Battle of Wounded Knee

Not that one. Not the infamous massacre c. 1890. My left one. Of course! All is proceeding well in the attempt to fix the weakened joint as I attend to its every whim. Ice and heat, rest, specific exercises, weights, and cycling have all been employed in an attempt to correct the frailties that had crept in over time.

But no running for now. Which is a shame, but a necessary evil as I attempt to recover from the injury. But overall, things are going well, so reasons to be cheerful!

What does this have to do with business..? Well, not a lot specifically, although I did say I'd keep you updated with sporting exploits, good and bad.

That said, we often have what could be considered to be minor injuries in business with which we manfully struggle on. And just like I did with an injured knee, we can make matters worse in the process. I recently found out about 'referred pain' where you get discomfort away from the injury site, and also about overcompensating, where fit muscles take over from injured ones as a protective measure.

This happens all the time in business. How often has a star employee ended up exhausted and off sick due to carrying the weight of a team where one or more others don't pull their weight? This would be overcompensating.

Or a clearly failing department is ignored until it substantially impacts the business as a whole?

I was once called upon to coach a distribution company that had ignored the fact that it's warehouse and logistics group couldn't deliver the right goods, to the correct customer and the agreed time. It wasn't until customers started leaving in droves that the management called in the cavalry (see what I did there? :)). Was it fixable? Yes, but not without taking significant damage to reputation, finances and morale. I'd say this is considerable referred pain wouldn't you?

So whether it's a sporting twinge or a business niggle, address it early and often to stay fit and healthy for the long term. As we so often say, it not a sprint but a marathon!

If you have any business issues that you'd like to discuss or you think you'd benefit from a review of your business, please do get in touch.

Thanks as ever for stopping by.

Who are you and what do you do?

I recently sat down with a small company that was asking for help with its marketing. Huh? Yes, marketing. I have many years of sales and marketing experience and I get asked to help in this area often, along with my innovative business coaching engagements.

What was fascinating about the conversation was that having sat and listened to what was required and what the end result should look like, I asked what I thought were some basic questions. How are you positioning yourself versus your competition? What is your USP, if any? What are your core focus areas and what are you secondary areas of interest? What is your strategy going forward in terms of emerging markets and technology?

Long silence.

I suggested that it might be a good idea to have this information before throwing large sums of money at marketing campaigns. And that having some supporting collateral would also be useful.

Nodding heads.

So what are the answers.....? Long silence.

Would it be beneficial to have some time with the key stakeholders in a room together to get this stuff worked out? Nodding heads.

The next step is a one day session working through these very key areas, with me acting as the facilitator. A good facilitator doesn't need to have industry specific knowledge but in this case I know the customer's marketplace very well so can add even more value to the process.

As a coach I enjoy the role of facilitator and it's a role I do perform well (I know that sounds immodest but it's true). If you find yourself with a need to 'fill-in the blanks' for your business or for a particular project, feel free to get in touch. I'd be happy to act as coach or facilitator for you. Just leave a comment and I'll get right back to you.