Strategic Mindset Process®: Recent Episodes
Ahmed Abdulbaqi
A Proven Process To EnhanceYour Strategic Mindset & Results. Vist Thegrowthcoachsa.com for more resources.
There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.
− Christopher Morleythegrowthcoachsa.com
To succeed at getting your current customers to spend more with your
organization, more often, you must increase the “perceived value” of
what you offer. You must educate your customers so they desire your
products and services even more.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
− Epictetusthegrowthcoachsa.com
Giving up day-to-day control of a business is hard. Letting go of the reins can be scary. Delegating can be a challenge; however, to have more life and more fulfillment, you cannot do it all. Quit being a micro-manager or control freak. You must yield control to gain freedom.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
It’s time to begin building a better business, a better you, and a better life. It’s time to re-shape your thoughts and philosophies. It’s time to put joy back into your life and into owning a business. It’s time for you to rekindle the fire, passion, excitement and joy of owning a business.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Warning − this section contains advice aimed at those who sell
primarily to businesses, not to walk-in, public customers.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing.
− Dale Carnegiethegrowthcoachsa.com
As a leader, you are the keeper of reality and the seer of truth. One of
your primary tasks is to help define reality, to remove the blinders, to
expose blind spots and to reveal delusions.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
True leaders care about their people and their on-the-job education and
development. Make sure you have a fair, annual performance review
process in place. Employees crave feedback on how they are
performing. When it comes to your employees, view yourself as an
educator and developer of people. Make sure they know your system
as well as your expectations for their roles and responsibilities within
it.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Hire for talent, not just resume data. Be sure to hire emotionally
engaged people, people with passion in their eyes and fire in their gut.
Match their talent to the position – again, help them to be successful.
Don’t hesitate to use personal assessment tests to better understand the
aptitudes, attitudes and talents of potential employees.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Bottom line, to be successful at winning new customers and clients,
you need to be perceived as being different, special and better. You
cannot afford to be viewed as a commodity. Commodity companies
are paid commodity prices and fees. There is tremendous power and
profits in being perceived as unique, different and better.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Don’t underestimate the need to satisfy and retain customers. Most
businesses put too much money, time and effort into chasing new
customers/prospects and far too few resources trying to keep their
current ones.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
What is marketing? First, it’s about deeply understanding the needs
and wants of your customers and providing them with greater value.
You must clearly identify the demand in the marketplace.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
As leader, know that you set the tone, pace, environment and
personality of your company. By your consistent actions, you establish
what the company values and what gets rewarded. You lead by
example and to a large extent, shape the culture of your organization.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Trust is the fabric that holds a company together. If people do not trust
you, they will not trust your vision or strategies. You are doomed. If
you lose your character and reputation, you will have lost everything.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Too many leaders do not hold their people accountable for reaching
established goals or performance standards. In my opinion, such lack
of accountability is one of the deadliest business mistakes.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
You cannot reach your vision and goals without the help of others.
Your greatest asset is people – the “right” people who share your
company’s values, ethics, personality, culture and vision.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
The best plans are straightforward documents that spell out
the who, what, where, why and how much.
− Paula NelsonThegrowthcoachsa.com
You must have a handle on the numbers. At all times, you should know
the financial health and trends of your organization. You must
constantly look for ways to grow revenues and reduce costs.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Real leadership is rare; micro-management is too common. Stop trying
to play every darn instrument yourself and start conducting the
orchestra. If you don’t conduct, who will?
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
It’s been said that managers do things right and leaders do the right
things. The former is about efficiency the latter is about effectiveness.
It is easy to be busy but hard to work on the right things.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision,
passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to
completion.
− Jack Welch, former CEO of General ElectricThegrowthcoachsa.com
Look around your business. Whatever you like and dislike about your
business and personal life is because of you. Whatever your business
has become or failed to become is because of you. As the business
owner, whether you like it or not, you are the de facto leader.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
What does a good leader look like, sound like and do? There is not one
correct mold. Great leaders come in all shapes, sizes, voices and styles;
however, they all share a common outcome – they oversee important
achievements!
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Visualize this thing that you want. See it, feel it, believe in it.
Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.
− Robert Collierthegrowthcoachsa.com
• You are searching for the magic key that will unlock the door
to the source of power; and yet you have the key in your own
hands, and you may use it the moment you learn to control
your thoughts.
