‘For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.’ Proverbs 24:16 NKJV
‘The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.’ Proverbs 24:16 NLT
Since Proverbs 24:16 NET mentions that righteous men fall 7 times. I decided to list 7 small ways good leaders fall, and how to avoid making these mistakes. Full disclosure, I’m a pro at these because I have experienced all 7 of them. So, I will also give you a brief description of how I got out of them. Here we go:
ERROR #1: TOO MUCH PLANNING, TOO LITTLE ACTION
Not taking the time to map your business out correctly is a clear path to failure, but so is too much time spent planning without action. If you’ve ever worked or participated in the entrepreneur community, you can probably picture a wantrepreneur (someone who would like to start a business and thinks and talks about doing so, but never gets started) or two. These are the wannabe entrepreneurs who constantly use phrases like “I’m going to”, or “I want to”, or “I could have”, etc.
If you find yourself using any of these phrases too often, you may be guilty of being a wantrepreneur. A great way to avoid making this mistake is to set daily action goals right from the beginning of your planning phase. This could be small steps, like purchasing a domain name for your project, running your idea across real go-getters, preparing social media accounts across different social media platforms for your idea, making a to do list and sticking to it, etc. Just make sure you don’t become a professional planner and a non-doer.
A smart planner creates a plan that leads to a decision or action. How do you do this? You don’t focus on potential problems or what ifs. Instead, focus on setting small, attainable goals that can start taking action on immediately.
So how do you make a plan that leads to decisions? Figure out what areas you are already strong in, and which areas you are weak in. It’s what I did when setting up a café I partnered up for. I literally made a list of my strengths and weaknesses, and then I ran into problem #2 listed below.
ERROR #2: MICROMANAGING AND DOING EVERYTHING YOURSELF
As a young café owner/partner, (one of my first businesses ever), I believed no one was able to do the job as well as I could. As a matter of fact, I believed I could do all the necessary jobs better than anyone else. I knew the vision I had for our little café in the heart of Brooklyn New York. So I had a very hard time trusting the decision making to anyone else.
This is as effective as trying to empty a swimming pool using a single teaspoon. It’s entrepreneurial suicide. If the death of your project isn’t enough to get you to seek assistance, let’s look at what multitasking can do to you. Research has found that multitasking often harms an individual’s brain. It can also hurts your productivity, which can lead to stress which can be harmful to your health. Studies prove that multitasking slows a company’s growth. Multitasking doesn’t just affect your profits, but it can also be very costly. An overworked, stressed leader is not helpful on any project.
How did I address this issue? I learned to let go. It didn’t happen until after I crashed and it almost cost me the business. Luckily I had a mentor and he told me I needed to let go and surrender some of the control. I was so overwhelmed that I was almost ready to throw in the towel. I’m glad I took my mentor’s advice. It was in the nick of time. I learned to delegate and it saved the café. I almost failed, which brings me to error #3.
ERROR #3: AFRAID TO FAIL; MAKING FEAR DRIVEN DECISIONS
I still remember the first time I heard the phrase, “scared money don’t make money.” I don’t know who coined the phrase and at this point, so many people have used it that it may be impossible to figure out who actually said it first. The who said it is not as important as the why.
The phrase is talking about the need to take risks when seeking success. When I was opening up the café, I found it risky to my vision for the place to welcome help from others, and I found it financially risky to bring anyone else in because it would cost money to hire people to handle the areas of the business I was weak in. I found it too risky to take on another partner in order to bring in some extra working capital. To make it simple, I was in over my head and I was scared that I was going to fail. I was making decisions based on fears rather than on reality.
When I got over the fear of risk and the fear of spending money, I made smarter moves. I was able to delegate the things I was not strong in, which allowed me to dedicate more time to the things I was good at. And this new found time gave me renewed focus on the business. Which led me to find mistake #4.
ERROR #4: PICKING THE WRONG PARTNER
There is nothing wrong with taking on a partner for a business. I’ve partnered with others in over 20 businesses throughout my adult life. Partnerships are common and experts in the world of business deem it advisable. But how to you pick a business partner that is a good fit for you, and a value add to your business? This gets tricky.
The following points are personal preference, but studies have shown them to be fairly accurate. Here are potential business partners I recommend against:
- Family members or friends with no experience
- Broke partners who are not investing equally in the business
- Partners with a bad track record in business
- Individuals with bad habits (drinking, gambling, drugs, etc.)
- NEVER PARTNER WITH A NEGATIVITY-DRIVEN PERSON
So now that we know which partners not to choose, how do we choose the right partner?
There is no foolproof way of knowing if a business partner is the absolute perfect business partner for you. You need to use discernment when choosing the right business partner because being partnered with someone in business is like being married in life. Even if you take the process serious, you may still be choosing a person that will prove to be crazy after the honeymoon period. Expect misunderstandings, disagreements, debates and fights, which may be annoying at times, but which are often necessary. A business can overcome these if they are settled by engaging in logical, civil discourse.
