Business Coach Tip: Get Insights Before You Decide What You Know

I often thought running a Venture Capital fund ruined me when it comes to being able to focus on only one company but provides a natural platform as a business coach and mentor.

With that birds eye view in mind, lets use todays topic to help your business grow.

Following the idea outlined by this quote can provide an opportunity for limitless learning and different perspectives which ultimately can help grow your business.

We often think (myself included) that if we do the task then we can control the outcome, can be sure its done, don’t have to redo it – and while this might be true some of the time – the key is that most of the time it isn’t true. And we loose more than we gain with this approach.

Bringing a diversity of thinking together can tend to feel like it takes more time but the wealth of insights gained without doubt will benefit the business.

Of course having many different opinions and voices can lead to wasting too much time or even conflict so yes, this has to be given the proper forum to be used. For instance not every decision needs to be made by the team discussing and all agreeing, the point is more to ensure you bring the perspectives in and really listen to what is being said before shutting it down.

And this isn’t easy as if you already have done the work and established the answer your assumption is that any further time spent on this would be wasteful and wouldn’t change the outcome. And remember if that is your belief then the reality is we close down and miss the opportunity.

There is also the reality to consider that if the opinion differs from yours, what assumptions are you making about what that means. What is the culture in your organisation – does there have to be winners and losers? What happens to the losers? All these factors influence the ability to allow diversity to be discussed in decision making. However, this doesn’t have to stop the diversity process – rather take into account how things work in your company and work that into how you use the diversity.

Taking the example above, for instance, you don’t have to share your final decision that you would recommend upfront when you are gathering thoughts. This would prevent the concern of a winner and loser.

How about we take these insights a step further and see how you can begin being your own “business coach” right now? Lets start with these
steps:

1. With your next business decision or perhaps even one you have just made, gather around your key team members.

2. Discuss the decision to be made (and not what you think it should be).

3. Ask for input such as what do they see in terms of risks and opportunities, what would they need in place to go ahead, what could deal breakers be, what would they do.

4. Don’t defend anything, continue being curious on their thoughts.

5. Make sure someone writes this up.

6. Consolidate, reflect and consider if you want to change anything in your thinking.