If your business has up-and-down cash flow, it’s easy to be resigned saying “that’s the state of the economy” or “that’s just the way our business is.”
That resignation can quickly turn into apathy. There are many definitions for apathy, but generally it is a state of indifference and the feelings of powerlessness to change. For small business owners, this state of indifference can ruin a small business in record time.
One thing is certain, you have a present and a future. Everything in between is the process. So even though your present situation may not be where you want it to be, there’s good news. You can change it.
As a business leader, you can disappear apathy by powerfully choosing courage even in the face of adversity. Emotional courage also allows you look at how you, as a business leader, are responsible for your current reality. It is natural to be disappointed at business ventures that didn’t pan out or get concerned at a dip in cash flow.
Successful leaders, however, choose in any moment how long they will listen to the negative conversations in their head or choose to acknowledge their role in the break down and take an action to move beyond the current situation.
I have the privilege to mentor highly successful business owners and have noticed that effective business owners make powerful choices. What makes them and their choices powerful is taking complete responsibility. Then, addressing what was missing.
The great thing about playing in that realm of accountability is that if you don’t like where you are, you can change it. It allows you to courageously explore what it is that’s missing that could make a difference instead of spending energy on looking for a way out, someone to blame or making someone wrong (so you can be right).
Whenever there is a cash flow conversation with a client, the first step is that the business owner looks at their role in being accountable. Second, we look at what is missing. Almost every time, what was missing didn’t occur in that moment or that month. What is absent was missing 3-6 months earlier, like missing consistent marketing or a process. Had that process been implemented six months ago, they wouldn’t have the issue today.
You see, apathy is powerlessness amplified. When you own 100% responsibility, you create the opening for shifts to occur. It’s only after you take responsibility that your environment begins to transform.
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