The end of the year is coming up, and you are working your butt off to make your 2013 objectives. You’re in such a frenzy that you might forget to take some time and assess what you the owner did to make your company stronger and more successful this year and, most importantly, what you did to improve yourself along the way.
I worked for a large corporation for 36 years and quite often ignored self-assessment. It’s easy to do in a corporate setting because of the formalized performance review process. You just sit back and wait for your boss to score your performance and give you advice.
When you’re the boss, though, you don’t have the luxury of outsourcing introspection. And make no mistake: Your company won’t achieve its potential unless you set aside time to think deeply about what things worked well over the past 12 months, what didn’t and how you’re going to change for 2014.
As a mentor with the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, I work with some of the city’s brightest business owners, men and women with a burning desire to grow their companies. If you’re serious about performing a self-assessment, consider some of the following questions, which I’ve developed from my time assisting HEMP mentees.
What Is Your Dream?
First, ask yourself: “Have I clearly communicated my ‘ultimate dream’ for the company to all employees so they are focused on the same thing to maximize our effectiveness?”
By “ultimate dream,” I mean the true essence or reason for the existence of the company. Have you improved your customer’s business or life in a significant way? After all, that’s the reason they seek you out, and it differentiates you from the competition. Your purpose needs to be deeper than just “we provide the best quality” or “best service.” Anyone can say that.
For example, until a very few years ago, consumers had to buy a video player, a calculator, a camera, an audio player, etc. Then look what Apple did. That company’s “dream” was simple: provide access to all the data a consumer needs 24/7, on one device. Clearly, the company was focused on this dream.
Resource Management
Second, ask yourself if you effectively utilized resources during the year to support your “dream.” All of your resources should be aligned to support it. Were you too opportunistic? Did you jump from one thing to another? Or did you take time to stay the course while carefully evaluating paths of action that build upon current strengths—then go aggressively deep with a concrete action plan?
A friend of mine taught leadership courses at Command and General Staff Colleges across several branches of the military. He told me the most important thing an Army division commander does is to allocate his limited resources to the mission he is charged to accomplish. Sounds simple? It isn’t!
The head of an entrepreneurial company has to do the same thing, albeit on a smaller scale. So, ask yourself: At year end, did you waste resources against “one-off” projects that didn’t attract sustainable business? Did you focus on one aspect of the business you may favor too much while letting another profitable segment languish? Did you invest in new equipment or systems without thoroughly working through how they impact operations? Effective resource allocation simply means that every dollar you spend should go toward supporting the dream of your business.
Your Human Resources
Next, think about your own capabilities and those of your staff. What are the things you did best during the year and can you build upon them? Did you improve the capabilities of the company over the past year in support of your dream? Many times, entrepreneurs think in terms of adding people in set positions without thinking through the implications to other facets of the business.
For example, the head of a company I mentor is terrific at prospecting for new business. It’s a key strength, and he brought in a lot of new customers over the last several years. At the same time, vital functions within the company were not prepared to handle the influx of work, and assignments were not effectively prioritized or executed well. As a result, key capabilities of the company were compromised, resulting in unsatisfied customers.
Ask yourself if you have a good handle on your company’s capabilities as you move ahead into 2014. Are the various functions aligned to handle the work? Do you have to go out and hire in certain areas to increase capacity? Do you need updated systems that can handle more sophisticated customers? Make sure that functions are aligned.
Finally, ask yourself how you’re doing on the “home front.” Are you allowing enough time for family and friends? Are you in good health or wearing out? Is your life balanced so you can be in the game over the long haul? If you’re burning out, what can you do to change course? We often forget the ones who are closest to us and who provide much needed moral and emotional support. Please make sure you don’t forget them!
