Last month I succumbed to the pressure/popularity of writing about top 5 lists. Well it worked! We had a tremendous response from last month’s entry on “why should I join a Peer Group”
This month I am going to focus on Reason #5 – Time to Work “on” the Business.
It’s something business consultants talk about ad nauseam. Work “on” the business, don’t get sucked in to fighting fires, stay out of the operational vortex, etc. etc.
It’s almost like my doctor telling me to watch my diet and exercise. As I sit here stuffing a cookie in my face, I realize the difficulty.
So how do you make it happen? How do you work on the business when working in it creates immediate returns and satisfaction of a job well done?
I think the greatest tool for that is accountability from others. It's why Personal Trainers exist. We know how to exercise and its benefits to our lives and all of that – but knowing that someone is there expecting me to show up and literally watch me exercise, that’s when it happens.
The same holds for a CEO Peer Group. As a member of the group, you immediately have 10-12 “personal trainers” holding your feet to the fire to work ON the business. The questions from the group on your issues help you see things from a different viewpoint, give you time to pause, and most importantly allow you to see that you may be spending your time fighting effects, rather than root causes.