I watched him. This entrepreneur who I highly respect. He’s built a wonderful business. I’ve known him since the very beginning, nearly 10 years ago when all he and his co-founder had was a dream and little to show for it. But they hustled, and grinded, and sweated, and sacrificed everything, from comfort to relationships, because they believed they were on to something. Things are good now. Money is coming in. They have a team now. A big team. They have clients, and jobs, and a swanky office and all other signs of SME success.

Earlier in the year he came to me and said he felt stuck. How, I wondered. From the look of things, all was rosy! No Alex, we are stuck, he said. We need to break past the ceiling that’s been our reality for 3 years now. We need to expand, but to do that we need better structures and a better culture. I want to join your Leadership programme. I think I need to change my mindset for me to lead better through the next stage of our growth, he said.

I was elated. I had tried to recruit them into our Leadership Academy in 2022, but that didn’t pan out. It’s one thing to tell someone they need help. It’s a different thing when they tell you they need help. And so he joined the class. Step one completed.

He started off well. We kicked off with a two day event, with workshops across various aspects of business growth that every business leader needs to appreciate. He attended the first session brilliantly. Coffee in hand, fully present. Second session, even better. He left halfway through the third session, and didn’t make it back the second day. Why? Busy. Some meetings that he just couldn’t afford to miss. I got it. Faced with the choice of sitting in a room for two days, or closing in on the next big deal, he chose the latter.

Now if you are reading this, you are probably thinking, but why did he sign up for the program if he wasn’t going to commit to the process? Isn’t this symptomatic of what is happening at his company? Where people are busy doing everything but never taking a healthy pause to ask if they are doing the right things? Could this be the reason the business has stagnated? Well, I don’t know, maybe you are right, maybe you are not. And do you think this bright, successful business owner doesn’t know this?

Before you get too high on a judgemental high horse, which of the following scenarios apply to you?

  1. I know I need to eat right, but I still indulge in junk food
  2. I know I need to exercise, but I can’t remember when I last broke a sweat
  3. I know I need to watch my state of mind, but I pay no attention to wellness activities like meditation, deep prayer, worship, therapy etc
  4. I know I should have better work life balance, but I still work crazy hours and give little to no time to my loved ones
  5. I know the way to stay productive is not to do more, it’s to know when to do less and when to do more, but I still get bogged down by endless to do lists
  6. I know communication is important in relationships, but I still cling to my title of the king/queen of silent treatment.

And on an on the list goes. We are still in resolution season, people professing how they will change this, start that, do less of this and get the courage to go after that. And that’s all great, I have those too, because you have to start with an intent for you to make meaningful change in your life. But after that, what system do you put in place to turn that intent into Action? Every time you come to that figurative junction where left is the habit you wish to break and right is the habit you wish to acquire, have you installed a cop at that junction who ensures you go right?

A personal example: I’m king of the snooze button. I will aspire to wake up early so I can do some reading, or extended time of prayer, but 6am comes and my finger miraculously hits snooze before my brain has time to switch the right gear. So? I started putting the phone out of reach, where I actually have to walk to reach it. And with my wife sleeping next to me, that becomes a frantic jump out of bed so I don’t interrupt her. She does not respond well to having her sweet sleep intruded upon. Amid all that rush, my neocortex has kicked in, and I can remember why I wanted to wake up earlier in the first place. It’s not a 100% fool proof system, but 8 out of 10 times it works, which is a quantum leap from my past track record.

Another personal example: Ever since realised that Multitasking is the biggest productivity lie ever invented, i’ve been on a mission to train myself to focus on one thing at a time. If i’m in a meeting (virtual or physical), then that’s all i’m doing. If i’m eating lunch, then that’s all i’m doing, no phones, no computers nothing, just me, and food. If i’m taking a stroll, my phone is left behind at the house. If i’m talking to someone, then they have my full attention, no distractions. This has been a big one, with many many junctions. The simplest one was I started eating my lunch in the dining room like royalty. I set out my plate, my cup, I sit, and for the next 20 minutes, all i’m doing is eating. Thing is, once you nurture this muscle in one activity, it’s so easy to do it elsewhere. That muscle has helped me become a better listener, which consequently has helped improve communication with my wife, my kids, my family, my colleagues etc.

In the same leadership workshop was another entrepreneur, enjoying a similar if not higher level of success as the fellow above. He and his partner sat through every session for the two days, actively participating, taking notes, asking questions, basically milking every cent of the money they had paid to be here. At the end of the second day, I asked them where that discipline had come from. One of them looked at me and said, ‘I used to be a psychotic worker, always up and about like a wasp, never really anywhere. It took time for me to realise that I could do everything and still accomplish very little’. Which reminded me of one my favourite one liners, ‘Do Not Confuse Noise with Momentum’.