years, how do you imagine being involved? What would be your ideal business day?
Imagine living your ideal role.
Are you networking, leading your team, writing policies and procedures, designing new products, speaking, doing media interviews, marketing, talking to customers, making sales, or negotiating deals?
Once you've defined what you are good at and what you would enjoy doing, consider your leadership style. Do you prefer to be involved in everything, making all the major decisions, in a top-down chain of command? Or do you prefer working collaboratively, allowing others to make decisions in their areas of expertise?
What is your natural leadership style?
Identify your leadership style. Then consider what others in your business may need in terms of their own working styles. If how they want to work isn't compatible with your leadership style or how you want to define your own role, no matter how talented they may be, they may not be a good culture fit for you or your business. First and foremost, be true to yourself and what you want from your business. After all, one of the reasons you chose to be an entrepreneur was to have the life that you desired--at work and at home. Don't compromise.
Once you have defined your role and your leadership style, consider your ideal working environment and how you want to interact with others in your business. Do you want to go into an office every day? Do you like to have set hours? Do you enjoy working from home? Do you like to travel? How many hours do you want to work each week and how much time do you want to have off?
All of these questions represent real options. What would be ideal for you? Your current business setup may dictate certain parameters, at least as a starting place. You may have to create a time line and take a series of steps to fully shift from your current role to your ideal role. However, once you become clear about where you are heading, then you can commit to taking the necessary steps to get there.
It's your life - live it your way.
This is your life. You deserve to live it providing the service you were born to deliver in the way that makes you happy and builds a high-profit business. What if your ideal role in your ideal business actually supported your ideal life? What if you could have it all? What would your life, your business, and your ideal role in your business look like?
Notice how your ideal role might be different from the role you are currently playing. Make a list of any differences between your ideal role and your current role. If you could only choose one area to change, which would it be? Begin changing it this week.
I would love to hear how you are creating your ideal role in your business in our Discussion below.
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J V Crum III is the founder of ConsciousMillionaire.com; as a business coach, speaker, and podcaster, he is sought after for his unique ability to help conscious entrepreneurs get their voice out there, make a positive impact, and ramp up profits. Listen to the #1 Ranked Conscious Millionaire Podcast, M-F -Business Coaching for Conscious Entrepreneurs. J V holds an MBA, JD and a MS in Psychology; his best-selling book, "Conscious Millionaire: Grow Your Business by Making a Difference"is available now: http://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Millionaire-Business-Making-Difference/dp/0976719223/ref=tmm_pap_title_0