A growth mindset is a fundamental requirement for success. When facing challenges in your business it can be the difference between success and failure. A growth mindset allows you to see what’s possible instead of being stuck in the fear of failure.
Learning from other successful business leaders allows us to gain an insight to how we can fail forward in business. There are many great examples and Richard Branson and Elon Musk are the first to come to mind. Both are hugely successful and both have experienced many failures in order to be successful.
Everyday we should be learning from these masters, as well as the many businesses that surround us, including our own.
Have you ever failed? If so, how often? What have you learnt? Have you taken those lessons and used them to move forward in your business?
The best place to start is with you!
There are several key strategies I use with my clients to help them reflect so they can conquer failure and flourish. What separates the victors from the victims are the five decisions every business owner needs to make.
These five decisions include;
1. Growth Mindset
Stop denying yourself success. According to Prof Dweck, your “… most basic abilities and skills can be developed through dedication and hardwork – brains and talent are just the starting point.” This means that Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. You need to practice growth mindset thinking in order to get the very best out of yourself and others.
2. People
All leaders need great people to flourish – customers, investors, partners, advisors, suppliers, talent and above all their home network. These relationships are critical.
When you fail to deal with the relationship issues in your business and life, they will drain you and leave you with very little to expend on strategy, execution and cash.
3. Strategy
Articulating a clear and differentiated strategy is critical in good times and when navigating a storm. When it’s supported by a strong culture that delivers on the brand’s promise then you can scale with confidence.
Strategic thinking is the thinking before the plan! It takes disciplined people, with disciplined thought. When was the last time you took dedicated time out to work on your strategy?
4. Execution
Most people start with execution and most fail here too. The key to execution is taking action on your strategy and following a proven system to get results. When all your processes are running without drama and driving profitability then you know your entire organisation is executing.
Jim Collins in Great by Choice states, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely of conscious choice, and discipline.”
5. Cash
You must know your numbers and you don’t need to be a numbers person to understand them.
There are three financial statements you must learn;
- Balance Sheet
- Profit and Loss
- Cash Flow
Cash is king, although Gary Vee says content is king, I think both are equally king. However cash is oxygen that fuels your business growth.
For a business to flourish you need consistent sources of cash, generated internally to fuel the growth of your business.
How you think about cash and how you understand your numbers will determine your success.
If you take action on these 5 areas and your growth mindset, you will flourish in hard times.
Are you ready?
Then contact the Business Growth Mindset team to organise a free discussion about where you’re at, where you want to be and how to get there!
