The Business Leader as Ultramarathoner

Have you ever heard of an ultramarathon? A standard marathon is just over 26 miles. An ultramarathon is usually on the order of 50 or 100 miles, though there are some that span one thousand! Imagine the endurance required to run such a race.

Running a business requires the kind of devotion and stamina that ultramarathoners can only dream about. Like the 100-mile runner, the successful business leader must maintain focus, keeping an eye on the path...on the mileposts that mark progress...and on the long-range goal.

Unlike an ultramarathoner, your long-distance business run ends only when you leave the business by choice or when it dies an unnatural death. For in business the real success lies in creating something you can live with for the long haul, a crucible into which you can mix your creative vision and talents to build something unique and useful.

Keeping Stakeholders Focused

It's critical to your success to help your stakeholders stay focused, too. A good business delivers value to employees, customers, investors, and the community in roughly equal measure. Lose focus in any of those areas and you can find yourself headed for a business train wreck.

What happens when a business and its stakeholders lose focus? I recently observed a group of people at one company meeting to discuss the project manager's dissatisfaction with pink bubble wrap.

Eight people spent one hour in a meeting to talk about why bubble wrap had to be pink. Was that meeting necessary? Of course not. The focusing question to ask is: Does this meeting deliver real value to business stakeholders? Is it lined up with the business' principles and what it does consistently well?

Best intentions aside, such meetings are indicative of deeper problems that have gone ignored for a long time.

How Many Bubble Wrap Meetings Can You Afford?

In larger companies the symptoms of a loss of focus can go on for years. The systemic problems that occur in such situations develop gradually. Unless you are paying attention, you hardly notice them until they reach an almost ridiculous peak.

In smaller businesses, though, the results of defocusing can be catastrophic. They come upon you quickly like potholes in the road because you are moving at high speed. Before you know it you're sitting at the roadside, wondering what happened.

If you are going to avoid such problems, you must take action ahead of time. You must begin before the beginning.

Paying Attention Before the Beginning

During a business' startup phase, well before launch, founders and leaders must take the time to get conscious about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Smart leaders create answers to questions like:

• What is our business about?
• Who are we as a business?
• What do we believe about the right way to conduct business?
• What sort of relationships do we want to have with our customers, employees, investors, and the community?
• What is our company's unique value to its stakeholders?
• What is the unique value that our product or service brings to solving customer problems?

The time you make to answer such questions is repaid a thousandfold as your business grows. Be fanatical about indoctrinating your staff, employees, investors, customers, and the community about your principles and what you do consistently well. Do so in terms they can relate to: Employees: Focus on delivering the value of what you do consistently well to those you serve. Make sure they KNOW who you serve and teach them how to be customer advocates. Reward such advocacy. Make sure they understand the value your business delivers to each stakeholder.

Customers: Create a communication strategy that connects intimately with those you serve. SHOW the value of your focus -- don't tell, because talk is cheap. Build relationships that feed improvements to existing products and services, and get your customers involved in creating new ones.

Investors: Keep them informed about your progress. Speak the truth clearly. Hide nothing. Act ethically. Plan for the long term (even if you personally want to take an early exit).

Community: Be involved as a good community member. Pick a cause that's congruent with what you do and support it with passion. Show the community you'll be there for the long term.

Your Courage and Devotion Set the Tone

Above all, have the courage and devotion to keep yourself focused. There is no stronger example than that of your own life. Do your best to be the sort of person you want others in your company to be. For they will look to you as the model for acceptable behavior, values, and creative passion.

It's your race. Run it well!

Michael Knowles, co-author of The Entrepreneur's Concept Assessment Toolbook (http://www.booklocker.com/books/1988.html) helps businesses take what they do best and focus it on success. A Principal in One Straight Line LLC, Michael has over 25 years of experience helping companies create communication strategies help them engage customers, employees, investors, outsourcing partners, and the community. Michael can be reached at mknowles@onestraightline.com.

____________________

Advertisement: Honest Riches - Click Here!

Advertisement: Lost AdWords - Click Here!

Advertisement: Get $1 Million A Month In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free! - Click Here!

Advertisement: Who Loves Money? - Click Here!

Advertisement: SEO Elite, the GrandDaddy of SEO Software - Click Here!

