It is often said,“You get the company you deserve.”

This expression dates back to an 18th century French philosopher (“People get the government they deserve”) – it is still relevant today.

Case In Point:

Last month a long-time client invited me to lead his team through a strategic planning process.

We had done this before, but he knew he needed a set of outside eyes looking at his upgraded team and their 2025 plans.

His goals were ambitious but the moves he was making were not having the desired impact.

We uncovered some surprising issues, obstacles and opportunities during this review process.

After we were done, he admitted on the drive to the airport, “I guess I’ve got the company I deserve.”

Growing Or Stalling.

In this example, the landscape company was growing fast and seemed (from the outside) to be making all the right moves!

But as we dug under the covers we found it was performing sub-optimal.

In other examples, we have worked with companies that are in fact growing slow, or stuck at a glass ceiling.

No company is immune!

Most entrepreneurs have larger-than-life visions, and this can naturally lead to frustrations when roadblocks are hit.

Examples of Frustrations

Here are some examples of “having a company you deserve”

• High turnover of the team, either in the field or in leadership
• Lack of accountability
• Revenue see-sawing up and down
• Lack of leads and not converting opportunities
• Overworked and over stressed leader
• Cash flow issues
• Lack of consistent or significant profit
• Promising leaders not living up to their promise.
• Yada, yada, yada

So how do we fix these issues?

Start With The End In Mind

“Start with the end in mind” is one of the timeless principles from Stephen Covey’s book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” (a classic all companies should make mandatory reading)

This specific habit instructs individuals and organizations to define their desired outcomes before taking action.

The idea is to work backwards from the ultimate goal, in order to figure out what steps to take first.

This approach can ALSO be used to diagnose what’s hampering your company’s growth.

Diagnose Your Current Situation

Three steps…

1. Look at the fruits of your work.

List out the negative symptoms and outcomes you are experiencing. This can be cathartic when you write it all down on paper.

2. Ask five times “Why?”

Figure out how and why you ended up where you did.

But don’t take the first answer as the right answer.

Challenge yourself to ask why again (and again) to get to the underlying reason: the original sin, so to speak.

3. Determine some professional and fundamental changes.

Define the outcomes you want (start with the end in mind) and then determine some new and different steps you can take to get there.

Your Challenge: Be Honest With Yourself.

As Einstein said, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’

The good news is that we are in control of our actions, and we can make new choices.

We just have to be honest with ourselves on how we got here, and how much of the problem is a result of our own decisions and actions — and inactions.

Grab a cup of coffee and list out everything you don’t like about your current results.

Then reflect and get honest on what you personally need to change, to carve a different path.

If you do this right, it will be transformative.

Good luck.

Regards, Jeffrey Scott!

P.S. Let us know if you need help – in formulating a better strategic planning process, as well as uncovering what needs to change with your team, plans and assumptions.

As the saying goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know”, until you ask for help.