Did you know that according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as reported by Fundera, about 20% of small businesses fail within the 1st year. By the end of the 2nd year, about 30% of businesses will have failed. By the 5th anniversary of the business, about 50% have failed. And by the end of 10 years, less than 30% of businesses will still be in existence. So the ten year failure rate for businesses is over 70% . Do you know that these statistics are very similar to marriage statistics?
Like in any strong marriage, a strong business partnership should set the right expectations on Day 1. A great way to do this is to put as much of it, in detail, in writing. This way all parties involved know exactly what’s expected of them. This can be a part of your business plan, which brings me to Error #5.
ERROR #5: NOT HAVING A BUSINESS PLAN (spend some time here)
The aphorism “Fake It Till You Make It” instructs people to pretend to be OK by imitating success, confidence, health, happiness, wealth, competence, and an optimistic mindset. It suggests that a person can acquire those qualities, meet the goals they want and achieve the results they desire by pretending to have all of these before they actually have all of these. It’s a way of hiding the fact that you are unqualified to be in the position you’re in.
Then there’s the aphorism “Just Wing It.” Dictionary.com defines it this way: “Improvise, as in The interviewer had not read the author’s book; he was just winging it. This expression comes from the theater, where it alludes to an actor studying his part in the wings (the areas to either side of the stage) because he has been suddenly called on to replace another. First recorded in 1885, it eventually was extended to other kinds of improvisation based on unpreparedness.”
Whenever you are called to lead, be it at work, at home, in your career, in a specific field, in an event, in a company or organization, etc., the last thing you should ever do is to “fake it till you make it” or “just wing it.” You may get away with being unprepared for a short period of time, or perhaps for an extended period of time, but you will eventually be exposed as being unprepared and unqualified. Any success you experience if you lead a team, a household, a business or an organization while you are unprepared or unqualified will be temporary. And trust me, making up lost ground when you lose the confidence of the people you lead is an uphill battle.
Like I said when I started this, I have been guilty of most if not all of these errors. I have tried to fake it until I make it or to wing it in situations, and I’ve regretted it every single time. I’ve jumped into positions that I was not qualified for. I’ve taken on projects I had no business accepting responsibility for. I’ve stepped into arenas I was not trained to compete in. I’ve done it more times than I wish I had to admit. A real leader does not step into a position or a situation without having a plan of action. In business, this is called the business plan.
As you may already know, I am the lead consultant at GC Rosario Group. I’ve been working as a consultant with businesses across many fields since 1990. I looked back at my consulting clients who were struggling, and realized that on an average year, 86% of my them came to me without a business plan. I’ve consulted business professionals in finance, accounting, management, economics, legal services, security, entertainment, religious institutions, education, real estate, insurance, marketing, sales, international business, human resources, health services, administration, management information systems, business administration and management, sports, fitness, travel & hospitality, politics, counseling, psychiatry, churches, non-profit and not for profit (not the same thing), dentistry, agriculture, aviation, police work, trading, coaching, analytics, science, banking, food, product development, investments, the car industry, manufacturing, and the list goes on and on. This means that on average, 86% of those in these industries who are struggling made the mistake of starting and operating their businesses without working on a business plan. Before we go on, let’s think about that figure from a positive point of view. In case you missed it, if you prepare a detailed business plan before you launch your business, you will be in the top 15% in your field, regardless of what industry you operate in.
Maneuver properly! Operating a business without a business plan is like trying to operate a car in a new city without a road map or a maps/navigation app. Operating a business without a business plan is like operating a ship across an ocean without a compass, without a map or without any navigation equipment. Operating a business without a business plan is like trying to fly a 747 airplane without any guidance equipment, gauges and indicators. Operating a business without a business plan is like trying to bake a cake from scratch for the first time without a recipe. So to recap, your business plan is the road map, your compass, your navigation equipment, your guidance equipment, your gauges, your recipe, etc. It’s what will tell you where you are headed and what will keep you on the right track.
I hope you understand how important it is to have a good business plan prior to launching your business. This works with small projects and large corporations. It is vital to any church or faith based operation. It is a key tool for the success of for-profit, non-profit and not for profit organizations. Long story short, if you want to be in the top 15% in your field, you need a business plan, and GC Rosario Group can assist you in preparing yours, or restructuring an existing business plan. Schedule a complimentary 30 minute consultation with us today. Remember, it’s easier to get organized if you have a plan, which brings me to mistake #6.
ERROR #6: DISORGANIZED LEADERS CREATE CHAOS
I don’t know about you, but when a person, place or thing is disorganized to the point that it is chaotic, I find it extremely hard to stay focused. When a leader’s attention is pulled in too many directions, the people this leader leads will be lost and less productive. The organization of an organization is extremely important. I’ve had clients approach me calling themselves an “organization” when they should really be calling themselves a circus (no disrespect to any ethically led circus since I had one consulting client in 2016 that operated a traveling circus).
