Does your inner circle help you create more opportunities in your business? The inner circle focuses on creating more value, finding new markets, and pushing you to grow. An ineffective inner circle creates doubt and can steer you in the wrong direction. If you are not growing, then a change must occur.
Your inner circle should be comprised of different voices who live for being supportive of your business. They should push you out of your comfort zone, while also helping you understand the risk. You should get encouragement for new markets and able to share ideas when things are not working. They should not make you feel inadequate or feel shame when something doesn’t go according to plan.
I am a strong advocate for finding that special team member who supports your vision, but genuinely offers a different opinion. If not careful, you will find yourself surrounded by “yes” people who will say what you want to hear and lead you in the wrong direction. “Yes” people are focused on their gain only.
Click on these previously published articles to learn more:
3 Areas to Focus on to Build a Successful Team Culture
Lets Grow Your Business In the New Year
Adjusting the Game Plan to Continue Winning in Your Business
It will take a significant personal investment to develop the required close relationship of advisors you can trust. You can find people to help you in your network, at church, local business groups, the Chamber of Commerce and through professional service providers you use (accountant, insurance person, banker, lawyer, financial advisor, etc).
“Nobody does anything great alone, nor do Leaders succeed alone.” -unknown
Building an effective inner circle:
- Different voices. Ensure you have a variety of people with different views of life and experiences. Different backgrounds can provide a wide array of expertise when tackling problems in your business. Don’t surround yourself with “yes” people. The reliable team members you bring in to your inner circle must be willing to take risk to provide value-added feedback. Bringing in someone to just confirm what you want to do anyway adds no value.
- Pushing you out of your comfort zone. Your inner circle should be encouraging you to be bolder about finding new markets or refreshing current offerings. I believe you must be growing personally to grow your business.
- Mentoring and networking. Another great feature of an effective inner circle are the mentoring and networking opportunities with more experienced business persons. This relationship aspect provides the wisdom of what has previously been attempted or with the resolution around a problem.
- Don’t go it alone. At times, you may consider relying only on your own abilities. This is a mistake for you are not listening to prior experience or using a network to solve a problem or find an opportunity.
If your current inner circle does not provide helpful input, act quickly to remove those who are negative or detract from you adding value every day. Further, just as you are building a close network around you to help your business, you must also assist those who help you and to provide mentoring for others in need. The key takeaway is: do members of your inner circle add value?
Is your inner circle of advisors helping you create more opportunities?
Please comment or email me at comment@stephenmclain.com.
Copyright 2018 – Stephen McLain