− Napoleon Hillthegrowthcoachsa.com
Daniel M. Murphy
Feed Your Dreams, Starve Your Fears.®
“Enhancing the strategic mindset, focus and results of small
business owners, franchise owners, leaders/managers, and selfemployed/sales professionals.”
thegrowthcoachsa.com
This podcast can help you to discover what you truly desire from life and
your business. After all, knowing who you are, what you want and
where you are going creates a powerful sense of purpose. Few owners
possess such clarity and confidence.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
It’s time to begin building a better business, a better you, and a better
life. It’s time to re-shape your thoughts and philosophies. It’s time to
put joy back into your life and into owning a business. It’s time for
you to rekindle the fire, passion, excitement and joy of owning a
business.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Giving up day-to-day control of a business is hard. Letting go of the
reins can be scary. Delegating can be a challenge; however, to have
more life and more fulfillment, you cannot do it all. Quit being a
micro-manager or control freak. You must yield control to gain
freedom.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
For many of you, you are also struggling to balance running a business
with raising a family and nurturing a marriage or significant
relationship. As a result, you are exhausted from treading water in a
sea of multiple responsibilities, obligations and expectations.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
In order to build a systems-dependent business that functions without
you, you must think of yourself as separate from the business. You are
not your business and your business is not you. View your business as
a means to an end, a tool to help you create more fulfillment, freedom,
wealth and options.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Stop the delusions; you will not live forever. Right now, you are using
up your life force, and time is running out. You cannot save time,
invest it or buy more of it; you can only “spend” it. How wisely are
you spending your time?
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Warning − this section contains advice aimed at those who sell
primarily to businesses, not to walk-in, public customers.
To devote more time and attention to your best opportunities and
customers, you need to adopt a selective mindset.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
To succeed at getting your current customers to spend more with your
organization, more often, you must increase the “perceived value” of
what you offer. You must educate your customers so they desire your
products and services even more.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Bottom line, to be successful at winning new customers and clients,
you need to be perceived as being different, special and better. You
cannot afford to be viewed as a commodity.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Don’t underestimate the need to satisfy and retain customers. Most
businesses put too much money, time and effort into chasing new
customers/prospects and far too few resources trying to keep their
current ones.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
What is marketing? First, it’s about deeply understanding the needs
and wants of your customers and providing them with greater value.
You must clearly identify the demand in the marketplace.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
As leader, know that you set the tone, pace, environment and
personality of your company. By your consistent actions, you establish
what the company values and what gets rewarded. You lead by
example and to a large extent, shape the culture of your organization.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Trust is the fabric that holds a company together. If people do not trust
you, they will not trust your vision or strategies.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
True leaders care about their people and their on-the-job education and
development. Make sure you have a fair, annual performance review
process in place.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Too many leaders do not hold their people accountable for reaching
established goals or performance standards. In my opinion, such lack
of accountability is one of the deadliest business mistakes.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Hire for talent, not just resume data. Be sure to hire emotionally
engaged people, people with passion in their eyes and fire in their gut.
Match their talent to the position – again, help them to be successful.
Don’t hesitate to use personal assessment tests to better understand the
aptitudes, attitudes and talents of potential employees.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
You cannot reach your vision and goals without the help of others.
Your greatest asset is people – the “right” people who share your
company’s values, ethics, personality, culture and vision.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
A good plan is like a road map: it shows the final destination and usually marks the best way to get there.
− H. Stanley Judd
The best plans are straightforward documents that spell out the who, what, where, why and how much.
− Paula Nelson
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
− Stephen A. Brennenthegrowthcoachsa.com
Followers want their leaders to be bold, focused and decisive. You
have to make things happen! Do not get caught in the “ready, aim, aim,
aim” loop.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
You must have a handle on the numbers. At all times, you should know
the financial health and trends of your organization. You must
constantly look for ways to grow revenues and reduce costs. You must
understand income statements, balance sheets and cash flow
statements and what they are telling you. Do not try to manage your
business by gut instinct; the numbers never lie.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision,
passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to
completion.
− Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Look around your business. Whatever you like and dislike about your
business and personal life is because of you. Whatever your business
has become or failed to become is because of you. As the business
owner, whether you like it or not, you are the de facto leader. Your
business is what it is, where it is, and how it is because of you. Period.
You are the leader. You are 100% responsible.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
What does a good leader look like, sound like and do? There is not one
correct mold. Great leaders come in all shapes, sizes, voices and styles;
however, they all share a common outcome – they oversee important
achievements!
thegrowthcoachsa.com
It’s been said that managers do things right and leaders do the right things. The former is about efficiency the latter is about effectiveness. It is easy to be busy but hard to work on the right things. Leaders must focus on doing the right things − those matters crucial to the success of the company. In short, effective leaders must drive the focus of the organization. Leaders must channel the time, talent, energy and resources of the organization to tackle key priorities and goals.
Owners must constantly ask, “What’s Important Now (WIN)?”
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Real leadership is rare; micro-management is too common. Stop trying
to play every darn instrument yourself and start conducting the
orchestra. If you don’t conduct, who will?
thegrowthcoachsa.com
If you learn nothing else from this book, fully understand and
appreciate that leadership is everything to the success of an
organization, whether it be a business, house of worship, political
party, school, sports team, non-profit or a volunteer organization.
Leadership is the heart and soul of an organization. As the leadership
goes, so goes the organization. Your business is no different. More
important to your company’s success than intelligence quotient (IQ)
will be your LQ – Leadership Quotient!
