Your Bottom Line
The phrase “Bottom Line,” to many of us, means the figure at the end of your balance sheet. But for the sake of this blog post, expand your view of your bottom line to include:
LIFE BALANCE – how balanced are you?
RELATIONSHIPS – are you related and in full and complete communication, everywhere (including your family and your work team!)
BUSINESS – financially how are you doing and is your team performing well, and how are you as a leader performing; what could be better?
FINANCIAL BOTTOM LINE (personal and business)
Take a minute, what do you see? I’ve talked to a lot of people recently who are struggling in at least one or more, if not all, of these categories. There is so much change going on in the world that many people are spinning. And, yes, even those who typically keep it together are struggling to either identify the issues they need to address to keep up with change or act on what they already know needs to be done to do what is right for their bottom line. Where are you in those two scenarios? Are you so spun out by a slowdown in your market, or the fluctuations in the stock market, or the continual negative spin by the media, that you don’t even know where to start? OR do you already know what tough moves need to be made, but are avoiding them? Thinking that you can weather it all by staying in idle? By working harder? By working longer?
I ask again, where are you… spun out or cruising in idle? The truth is that if you are in idle, you are there because you are spun out. So, let’s start with what you need to do to get back in focus and be the leader you are supposed to be.
To get back in focus, you need to:
Clear: Clearing is a phenomenal tool for getting all the garbage your head creates out of the way. That garbage, by the way, is what I call “mind-chatter”, and when a creative mind gets going, the amount of literal garbage it can put in your way is mind-blowing. So, get in the habit of clearing all the junk that fills your head. Without getting rid of the made-up junk, you’ll have no space to be with what is real or focus on your bottom line.
Ask for help: Ask for whatever help you need. Develop clearing partners. Ask your team to hold you accountable for doing what your plans say.
Have a written plan: You knew this one was coming... you must have written plans! Without a plan that says what you want and by-when you want it, you’ll never get past the stops that get in your way when tough times roll around.
Thicken your skin: As a leader, you will always be in a position of being judged and evaluated. People are watching you, and you have to let criticism roll off your back. Only you know what is best for you and your bottom line; don’t let others take you off track.
Delegate: You can’t focus if you are attempting to be all things to all people… to do everything there is to be done. So, you need to delegate as much as you possibly can, which will allow you to see the big picture in a much clearer way.
Make yourself a priority: If you aren’t taking care of your physical well-being, if you don’t have life balance, the circumstances that have you spun out are only going to keep spinning you. As a leader you have to be energized, you have to be clear, and you can’t do that if you aren’t taking care of you.
Do what’s right: Making yourself a priority transitions nicely into the fact that a part of making you a priority is doing what is right for you and your business, even when doing what is right may not be what is easiest. There are leaders everywhere scrambling to keep the cash flow going during a market slowdown, and the decisions they have to make aren’t easy ones. Their decisions are impacting not just their workers, but the families and lives of their workers. But in the end, it is what is necessary to keep the entire ship from sinking, and isn’t that the responsibility of the leader too?
Make the tough decisions: As a leader, it is your job to make the tough choices… to do what is right, no matter what. If you are a leader, it isn’t just your job, it is your obligation. When you are in a position of having to make changes to sustain your organization or your life balance, the right decision isn’t always the obvious one. Think about it. How often is the first knee-jerk option that comes to mind, in any situation, the best one? Far more frequently, the best decision/choice is going to come from carefully evaluating all of your options, and with options comes the possibility of there being another way! With options and your evaluation of them comes insight into the problem or the changes on a much deeper level, which allows you greater options! With options come options. In other words, you aren’t pinned in a corner with only one way out. You retain the freedom to make the choice that best fits you and your family and your business. And with your options all mapped out in front of you, you have to:
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Never make a decision that is going to affect your bottom line based upon a whim or reaction to something. If you do, you'll regret it. Instead, research all your options and know the expected consequences of each one. Be sure and evaluate your choices from all perspectives. Even list the pros and cons of each option and know as much as you possibly can before you react.
SET A BY-WHEN. Without a by-when for taking action, doing what’s right, but not always easy, can be tough to do and you’ll likely procrastinate. So set a by-when, commit to it, and ask someone to hold you accountable for getting it done.
ASK FOR HELP. When you are in a position where you have to make a change, talk it over with an objective outsider. Although it may feel like it, you are not the first person to be in the space you are now. So ask for help and just maybe they’ll be able to see what you may have missed.
STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF and what you want for yourself, your family, and your business. Staying true to yourself honestly makes your choices, no matter how difficult they are, much easier to live with!
UNDERSTAND AND BE PREPARED for the emotions that change can bring out in you and those around you. Standing up and making tough decisions, no matter how right they are, can take a huge emotional toll. Any good leader will wrestle with their emotions, but you can’t get stopped by them. So, clear the stops. Clear your feelings and you’ll be able to remain decisive and focused on the end goal. Every tough choice contains the same elements:
They require a great deal of time, energy, and planning.
They often require and even demand that we take a risk.
They are always questioned and criticized.
But as a leader, you might as well accept the fact that tough calls are part of your job description. They're not optional; they're a requirement. But are they worth it? Is what you go through as a leader working to do what’s right for your bottom line worth the energy, time, and the flack you might get in exchange? Of course, it is!
Remember: Doing what’s right for YOUR bottom line, is necessary to take care of yourself… to be your word… to go to the next level… to be true to yourself… and to ultimately have the life, business, and relationships that you say you want to have! So, the choice is yours. You can be spun out and sit in idle, or you can pull up your bootstraps, do your homework, and make the choice, no matter how difficult that choice may be, to do what’s right for your bottom line!
What do you choose?