---

Starting Your Business By The Book

I've gotten several questions recently about the legalities of starting a business. So, this week I thought I would address a few of the more common legal... Read More

Secrets of My Favorite Government Auction

I love bargains. And there's no better place to find bargains than an auction. And there are no better auctions than government surplus auctions. My favorite government... Read More

Salon Marketing Using Wireless Broadband Internet Access

Our client in Chicago did, located right outside downtown too...a right competitive area. Everbody's looking for some kind of edge and we found it for them. Want... Read More

Street Smarts Vs Book Smarts, What Does It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur

The latest series in "The Apprentice" features 2 distinct group of candidates. One group, who are only high school graduates are termed as "Street Smarts" by Donald... Read More

5 TIPS for Home-Based Business Entrepreneurs

Have you ever heard that only a small part (5%) of 'all' Home-Based Business entrepreneurs achieve success?Do an online research on your favorite Search Engine and you... Read More

PR That Entrepreneurs Often Overlook

If that sounds like you, here's what you may be missing once the new enterprise is launchedPublic relations that really does something about the behaviors of those... Read More

Fear of Failure

Of all the real or perceived impediments to success, the biggest is the fear of failure. Certainly, there are often many other obstacles to overcome, but it... Read More

Youve Found Your Guru, Now What?

In my last article, "Follow That Guru", I told you about the one (1) simple technique I used when starting my home business, "A Name".Now everyone wants... Read More

Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur?

Q: I am interested in starting my own business. I have a business degree and lots of experience in my chosen field, but I don't know if... Read More

Needs Versus Wants For Entrepreneurs

How often do the words "I need" come out of your mouth, as it relates to your business? When you run your own company, it's easy to... Read More

The Heroic Entrepreneur: Profiting from Your Brilliance

If you look up the definition of hero in Webster's, you'll find a definition something like, 'A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose,... Read More

Franchises - A Proven Business System

Franchises offer the first time business owner a proven and successful business opportunity. If you are looking to start your own business for the first time, franchises... Read More

Focus is the Key to a Successful Startup

The definition of a startup means you have very few resources to employ and little time to get them to do something valuable. The clock is always... Read More

The Entrepreneurs Dilemma

In business, you plan to protect your inventory, your unique ideas and approach, and your money. It's easy to replenish inventory, come up with new ideas and... Read More

Evaluating an Opportunity

Business opportunities are often based on broad trends, such as:? demographic, such as the "graying" of America (creating opportunities in health services, for example);? sociological developments, like... Read More

How To Find Hot Online Business Ideas

Would you like to find the key that unlocks the door to a gold-mine of online response, sales and results for your business?It seems obvious that you... Read More

Be an Entrepreneur

The Department of Labor predicts that the #1 employer in 2010 will be "self." A recent Internet poll of 25-44 year olds revealed that 90% of them... Read More

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur?

Print off this page, take the quiz and find out if you've got what it takes! See the scale at the bottom to mark yourself.Answer the following... Read More

Health Insurance for Solo Entrepreneurs

One of the most important benefits employed people enjoy is health insurance coverage. It is also the single most costly expense for self-employed entrepreneurs. So what can... Read More

7 Lean Marketing Laws For The Inspired Entrepreneur

The following laws will provide guidance on how to act,think and work in a lean way. You can apply these laws toall areas of your life, work... Read More

When Your Business Feels Like an Arranged Marriage

Q. I was laid off six months ago. Jobs in my field are scarce so I moved to a new town to start a home business. People... Read More

Entrepreneurial Excerpt from a Speech to Small Business

Having built a business from a bucket of water and sponge, which started over 25 years ago in a National Franchise chain in 23 states, I feel... Read More

Profile of Women Leaders

Leadership is based on two words, "pressure and support"and that the leadership is the power to influence people to move in a direction that you believe in... Read More

Abstract Business Marketing Strategy for the Entrepreneur

If you look at those Corporations in franchising today you see the great companies that use these systems to move markets and deliver products and services to... Read More

Franchises-Exit Strategy

At an International Franchising Symposium in London, Peter Holt made the bold statement to his audience of Franchisors that they needed to understand that their business would... Read More

What It Takes To be An Entrepreneur Series: Action

Many people have the professed desire to be their own boss, start their own business ecetera, ecetera...Trouble is, how many people actually take the steps necessary to... Read More