Braving the Seasons of Your Business

Ayla Narayan, Fortune Management, Executive Coach

Every year we watch as the seasons come and go. The realization that the first half of 2024 is now over and all we can do is take a deep dive and analyze, could evoke complicated feelings for some business owners. Did we measure up to our best selves? Were our goals in line with what is “realistic”? While it is understandable that many of us ask these types of questions, I would encourage us to ask even better questions as we do our analysis. And analyze we must.

Speaking to those who are dreading this particular task or meeting, I hope to encourage you. The metrics are part of a story. If you are not meeting your goals, the story you are telling yourself about that is just as important as the metrics themselves. First, use a powerful question in order to remove focus from the negative story. We receive the results that we focus on. If it’s a story about not having the right team or enough resources like technology or how insurance is determined to fail the smaller practices, that is the result you will inevitably speak into reality. Instead, try to ask one or all of these questions of yourself as the CEO and of your team as well:

• Am I being the leader my team needs?
• What did we do as a team that did make an impact?
• How can we amplify that for the next 3 months?
• Have we committed to the right goals?

The secondary questions are about the future. We hope that you and your team are working towards hitting your goals for the end of the year. The good news is, you have three-quarters of the year left to achieve your greatest year yet!

• How can we use our current talents to make an even greater impact?
• What workshops or continuing education are we going to add to our schedule?
• What projects do we have outlined for Q3 and Q4 that we can adjust or amplify with the information that we have collected from Q1 and Q2?

That last question about adjustments is arguably the most important. At Fortune, we teach the Ultimate Success Formula. As part of your next meeting, I challenge you to utilize the tool and adjust. For your reference and benefit, see the full article on the Fortune Northeast blog here https://www.fortunenortheast.com/blog/.

Step five of the formula is “CHANGE YOUR APPROACH UNTIL YOU GET THE DESIRED RESULT.”  This is a matter of fine tuning. Follow the projects, continue the source meetings, and don’t give up on the day-to-day tasks that make all the difference. Don’t be afraid to adjust, early and often. Knowing how to enlist your team in being a part of the solution is a learned skill; one a coach could help you with.

Our job as coaches is to remind you that what you are doing is a brave and noble thing. To conclude, my genuine belief is that goals are meant to be lofty; meant to challenge us and push us. This means that we risk not meeting them all the way. The true goal is to be better than yesterday and to continue on a path of constant and never-ending improvement. The review process is a crucial component of any plan. We see time and again; how many doctors avoid this process and instead choose to “wing-it’. They ignore the evidence of an underperforming team because they don’t know what to do with that information. Good leaders don’t become so by leading with denial. They have likely had help and been dedicated to the process of growth.

Reach out to us and we are happy to help you ask the questions to review the first quarter and get even better success in the future. Register here and one of our amazing coaches will get back to you. https://lp.fortunenortheast.com/schedule