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Stop Asking For Permission To Grow
Business owners who are not confident enough to make decisions on their own, will never actualize their true potential. By needing to run everything past your team, you are looking for a scapegoat so you don’t have to play a bigger game.
When you come across an idea that you like and you want to move forward with, why would you not? I speak with business owners all the time that have growth goals that are not being actualized because their team isn’t on the same page. The only time this occurs is when you allow them to prevent progress. If you want to do something, if you want to grow, if you want to take the next steps, and your team decides that it would require more work than they’re prepared to put in, you have to ask yourself, what are the true goals of the organization? Are we looking to grow? Are we looking to maintain? Or are we looking not to survive? Your team will take leadership cues from you, but if you keep asking them for permission to grow, you will alienate your top performers, and give a voice mediocrity.
POINT 1
Indecisiveness is the mark of a weak leader.
You have to understand the impact of not only your decisions, but also how you arrived at those decisions. Remember, indecisiveness is weakness. Your team will see your indecision and interpret it as your lack of commitment to your goals. Once they see that, how can they possibly operate with conviction? You tell them you want to grow, and they need to work harder to hit revenue goals, but then not ten minutes later your fear prevents you from making the right decision for the organization because the team was apprehensive. Well, not only did you let fear dictate your decision making, but you also did it by way of committee. You just told them you are not committed to your goals, and that you don’t run the company. How can you expect them to trust you and lead them into battle?
CONCLUSION
The reality is, this is your organization. You don’t need to ask for anyone’s permission to grow. If your team does not want to grow, you have the wrong team. That doesn’t mean you have to fire everyone, you just need to realign their focus and explain to them that your growth goals need to be their growth goals, and that that is a non-negotiable. Before you find yourself in a position where you feel you need to speak to your team, you should ensure that the organization’s mission and vision are appropriately aligned. Everyone needs to be on the same page and the goal needs to be crystal clear. Once you have that, then when you’re in a situation where you need to make a decision, you don’t have to ask for permission the only thing you need to ask yourself is: Does this line up with our company’s vision and will this help us achieve our goals? If the answer is yes, then you move forward. If the answer is no, then you don’t move forward. But either way, you can operate with conviction knowing that you have team alignment. This allows for transparent communication, strong leadership, and decisive action.
