Four words that strike fear and make an otherwise capable professional unable to make sense.

What do you want?

When I ask this in a coaching session, there usually a release of breath and a nervous laugh. Then the avoidant answers come out. Formerly articulate people stop putting two sentences together. I have noticed that it isn’t so much that we don’t know what we want (yes, I’ve been struck dumb with this question too). We know all too well. We are dreamers who see ourselves making that dream salary, gaining recognition as a “go-to” person, serving our customers with excellence and living that satisfying life we crave.

Negative messages and negative experiences Click here to read more »

A coaching session with a client and a post on Forbes.com about span of control set a theme for me last week. How much do small business owners have real control and how to manage the limitations?

The traditional definition of span of control is “the number of people who report to one manager in a hierarchy. The more people under the control of one manager – the wider the span of control. Less means a narrower span of control.”

Important distinction for small business owners

In my work with small business owners who are growing their business, the question of hiring and managing employees comes up over and over. There is some anxiety about increasing one’s span of control too fast but more questions arise around trusting employees to move the business forward. It’s great to see one’s hard work come to fruition when you add new hires or create an executive team out of current employees.

CEO mindset, control and influence Click here to read more »

Every now and then, a children’s story catches  my attention in an unexpected way. Recently I was reading Aesop’s The Sun and the Wind .

The Sun and the Wind were arguing about which one of them was stronger. They could not come to any agreement. When they saw traveller on the road, the Wind said, “this is how we can decide. The first one of us who can make that traveller remove his cloak is the strongest. The Sun answered the challenge, “That is an excellent idea! You may go first.” The Wind laughed and said, “You go behind that cloud while I show you how it’s done. Watch and learn.”

After the Sun went behind  a cloud, the Wind began to blow and blow. However, no matter how hard the Wind  blew, the traveller would not remove his cloak. The traveller just pulled his cloak closer around him and trudging down the road. Finally, the Wind gave up and stopped blowing.

The Sun came out from behind the cloud and began to shine. Eventually the traveller became so warm, he took his cloak off and carried it on his arm.

During times of change, are you the Wind or the Sun? Click here to read more »

My new adventure…I was a news reviewer on The Small Business Show with Kehlan Kirwan and Brian Cleary this past Saturday, September 15th (I’ll post the podcast link when it goes live). This radio show focuses on Irish SME’s by highlighting interesting companies as well as discussing news stories that affect small business all over Ireland.

One story in particular caught my eye...

The Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD and the Minister of  State for Small Business John Perry TD announced that a guide titled, Managing Out of a Crisis. This guide is supposed to be something that struggling small business owners could use immediately. With the news remaining grim, it can feel overwhelming or even paralyzing trying to keep things going.

Where do you start? Click here to read more »

After watching the Summer Olympics, it’s tempting to model the single-minded dedication and pursuit of being the best. Let me say this first, I love the Olympics! It’s extraordinary to see people who have dedicated themselves for a sporting event that only happens every 4 years. Their whole lives -diet, exercise, psychological training, competitions, downtime – are dedicated to improving their performance. Witnessing this performance is awe inspiring! And yet…this is a bad model for small business owners. Click here to read more »

 It’s not unusual for a small business owner to be talented and intuitive enough to steer their businesses through early growth. In fact, you want that foundation! Then, one day, there is an  inspiration to go for a bigger push. Sometimes this inspiration is like a whack on the head…your biggest client leaves or you’ve hit some other financial wall. Other times it is illumination…your product or service feeds a need in your market or the business is attracting attention and interest from your uber-ideal customers.

What are you trying to accomplish?

Stephen Covey ( who passed away on July 16, 2012) recommended seven habits  and one of these is “Begin with the end in mind”. This is often the starting point when we consider our wishes, hopes and dreams. Sometimes we articulate them to our business partners or friends but often business owners keep them quiet. Like the business owner I was speaking with last week who said he wanted to increase his revenues by 50%, it’s easy to come up with huge goals. It’s harder to determine why they are the best ones for both your personal growth and the growth of your organization.

Where’s the gap between your big goals and you? Click here to read more »

“Why should I hire you?” I get that question a lot. And frankly, I welcome it!

Since I work with established business owners, they want to know how coaching generates results they can see and feel. I can relate as a business owner. I don’t have time or money to waste either.

