Category: leadership

I just realized that my last blog post was almost 8 months ago! Oh my goodness…where has the time gone?!?! Since I last posted anything here, life has been a blur. For starters, I was elected as Irwin County’s newest County Commissioner. My business has continued to grow, and we recently brought on four new team members. As time continues to fly by faster, my business becomes more complex, and I am asked to make decisions that impact many people, I made a serious investment late last year in my leadership. I hired a coach.

What kind of coach, you ask, did I hire? I hired an executive coach. This person has so many experiences from the business teams she’s led. And, today she works with a large leadership and small business consulting company. Needless to say, she is highly qualified. I’ve worked with tennis coaches before, but I’ve never worked with such a personal type of coach. Much like a tennis coach, my executive coach starts with the fundamentals of my game. The only difference being that my executive coach’s first assignment was reading about and then writing my values and vision instead of hitting ground strokes. My executive coach’s goal is to help me lead my business towards the vision and preferred future she has helped me craft. In the midst of uncertain times, she has helped me chart a course and clearly communicate it with my team. But, the beautiful part of working with my coach is that she has helped me gain perspective and ideas for bringing clarity to my situations.

In his book, Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and Being Ridiculously in Charge, Dr. Henry Cloud makes the argument that leaders, much like any other closed system in the universe, are doomed for disorder without an external input of energy. In fact, leaders need energy and guidance in order to maintain order within themselves. Energy keeps us going, and guidance points us in the right direction. You can find this energy and direction from trusted friends, mentors, and books. I have a couple of close friends who help me navigate personal and business decisions. And, my executive coach is now also providing energy and guidance as I navigate complex business decisions.

My coach is a serious investment. But, the energy and guidance I gain in leading my team far outweigh the costs. If you’ve ever wondered what the next move should be, I highly recommend you work with a coach. You’ll be glad you did.

And, here is a great resource and another super helpful resource.

Question: What is the best quality of your favorite sports coach?

I recently discovered a new way to help lead my company. I wish I had discovered this technique 10 years ago when we started my company, but I thought everything was just intuitive back then. In fact, I probably would have dismissed it as too simple since it involves only basic math I learned in middle school. But, this new technique is helping me see and solve very complex opportunities. It is simply, Managing by the Numbers.

I dismissed accounting (sorry Mr. Pat!) for a long time because I didn’t understand it. How can something based on basic math provide powerful insights? Money comes in, money goes out. What I failed to realize, though, is that while I am on the ground floor spending and receiving money, there is a forest’s worth of activity going on around me. And, I can’t see any trends by spending my time in the forest. By understanding how to use Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Statements, and Cash Flow Statements, I can zoom out and see the entire forest for the trees in my company. I can use this basic math to understand my company’s trends and opportunities.

In his book, Managing By The Numbers: Understanding and Using Your Company’s Financials, Chuck Kremer, Ron Rizzuto, John Case tell the story of a fictitious office supply company and demonstrate the power of these three statements. The owners purchase the company from previous owners, operate through a couple of years and then start reading their financials. As they learn to use these reports, they recognize trends. They also recognize their greatest opportunities and their greatest weaknesses.

Now that I have a better appreciation for accounting, I am putting this knowledge to work as I lead my company. I have already spotted a few of our largest opportunities and risks. I have also started recognizing how to better motivate my team. I can’t help but wonder what the small business community would look like if each owner had a better understanding of his or her financials. What would our local governments look like if they knew how to use their financial statements? Heck, what would our state and federal governments look like if they also used them? I can’t help but imagine that we would all understand what is profitable and what needs improvement; we would all have money in the bank; we would really plan for the future. Managing By the Numbers is a great way to learn and start using our own financial information. If you own a small business or farm, or if you lead any organization that spends money, pick up a copy of this book now. You, your employees, owners, and constituents will be glad you did. I know I am.

The following is a repost from my previous blog…enjoy!
Have you ever discovered something that changed the way you approach each and every day? I recently discovered a book, and I want to share my discovery with you in hopes that it can help you as much as this book is helping me and my company.

The book is The E-Myth Revisited. Written in 1995, Michael Gerber outlines a way of operating a small business that sets you up for success today and success for your business long after you are gone…and you will be gone one day. The book starts with the idea that most businesses are the result of an “Entrepreunerial Seizure.” The owner is usually a great Technician…a great accountant, chef, mechanic, farmer, etc. During the course of his seizure, the Technician decides to start his own business. “Instead of cooking food for someone else, why don’t I open my own restuarant?” And so, the business begins.

What he doesn’t realize, however, is that two other personalities must also come to life in order for this new venture to succeed. A Manager who is responsible for payroll, paying bills, and ordering next week’s ingredients. And, the Entrepreuner who is responsible for charting the business’s future course. We each have different personalities, but most founders are Technicians – NOT Entrepreuners.

My greatest take away from this book, though, is the idea that “the true product of a business is the business itself.” By applying this concept, I begin working ON my business, not just IN my business. I create systems for every aspect of the business as if I were going to create 1,000 businesses just like the one I arrive at every day by using a Business Development Process of Innovation, Quantification, and Orchestration. If you wold like to learn more about the book, here is a detailed summary.

So, what does all this mean for Muscadine Products Corporation?

To begin building on our mission of Delivering Health and Hope, I need to create our organizational chart, create job descriptions for each position in the chart, and then create written procedures for every process to ensure that all responsibilities are quantified and orchestrated as we have designed. Within this one sentence lies countless hours of work. But, I know that they are hours invested working ON my business, not just IN my business. In the end, though, we will have a strong company that can operate without me and succeed for generations to come.

If you lead a team, run a small business, or farm please pick up a copy of this classic book.

One quick question: Are you more of a Technician, Manager, or Entrepreuner? I’m definitely a Technician.

I’d love to hear from you.