Congratulations on taking the time to create your own Personal Development Plan! I trust you have shared it with your team so that they can see what you believe to be important and that you are serious about getting better yourself. Don’t risk it! Get yours done first – then move on to the rest of your team.
Today’s stage is focused on Using Personal Development to Fuel your Growth. You want to tap into the limitless potential of your team members and get them fully engaged in growing your business. The only thing lacking at the moment is the motivation to step it up.
Your Profit Tip of the Day
Many people who are working for a business owner are doing far more complicated, technically challenging, and higher impact work OUTSIDE of their paid job!
Think about how many people willingly and enthusiastically volunteer their time at church, a social club, schools, hobbies and sports organizations. In many cases, they pour themselves into their volunteer efforts and take on far more difficult assignments there.
If this sounds like a familiar storyline to you, then you’ve got some work to do. I don’t want to get too deep into all the reasons why they might feel this way. I’ll remind you to go back and review the earlier stages on this tour where we covered Building a High-Performance Team.
But let’s stay focused on one important aspect of making your team members feel like they are important to your business – demonstrating to them that they matter to you! How we do this is by asking them and helping them build their own personal development plan.
By simply talking about it, giving them some guidance and direction, and helping them put their plan together, their impression of their role in the future of your business will improve. They will see themselves as an important part of the team. Their commitment and drive will increase.
Let me give you a simple way to get started. You listed the top 4-5 things that YOU needed to be excellent at in order for your business to be successful. I want you to change this slightly. Now I want you to create a similar list of the 4-5 areas of the business that need to be improved over the next 2-3 years for the business to grow and be profitable.
Now give this list to each member of your team with an assignment. Have them come back to you with their thoughts on the following:
● Which of these areas do they think they could help with the most?
● What could they do to get better in this area?
● What skills do they need to gain or improve on to improve themselves?
● What books could they read to understand this area better?
● Whom would they like to be their accountability partner to help them make improvements in this area?
Next, take the same approach that you used to create 4 quadrants on a page. Have them put their thoughts and ideas into each of the 4 quadrants representing the 4 quarters of the year. Make sure that each quarter includes a specific skill improvement focus and a specific book to read.
It does not need to be complicated or fancy. Simply get them to take the time to build a plan of action. Assign them an accountability partner – preferably one of their own chosing – and then get them started! You will refine and improve your system as you go. In fact, your team members will step up and begin making improvements to the planning process!
Lastly, schedule time in the future to review their plans. They will put more effort into their personal development if you take the time to ask them about it, review their progress and give them encouragement along the way.
If you’re looking for more success and freedom from your business, join my FREE, private Facebook Group called The Peloton. It’s where business owners like you are learning, sharing and working together to get better every day! Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jointhepeloton/
Come on – join us! And remember, whatever you do, RIDE HARD!
