“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is; “What are you doing for others?”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
The decision to have your own business is a feeling of freedom and fear blended together. On the one hand, we feel free. Free from the need and requirement of answering to people who we feel have the purpose of keeping us back, of keeping a lid on us. We are able to control our own destiny. We design our work day the way we desire. The results we achieve are from our efforts and our team we put together.
On the other hand, we need to meet payroll. We feel we have no one to turn to and speak with about our concerns or issues we are having with the business. We have to learn. We must continue to grow. We need to run our business, stay current, keep networking, know the competition, be a leader, know your numbers and more.
It has been said that companies in the software business must release their newest product when they are 70 percent to 80 percent ready. Put it out there and obtain feedback and then send out patches and newer versions. The theory and practice is – if you wait for perfection, it will never come, there will always be something else to fix or revise.
Where in your business are you seeking perfection? There are times when there is a learning curve. Who sets the time table? Where is the urgency to make certain the time to learn is not taking away the time to the market?
The best solution for a business owner to create accountability for themselves is to work with an executive coach on a regular basis. As the business owner you will have regularly scheduled meetings or phone calls where your specific areas of concern will be discussed. You will be called out on areas requiring urgency. A deep network may potentially be opened to you. You may be invited to join a roundtable. A roundtable made up of people just like you. Business owners who are dealing with similar challenges each day as you are everyday in your business.
You probably have heard the statement, “it is lonely at the top”, but it does not have to be this way. Anyone who feels this way is choosing to feel this way. The choice to create a relationship with an executive coach and possibly to join a roundtable are both examples of how to not be lonely at the top. Your executive coach will provide you with a confidential sounding board. Look at the best athletes as an example. Each of them, regardless of their sport, work with a coach to keep them sharp in their areas of expertise.
Mitch Tublin is an advance certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.
Great stuff, Mitch. My mom used to always say, “Never wait for the perfect time, it will never come.” Hiring a coach is a great way to ensure that you not only get things done, but you actually make things happen.
Yes, a coach working with someone is a great way to ‘prod’ one into taking action.
When one is hungry you are not worried the one piece of lettuce fell off the sandwich.
Waiting for perfection is a useless way to spend one’s valuable time.
Thanks, this just reiterates information at a conference that I recently attended. “If you wait until everything is “just right” you’ll never get going.”
Exactly! Plus I am a lefty! Maybe that is another reason I know that everything does not have to be right!
Mitch, I completely agree that an executive coach provides that all important accountability factor!
Taking action consistently is important. Executive Coaching conducted on a regular schedule
certainly provides accountability.
YES! Accountability it key.
Write on!~
Lisa Manyon
In order to implement and take action in a timely manner, yes!
Spot on as always Mitch – you and I are on the same wavelength.
I love your analogy of
“It has been said that companies in the software business must release their newest product when they are 70 percent to 80 percent ready. Put it out there and obtain feedback and then send out patches and newer versions. ”
I’ll be sharing that with a few of my perfection-tendancy clients!!
Heidi,
Yes the tech field is notorious for waiting too long and entire projects are defeated by waiting too long.
Oh how I needed to hear this! I’m planning my first live event (in the middle of my first Telesummit!) and I have to say that I’ve just to let go of the perfectionism. With all of the details to cover, I agree that nothing would ever be presented if I was 100% satisfied with them. Thank you for great timing for me. 🙂
Betsy,
The answers always come when we are ready to hear them. Good luck on your projects!
I agree with Heidi, that’s a great quote for those with perfectionist tendencies.
Sue,
Another way to cure perfectionists is to have a group coaching session around baking brownies and then have a few of the ingredients not present and see how they solve it.
For a perfectionist, it’s never perfect. One of our sayings when I was in Aerospace was ‘There come a time in every project where you just shoot the engineers and build the darn thing!”
Bill,
Yes, I feel the same way about lawyers!
Accountability is key! Going at it alone doesn’t make you stronger or more successful, it holds you back and you may not even realize it. Well, now you do thanks to Mitch’s article. No more excuses! Get accountability!
Jessica,
Are you interested in a voice spot commercial for me?
When you have no one to hold you accountable, it’s easy to just keep procrastinating, to make excuses, and to not take actions — a coach is a great person to not only help you move forward, but to hold you accountable to take action.
And to take the right action based upon the desired results you wish to achieve!