I’m Too Busy

I’m Too Busy!

By David Saxe, BBA, CPA. CA, CBC  – Business Performance Specialist

As an Executive Team coach and facilitator that focuses on accountability, I am absolutely unwavering to start and end my full day strategic planning sessions on time.  I train my clients to commit to holding their leadership team meetings every week, on the same day of the week, at the same time of the day, starting on time, ending on time and following the same agenda.  All other activities should work around this agenda.  Leadership teams should never fail to hold their weekly meeting.  It’s no different than financial planners advising their clients to save a certain percentage of their pay checks first, then budgeting for what’s left after the savings are safely in the bank.

One particular client contacted me a couple of years ago, asking if I could meet with him because his company seemed to have hit the wall and was not progressing.  Sales were stagnant, profits were declining and he was frustrated with his employees.  We tried for several months to meet, but he was always too busy.  He confessed that he really needed my assistance, but he just needed a little more time to get things under control before he could find the time to meet me.  I finally insisted on meeting him for an early breakfast on a Saturday morning.

Once pinned down, he confessed:  “I’m working far too hard because my employees are not working efficiently, they have to redo some jobs, they take too much time off when I need them the most and quite frankly, their attitudes stink.”

We spent the next hour discussing his need to slow down long enough to focus on improving his situation.  We talked about the right people in the right seats doing the right tasks.  Each employee should have a benchmark performance measurement to focus on and weekly senior management team meetings should be scheduled to focus on identifying and solving their business challenges.  I assured him that once we got started, he could then delegate many of the tasks he was currently performing to his very capable employees and could start enjoying life again.

We pulled out our calendars and inked in each of our Traction, Vision and Team Building sessions in advance so nothing would interfere with his efforts to get a grip on his business.  He needed to slow down long enough to identify and solve his problems so he could focus on running his business instead of his business running him.

Over the past two years, he has taken two extended vacations, he takes long weekend golf trips and he takes time off to spend with his family.  He stopped long enough to change his square wheels to round ones.  His business has never been more profitable and his staff have never been happier.

At you too busy to improve your business?  Square or spinning wheels rarely gain traction.

David Saxe, BBA, CPA, CA, CBC

Authorized Partner – The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™

Certified Ownership Thinking™ Facilitator

Base Camp Trained EOS implementer

David has over 40 years of hands on business experience and is the Chief Coaching Officer at Next Level Business Planning.  The firm provides leadership teams with the tools, training and skills to build high performance, productive teams within their businesses organizations.  David has a passion for working with leadership teams to help them create a laser-focused vision and provide the tools, training and traction to achieve that vision.   He also helps to create a culture of engagement and accountability to maximize efficiency and profitability by training employees to think and act like owners.  David can be reached at david@nextlevelbusinessplanning.com.