There are huge expectations for small business owners and most are ready to take on the challenges in front of them. However, it is common to want a place to express your dreams, aspiration, doubts and weaknesses. You want to maintain your authority and still make sure you have a solid support system that keeps you fresh and grounded.

What is coaching? Click here to read more »

If you are like most small business owners (or executives), you have a pretty active to-do list and not nearly enough time to do it all. Besides keeping an eye on the overall business, it is likely that you are involved with some of the day-to-day work with customers. For some business owners, they stay in the Pre-Leader stage and try to do everything themselves. And they wonder why they feel overwhelmed and overworked. I don’t think anyone ever founds a business saying, “I want to create something that will make me miserable.”

Share the work Click here to read more »

It’s always interesting asking small business owners to imagine themselves with different titles and words. In a recent in-person presentation about the CEO Mindset, I asked what words or phrases mentioned came to mind in reference to “CEO”:

• Chief executive officer
• Buck stops here
• Boss
• Money
• Big
• Big desk
• Big company
• Coordinator
• Most responsible
• Overseer
• Headaches
• Me
• Mentor
• Out of touch
• Working too many hours
• Them
• Creative Force
• Leader

 So, what would Twitter folk say? Granted I was asking my followers so it’s not entirely random. However, you never know who is on and if they see what’s in your stream.

Barney Austen: Leader, Driving Force

Derek Edmond: Leader & vision

Celtic Seas: Most important role in an organization with or without a board

Gnosis Arts: leader, chief stakeholder

What does it mean to act as if you are the CEO of your small business?   With all of the different models of how to be a CEO, it make sense that some small business owners feel ambivalent about embracing or rejecting the title as CEO. If you look at larger corporations, you can see everything from criminal to inspirational. However, leading a small business is much more intimate. It is as likely that you will use your technical expertise while you are monitoring the greater organizational needs in any given day.

How about you? What words do you associate with the title of CEO?

What would happen if you chose to consider yourself as CEO of your small business?

 About the author:  I’m Elli St.George Godfrey, a small business coach and trainer who guides established small business owners to be comfortable in their own skin. I have a deep appreciation for learning and understanding my client’s business style and culture. Whether you are expanding in your own backyard or into another country, my 3 keys coaching process helps clients move from being excited about a new business opportunity to having the tools to make it actually happen. Curious? Schedule your complimentary coaching session here.

Maybe you’re a little bored, a little itchy or exasperated with your busines lately. You often hear small business owners talk about going to the next level. What does this mean exactly? And what will happen if you do grow in size, sophistication or both?

If you had a crystal ball, what would your business look like in 1 year?

Part of what makes us ready for the next stage is having a vision. This vision does feed into our business’ basic mission. That doesn’t change. Remember your Hedgehog Concept? As you think about the new kind of customer you want to attract or the new line of services or products you’re designing, daydream what you would be doing differently.

As you fill in the details of your daydream, this becomes the outline of your strategic plan for the coming year. Put it writing. Make it real for yourself. This is where you might notice some internal thoughts, beliefs or feelings growing in intensity.

What could get in the way of going to the next stage of your business? Your assumptions.

It’s that combination of being so excited about doing something you aspire to and feeling nervous about making it actually happen. What are your assumptions? For some people, it is about being expected to be extraordinary, give up more time out of an already demanding schedule or becoming someone you are not. For others, they assume everything will be okay and the changes will be minimal. It’s more likely somewhere in the middle.

Challenge your assumptions

• What do you really want?
• Which skills do you need to augment?
• What is so important about taking your business to its next stage?
• What would happen if your business stayed the same as it is now?

And an equally important question…

In a recent interview on Entrepreneur.com, Scott Eblin asked a crucial question for this process, “What is it that only I can do?” This question is essential for small business owners as they are often an integral part of the work of the business. When you increase the size, change business structure or work with a more preferred client, this makes different demands on the business owner. You can’t be as casual as in the startup days. More administrative tasks will take up your attention and time. You may find you need to conract certain jobs that you used to do or even hire people to do those jobs. Typically systems need to be formalized across the organization. For example, just this week I was talking with a client about his options for managing business development projects. Right now they are in his head but he’s finding that he needs to delegate some of the project management tasks to others in his organization.

What do you need to do to be ready for the next stage of your business?

*For more information like this live, check out my complementary teleclass, “How To Use the CEO Mindset For Small Business Success” Tuesday February 22, 7 pm ET