By 
This series of explaining all three C’s of a business success is a much-needed one, as far as I am concerned. In this era of information, there exists a real problem. When some things are said in a fancy, interesting manner, people not only take it blindly (Not following the framework I provided to get clarity in the last article) but also propagate it and thanks to social media it spreads really fast. That is not a quality of a leader. The 3 C’s that forms the base of any business success essentially constitute the leadership attributes of a business leader. And the success of any business is determined by the mindset of the business owner. Like all successful traits, business leadership also demands a balance. As a businessman should rightly have an obsession about his business which helps him to be more responsible, he also needs to have a sense of detachment in his own business.
Now, what am I trying to convey? Even though the businessman has lived with the idea of his business more than anything else, he/she should realize that business is a different entity which is separate. I have seen people make some business decisions based on their personal emotional satisfaction. That may not be good for business always. At certain times, you need to take some business decisions that are really hard and can hurt your personal emotions. If business owners see their business as an extension of themselves, then those hard but very necessary decisions would be shelved. A sequence of such happenings can actually lead to a business shut down. To make such hard-lined and wise decision and execute it, a business leader needs to have COURAGE. The second C in attaining business success is courage which is very essential to a business leader. Even though all three C’s are exhibiting leadership qualities, this C exhibits it more visibly and clearly than the other 2 C’s.
The Courage in this context means doing certain things that benefit the business. Business owners have to understand, that not only their actions/words are observed, but also their inaction and silence are taken into account seriously, both by their customers and their employees. In business, context courage means exhibiting a correct sequence of action whenever it is necessary. There is a famous saying by a famous English novelist and critic James Agate “A Professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn’t feel like it”. At certain times in business, a business owner has to do certain things which he doesn’t feel like doing it. But those things are generally rated as wise things in business. How to develop this courage? Like all other things, I would like to suggest three things which form the courage mentioned above. They are
- Aspiration
- Generosity
- Resilience
Aspiration:
This is a must to perform any big deeds. All the great things have started with a single step and that single step is stimulated always because of an aspiration. With the help of the first C, which is clarity if a business owner can define a clear aspiration that his/her business is intended to achieve, that sets the action steps of the business owner and his/her team rolling. Without a clear aspiration, it is hard to rally a troop around and without this, it is hard to convince oneself to do certain tough things even though he/she not feel like doing it. As an action plan after reading this, I encourage you to write at least three aspirations for your business and paste it in your visibility from where you operate in your office. Whenever you are faced with decision making just read them and try to make decisions that are in adherence with those aspirations. Continuous implementation of it will develop a good courage in you as a business owner.
Generosity:
As mentioned earlier in the article letting go is a part of business leadership. There are three layers in a business people mindset, but that is for another article. The generosity is a very key indicator of you moving upward in those mentalities. In simple words, the more generous you are the more successful your business will be. Generous in the way of treating people, generous in the way of acknowledging the failures, generous in the way of giving away things that are not your products, that actually displays your courage. So this can be used as a tool to build courage too. Having empathy and acting with compassion are the big words in the business environment today, but without being generous you can neither be empathetically nor behave compassionately. As an action plan, make a list of things that you can give away that will not hurt your business. Start sharing it generously with people whom you know.
Resilience:
There might be a lot of definition for resilience but for me the correct mix of these two forms the crux of it. Never do easy, and never stop till you drop dead are the two things that form the core of the resilience. In Businesses, people always find themselves in this tricky position, where they have to choose between doing easy things and right things. For example, a business owner needs to fire a bad apple from the business. The easy way to do is to sugar coat things and be very nice to them, but that gives a negative image about him/her other employees. The right thing to do is to be upright with the bad apple, that why he/she needs to leave the organization. So practicing resilience will definitely help to develop the courage that is essential to run a successful business.
I hope you read this article more than twice to understand the essence I am trying to bring in the article. The action plans given here are well researched and followed by me personally, as I believe one has to practice something before he preaches. The next article we will shed light on the much-discussed term – Confidence.
Stay tunes with WEXT.in Community for more Intresting Articles.
