When we think about leadership, we often picture managing a team, hiring employees, or building a company culture.
But what if leadership starts much earlier than that?
What if the first leadership team you need to build isn’t the one around you? What if it’s the one within you?
As entrepreneurs, we spend a lot of time thinking about who we need to hire next. We look for a virtual assistant, a marketing expert, a coach, or someone to help us grow the business.
Those investments matter, but before you bring someone else onto your team, ask yourself this question:
Who’s already sitting around your leadership table?
Every Entrepreneur Has an Internal Leadership Team
Whether you realize it or not, there are voices influencing every decision you make.
Some help you move forward. Others quietly hold you back.
If you were to picture your business as a conference room, who would be sitting around the table?
Some of the people around your leadership table might include:
• Courage
• Confidence
• Consistency
• Focus
• Possibility
• Creativity
• Curiosity
• Service
• Faith
• Discipline
You may also notice people who no longer deserve a seat at the table, such as:
• Fear
• Comparison
• Perfectionism
• Doubt
The goal isn’t to pretend those voices don’t exist. The goal is to decide who gets a vote.
Ask yourself:
Who deserves a promotion?
Who needs to move to a different seat?
Who no longer gets a vote?
Fear Doesn’t Need to Be Fired
One of the biggest insights that inspired this episode is that fear isn’t the enemy.
Fear has an important job. It warns us about risk and encourages us to pay attention.
The problem begins when fear starts making every decision.
Fear shouldn’t be the CEO of your business. It should be the Risk Manager.
Its responsibility is to raise a concern, not make the final decision.
When fear becomes the leader, we often avoid the very activities that help our businesses grow. We hesitate to post content because someone might judge us. We avoid asking for referrals because we don’t want to feel pushy. We delay following up because we worry about bothering someone. We wait for the perfect time instead of taking the next step.
Leadership means listening to fear without allowing it to run the meeting.
Schedule a Strategy Meeting With Yourself
One of my favorite ideas from Unreasonable Hospitality is the importance of stepping away from the day to day work to think strategically.
As entrepreneurs, we spend so much time working in our businesses that we rarely make time to work on our businesses.
What if you scheduled a strategy meeting with the most important leadership team you have?
Your internal leadership team.
Before you start talking about goals or your to do list, remind everyone around the table of the mission.
Why did you start your business?
Who are you here to serve?
What impact do you want to make?
When your mission is clear, it becomes the filter for every decision that follows.
Once you’ve centered your leadership team around your mission, it’s time to brainstorm. I love organizing ideas into three categories that help separate today’s priorities from tomorrow’s possibilities.
Low Hanging Fruit
These are the quick wins that create momentum.
Examples include:
• Reconnect with a past client.
• Schedule a coffee meeting.
• Ask for a referral.
• Reach out to someone you’ve been meaning to call.
Small actions build confidence and create momentum.
Achievable
These are projects you can realistically accomplish over the next one to three months.
Examples include:
• Launch a workshop.
• Improve your follow up process.
• Finish your website.
• Create a lead magnet.
These projects move your business forward.
Audacious
This is where you dream without limitations.
Examples include:
• Write a book.
• Speak on bigger stages.
• Build a thriving community.
• Launch a podcast.
• Create a signature program.
Big dreams often begin as ideas that seem impossible. Write them down anyway.
After you’ve brainstormed your ideas, ask yourself one final question.
Which one of these ideas will have the biggest impact right now?
Choose one.
Not five.
Not ten.
One.
That single decision creates focus and momentum.
Great Ideas Mean Nothing Without Action
Planning is valuable.
Learning is valuable.
Listening to podcasts and reading books can inspire us.
Businesses grow when ideas are implemented.
Before you finish your strategy meeting, answer these four questions:
• What is my one strategy?
• What are my next three action steps?
• Who will hold me accountable?
• When will I review my progress?
Those answers transform inspiration into action.
Leadership Starts With You
The quality of your business depends on who’s sitting around your leadership table.
Before you hire your next employee, launch your next offer, or chase your next opportunity, take a look around your leadership table.
Who’s helping you make decisions?
Who deserves a promotion?
Who needs to move to a different seat?
Who no longer gets a vote?
When you intentionally choose the voices that guide your business, you’ll make better decisions, take more courageous action, and create the momentum you’ve been looking for.
Because every big result starts with one intentional decision.
Why not today?
Ready for More Support?
You don’t have to grow your business alone.
The Why Not Today? Inner Circle is a community of relationship based service providers who are committed to creating more opportunities, building meaningful relationships, and taking consistent action.
If you’re ready to stop doing business alone and start growing with the support of a like minded community, I’d love to invite you to learn more.
Listen to the full episode of the Why Not Today? Podcast and discover who’s sitting at your leadership table.