HOW FOCUS CAN INSPIRE YOUR BOTTOM LINE

by Carla Thompson, Founder and Coach at Agent+ Coaching

 

Do you desire to increase your business’ profitability? Do you desire to impact your people’s lives magnificently? Do you desire to leave a legacy?

Well, I did! I very much wanted that as a leader. I had wonderful visions of how I could change people’s lives and create the most powerful company in the U.S.

So when I stepped into the role of leading a real estate company in 2008, I had no idea what I was in for on the journey. It was August of ’08 and if you recall, our nation’s economy was coming to a slow halt. As a matter of fact, it felt by October like someone had turned out the lights. Sales were slowing tremendously and my visions of being a dominant, competitive force in the market place evaporated. Instead, I looked around at the fear on my people’s faces and realized that I knew nothing about leadership.

Thank goodness I had a coach. I definitely struggled early on in leadership. In running a company, there is so much coming at you every day. So many people. So many challenges. So many demands. And oh by the way, you are in charge of increasing profit; that’s the bottom line.

Sometimes, I felt like I didn’t even know who I was.

Was I the inspiring leader?

The “I’m in charge, get it done” leader?

The kind, caring, compassionate leader?

The “make it happen fast” leader?

The coaching leader?

Who was I?

Many days I would look around and feel a sense of chaos. And I felt out of control. How do I get everyone to do what needs to be done at the level of quality it needs to be done and in the time it needs to be done? And how do I ensure they are happy doing it? What it always boiled down to is increasing profitability through increasing productivity, growth and culture. If those are the bedrocks of business and all are necessary, where do you focus?

Ah, focus.

Yes, that’s the problem.

Then it occurred to me one day, what does that even mean?

Many times my own coaches had directed me that as the leader, the CEO, I have a singular focus—growth.

The first challenge—how do I keep myself focused on growth? And what would that mean for me?

The growth of my thinking was the growth of my company.

I realized through my first year of being coached, that I had changed my mind about a number of things regarding what it meant to lead. And as a result of changing my mind, made new decisions. And I was excited when I reapplied that we need to change things!

Only, everyone else didn’t seem as excited.

I would say with glee, “Hey, everyone, this is what we are going to do!”

And the responses were, “Ok,” or “Sounds good,” or “Let us know due dates.” Compliance! Seemed fine. Until nothing really changed.

I started realizing that if we could not get everyone in the company to change their thoughts and therefore, behaviors, we were wasting time trying to increase our performance.

How do you get people to change and therefore, grow?

I started researching change.

What does it really mean to change?

What is fascinating is that there is much research now that shows the link between how our brain operates and how change can happen. We have operated for years believing that if we impart knowledge on people, they will change. Well, that doesn’t work much– if at all.

We have also operated using the “carrot and the stick,” meaning that if we offer incentives or threats, people will perform. For the most part, this does not work as well.

So we are left realizing that there must be something more to the concept of change.

Turns out, that focus is the key. Paying attention to the new thinking, the new behaviors, is critical to increasing our performance and thus, our bottom line profits.

It clicked for me! I came to understand that coaching is the key to increasing a company’s performance. Coaching leaders to learn focus has become a passion of mine.

And it is a key to massive growth.

Most leaders struggle with maintaining any kind of focus, let alone leading their people to focus. And through our coaching process, we will guide you to learn how to use focus to increase your bottom line, create efficiency and build your culture.

In the beginning, I thought culture was about unifying people. In the end, I realized that culture evolves through focus.

Through coaching, you have the opportunity to impact the lives of so many, to really leave a legacy.

Step up! Challenge yourself to learn focus!