Business Growth with ActionCOACH

By: Darren Fisher
January 16, 2013

Let’s be honest, a day of “training” doesn’t always invoke a feeling of euphoria. And as a business owner, time is ultra-precious, so to pay to take a full day away from operations can be nerve-wracking on many levels. But, a day at Growth Club with ActionCOACH of Elm Grove was worth a day away.

After attending numerous expos at the local (BizExpo) and national level (VM World), it was an entirely different experience sponsoring the ActionCOACH GrowthClub this January. GrowthClub  is an opportunity for business owners, executives, and leaders to focus on their business instead of working in it for a full day. As a corporate sponsor, it was the perfect opportunity to market our company while increasing our "Be" (not to be confused with Sesame Street Letter B).
 
Multiple of "Be"
The primary educational focus of this event was the “Be x Do = Have” formula.

Be. Our “Be” is all about our thoughts. And thoughts over time develop an attitude which can be changed.

Do. Our “Do” is the activity we produce. Many of us are great at our do.

Have. Our “Have” is the goal of our activities. As a business owner, many of us believe that having comes from doing.
To get the greatest return on our doing, the coaches taught us to focus on who we needed to be.Therefore, as we increase our “Be”, the effect increases our “Have” exponentially. 
 
Leadership “Be”
As a corporate sponsor, we were challenged to communicate who we would need to be for our team’s success. I focused on three “Be’s” for me to maximize my team’s success.

Be Scalable. For the company to grow, I can’t do everything. We need to develop a process for everything we do and develop systems to consistently improve our methods. This will allow us to train and leverage others to achieve our goals and objectives.

Be Strategic. Many successful people are great at doing. We see a task.  Then, we do the task and receive positive reinforcement for our achievements. However, to maximize our resources, we really need to be strategic. Being strategic means setting aside time to think about how to maximize your resources by continually considering where you’ve been, where you are and where you’re going given your available resources. Given this information, make the best decision possible.

Be Creative. No matter what we do as business owners, things will always change. Employees change, competitors change, customers change, and markets change. To navigate these changes, we need to continually develop new ways to deliver products and services. Being creative means thinking differently about solving problems in a way you haven’t done them in the past. The operative words are “you haven’t”. Creativity doesn’t always have to be new; it’s just new to you.   
 
Video "Be"
As a sponsor, we were charged to produce a video expressing who we needed to “Be” as a leader. The DFC "Be" video focused on being scalable, strategic, and creative. To achieve our corporate goals this year, I believe these “Be’s” are necessary for maximum efficiency. I tried to connect with the audience, educate them on who they needed to be, and stand out from the other sponsors, but you can be the judge of my efforts. Given that experience though, there was one additional lesson I discovered in this process.
 
Maximize "Be"
To truly maximize our “Have”,  I believe staff too must maximize their “Be”. If we all increase our “Be”, and keep our “Do” the same, we will multiply our collective “Have” accordingly. What an awesome opportunity to grow our organization! Overall, I really had a great day sponsoring GrowthClub.

I would encourage other business owners do take a day off to work on their business and achieve a greater success.