All businesses should strive to be organized and operate like a well oiled machine. Don’t let things fall though the cracks of a broken operational system. In Error #5 I mentioned that no responsible business person will operate their business with a Just wing it attitude. People who do not organize their business properly find themselves winging it often. This leaves a business open to problems and issues that could have been avoided with a little better planning and organization.
Here is a checklist to help you get organized. I’m not going to go into them in detail. If there’s an item on the list you feel your business needs help in, schedule a FREE 30 minute consultation HERE.
- Prepare a budget and stick to it
- Clean, organize and purge your work area
- Create a workspace conducive to productivity
- Clean up your computer’s desktop
- Have a scheduling system that works
- Make a list of your goals and revise it often
- Get rid of anything you haven’t used in a 18 months
- Develop a daily routine for your professional & private life
- Track what you do with your time & cut out time wasters
- Go Digital / Go paperless / Get rid of outdated paper files
- Have an organized system for your passwords to save time
- Use a calendar that works for you, paper or digital
- Don’t wing it ever / Plan ahead for important events
- Do not procrastinate / Do it now, not later
- Automate as much of your business as possible
- Group similar tasks together to work efficiently
- Delegate jobs to capable people on your team
- Handle customer support in a timely manner
- Plan your social media campaigns in advance
- Keep track of invoices, payments and expenses
- Don’t let Uncle Sam sneak up on you / Plan your taxes
- Don’t let unread emails pile up / go through it daily
- Have an inspirational, motivations, educational reading list
Again, if you would like to get more organized in your business, schedule your confidential 30 minute consultation today. Let’s talk about it.
ERROR #7: THEY DON’T SERVE YOU / YOU SERVE THEM
This is a biggie! It’s the prideful leader that believes in the top-down approach. We all know this type of leader. I dedicated an entire blog to it titled Bosses Get Served. Leaders Serve, which you can read by clicking here. This top-down attitude comes real easy to many businessmen, and it is by far the most damaging form of leadership to any business.
The top-down model of business says that as a leader (owner or operator) in a business setting, the employees are there to serve their boss. Bosses expect to be served, and often use detrimental practices and policies to force people to do what they want them to do. A true leader, which is becoming rarer and rarer in our marketplace today, is the type of leader that serves his employees. These leaders put their people first, and make sure they meet the needs of their employees in order to make the business run efficiently and prosperously. Let’s face it, a happy team member is a productive team member.
All the most effective leaders I know see themselves at the bottom of an inverted organizational pyramid. In other words, if we are going to meet the needs of our people, the newest people coming onto the team are fed first and then we work our way down to administrators, supervisors, managers, partners and eventually to the owner. This is not common in today’s me-centric world. But more and more leaders are learning that the true pioneers in any business setting are those who keep their people happy.
If you, as a leader, don’t feel a moral obligation to take care of your people, odds are that your business will be among the millions of businesses that fail every year. If you are a logical person and understand how business works, you’ll see that you don’t have to be a nice guy to see that this is just a smart business model. See, many businesses lose in their field because they can’t keep up with employee and team member turnover. Unhappy employees leave. Every time this happens, the company has to invest time, money and other resources into training someone new. If we keep our people happy, they’ll never go to our competitors and they’ll fight harder for our business.
Great leaders build up other leaders from within. You can do this by creating an environment where great people are drawn to be in. Leaders who operate from a pride-driven platform choke the life out of their business and their employees. Leaders who operate from a humility-driven platform edifies their people and teaches them how to be servant leaders themselves.
Treating your people right will inspire them to fight for you willingly and enthusiastically. This is an important measure of success in any business or organization. All great leaders want to finish every job strong, and they will accomplish many more wins for the organization if they don’t try to win alone. Delegating important projects to others is like letting your children drive for the very first time; it can be scary but it builds character and responsibility.
One of my mentors, George Namnum once told me that any great mentor wants to build up leaders so great that they someday become the mentor’s mentors. Read that one again; it’s important. Great mentors create other great mentors. So don’t boss your people around. Lead them to greatness instead.
So, which one of these was one that you plan to implement immediately? Let’s talk about it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
George L. Rosario is a Brooklyn NY born & raised businessman & entrepreneur turned consultant. He started GC Rosario Group with his lovely wife Claudia. With over 30 years of service to the marketplace in NYC, George has relocated and been graciously adopted by the business community of South Florida. He now travels the country helping businesses and organizations thrive in today’s noisy environment. The post-Covid era forced many to close their doors, but also opened new doors of opportunity, growth and prosperity for innovative thinkers. George & Claudia Rosario help companies, businesses, organizations and teams develop the necessary skillset and plan of action to not just survive, but thrive in this new world. GC Rosario Group helps both secular and Christian based institutions meet their goals.
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