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Shaping Your Business Now to be Sold LaterDuring the early phase of business development or re-engineering,
your brainpower and sweat equity should go into the design and
creation of your business model and business systems – not into micromanaging. Spend time developing systems and performance standards
early on so you can concentrate on leading later.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Shaping Your Business Now to be Sold LaterAgain, your ultimate objective is to identify and document your
company’s key processes and practices in order to develop an
operations manual/recipe for your employees to follow. In the end,
you want to supply current and future employees with a detailed user’s
manual with job descriptions, roles, responsibilities and expectations
clearly spelled out.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Shaping Your Business Now to be Sold LaterNow that we have thoroughly discussed the importance of thinking
and acting like a CEO, it is time for you to become a sculptor – to mold
your business to run more efficiently, effectively and consistently.
Don’t let your business evolve haphazardly and reactively. Proactively
shape or reform it to make for smoother operations, consistent
customer satisfaction and profitable results. You must turn chaos,
confusion and anarchy into order and discipline. It is time to
standardize and document your business.thegrowthcoachsa.com
As a CEO, you need to elevate your mindset and obsess about getting
more from your current resources and efforts. You must ask yourself
and others better questions, such as, “How can our business garner
greater results from every action and expenditure we make, every
effort we expend, and every relationship we have?” Avoid status quo
like a deadly virus. You must embrace fully the philosophy, “Good
enough never is.”
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Allow me to get in your face for a moment. Wake up! You own a
business, not a job! You are the owner, not another employee! Most
companies are over-managed and grossly under-led. Start leading!
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Education literally means, “to change within.” Please be open to let
this book educate and change you, especially some of your business
assumptions and beliefs. All meaningful progress is the result of
change. By changing your mindsets and habits (repeated behavior),
you change your life.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Instead of working on their businesses, most owners are trapped
working in their businesses, slaving away and grinding it out. Instead
of working on tomorrow, they are preoccupied with working in today.
They end up majoring in minor things. They worry about office
supplies instead of office processes. They focus on accounting details
instead of holding their employees accountable. They worry about the
company’s vision plan instead of planning the company’s vision. They
react with short-term, short-lived fixes instead of proactively creating
long-term solutions. They fixate on their mail, email, social media or
phone calls instead of communicating their expectations to their key
managers or employees.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Before we start solving your issues, we need to examine the basic
causes of business owner bondage. What are the common traps? How
do the chains get tighter and tighter?
thegrowthcoachsa.com
To maintain freedom, independence and fulfillment as your business
grows, you must cultivate your effective leadership skills and
operating systems.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
With nearly four decades of experience interacting with hundreds of
entrepreneurs from a range of industries and running my own
businesses, I have learned with absolute clarity that your goal as a
business owner should be to design a company that is distinct from
you and quite candidly, works in your absence. You should create a
separate cash flow entity, not merely a job for yourself.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
If you answered “yes” to most of the questions in our previous episode, don’t feel guilty,
ashamed or embarrassed. You are not alone. Most owners have never
learned to be strategic. Role models are scarce. As such, dysfunctional
businesses and owners are the rule, not the exception.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
You will discover the success system in this podcast is a practical and
no-nonsense guide that comes from the collective success, pain
and lessons of others.
The wisdom captured here emanates from my
personal business successes and failures, along with the struggles and
triumphs of the many clients I have served over the years.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of
himself.
− Abraham Maslow
Over the years, I have worked with countless entrepreneurs and
learned that people will not make the changes necessary to improve
their life and business unless they are held accountable.
thegrowthcoachsa.com
Points to Ponder
- Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.
− Thomas Jefferson
- Nothing about ourselves can be changed until it is first accepted.
− Sheldon Kopp
- The first and best victory is to conquer self.
− Plato
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
It is no accident you are here. Out of either inspiration or
desperation, you are seeking alternative approaches to business and
life. Your current beliefs, habits and actions are not yielding the results
you want – you desire greater success, peace of mind and joy
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Let me begin by asking you some revealing questions. As a business
owner, can you walk away from your business today and come back a
month later to find it operating smoothly and profitably? Can you
escape for even two weeks? Have you ever had a work-free vacation?
If you answered “No,” you don’t have a successful business; you have
a glorified job in which you are trapped! You don’t have an effective
operating system; you are the operating system! You are a prisoner of
your own making.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Let me begin by asking you some revealing questions. As a business
owner, can you walk away from your business today and come back a
month later to find it operating smoothly and profitably? Can you
escape for even two weeks? Have you ever had a work-free vacation?
If you answered “No,” you don’t have a successful business; you have
a glorified job in which you are trapped! You don’t have an effective
operating system; you are the operating system! You are a prisoner of
your own making.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Let me begin by asking you some revealing questions. As a business
owner, can you walk away from your business today and come back a
month later to find it operating smoothly and profitably? Can you
escape for even two weeks? Have you ever had a work-free vacation?
If you answered “No,” you don’t have a successful business; you have
a glorified job in which you are trapped! You don’t have an effective
operating system; you are the operating system! You are a prisoner of
your own making.
Thegrowthcoachsa.com