Complacency in business will slowly erode away any success you have had, and it can eliminate any chance of future success. Every day you have to be moving forward to achieve your vision. Complacency breeds excuses and failure, and It can cause you to falsely believe that conditions will not change.
As leaders, we should be naturally focused on growing our business, growing our team, and growing ourselves. Being satisfied with the status quo will not put you in the mindset to look for new growth and to ensure your team is growing their skills and abilities. Every day, the outlook must be to develop, evaluate and put into action new ideas to create opportunities.
Complacency comes from two areas: becoming lazy in living off your success and the inability to take action when your business is faltering. Taking success for granted will offer no realistic view of the market, because the competition will make adjustments while you do not, which will lead to failure in the long term.
Here are a few considerations for overcoming complacency in your business:
- Steady state mindset will result in a slow decline. If you built your business with the goal of riding out the success once you achieved a certain level, you have a false sense that your business can just cruise without dedicated leadership and new ideas. Your business will stagnate and fail. Steady state can be held for a short term while you develop a new strategy and new goals, but you must move forward.
- Risk aversion. Holding on to what you earned without taking on more risk to continue growth creates an atmosphere of failure. Unfortunately, your team will mirror your actions and be cautious in their work. Consistent risk aversion leads to less return on the work you do.
- Avoid excuses. Don’t get caught up in making excuses for your business decline. Stop explaining and start leading. Excuses place blame on others and kills the energy for creativity.
- Take action now, reinvent, and create growth. Eliminating the desire for complacency is about taking action now. Reinvent your business. Find new customers and strengthen the relationships of your current customers. Develop new products and services. Find a new competitive advantage. Continue to grow and develop the vision you had for your business when you first started.
“When a great team loses through complacency, it will constantly search for new and more intricate explanations to explain away defeat.”
-Pat Riley
If you continue to battle with complacency, then I recommend that you sell your business. Your team has been relying on you to make decisions and develop plans to grow the business so they can have continued opportunities. Your customers are relying on you to provide the best products and services so they are also successful. There is no more, “business as usual.” Grow, or watch your business decline into nothing.
You must believe that conditions will continually change and therefore, your business must change. You must change. There is great opportunity in changing conditions, because it comes with new customers and new ways to grow revenues.
How are you dealing with complacency in your business or with your team? Please comment or email at comment@stephenmclain.com.
Copyright-2016 Stephen McLain