The 6 Conditions that Promote Long Term Success

Goals need to set and met systematically. Plans need to used to ensure goal achievement. People need to be held accountable for meeting their goals. Every member of your team needs to understand and buy into the goal setting process and be committed to achieving the goals.

Condition #5: Commit to Results Oriented Problem Solving
You need to create a culture where every member of your team strives to improve your business' competitive position. That means improving efficiency in the field, reducing estimating errors, and perfecting the lead generation and sales processes. It also means pushing decision making as close to the front line as possible.

Projects and sales opportunities are too complicated and fast changing to force all decisions back to the office. The front line people must have some leeway to make timely decisions. They must understand how decisions are properly made. They must have access to the information needed for a sound, well aligned decision.

Condition #6: Value Your Employees
I repeat: you can't have a great business without building a great team. This is a stumbling block for most small business owners. The ego that let them, forced them, to set out on their own gets in the way of team building.

Small business owners often make the foolish assumption that workers are a necessary evil. In their hearts and minds, they devalue their employees. That attitude ends up revealing itself to the staff, de-motivates them, and gives them reason to either:

1. Find greener pastures.
2. Turn into ROAD warriors (Retired On Active Duty)

Turnover is damaging enough. The cost of unmotivated workers (ROAD Warriors: Retired On Active Duty) is far higher.

Owners who devalue their employees suffer high turnover and a foot dragging work force. Owners who treat their employees with respect end up with an easy-to-manage team that consistently outperforms the competition.

Highly successful owners understand that their role is to capture the creative energies and passion of their people. You can't do that when you view and treat workers as interchangeable parts.

Final Thoughts
When I met Ken back in 1998, two things struck me immediately.

1. He had developed a model that was amazing and universal.
2. He spoke in a way that was foreign to anyone else on this planet.

During that time, we delved deep into the applications and implications of his findings. We uncovered the underlying cause of many familiar symptoms suffered by teams, businesses, and non-profit organizations.

Unless you are a one-man shop, the information contained herein will apply to your business. The 6 conditions apply equally well to a small field crew or a large company.

When you read through them, you may have said "Duh. Knew that."

If you already knew that these were non-negotiable conditions, why do you violate them? Why haven't you created a culture that breaths life into these 6 conditions?

The point I'm trying to get across is that without creating these six conditions in your business: your people will not make the right decisions, they will not work hard, and your competitive advantage will disappear.

When I first visit with a company, I immediately check for two things: (1) whether they are producing adequate leads and sales and (2) whether they have established any of the 6 conditions for long term success. These are the two most important issues to address.

Ron Roberts, The Contractor's Business Coach, teaches contractors how to turn their business into a profit spewing machine. To receive Ron's FREE Contractor Best Practices Newsletter visit www.FilthyRichContractor.com.