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Where do I belong?
Are we subconsciously driven towards our destiny and if this is true; how do we know we are heading in the right direction?
I believe we all have a purpose and when we understand, accept and live this purpose there will be a sense of belonging and self achievement within us. On this road to self discovery, I reflected in who I was in my team and as a team player. I could always visualise how a business could achieve results. After much reflection I looked into the three categories which create a successful company; the worker, the manager and the entrepreneur and which one was I destined for.
Workers enjoy the achievement of goals and targets set out for them. They are driven by job descriptions and security of a weekly wage. Workers, in my opinion are the most important of the three categories as no business can survive without them. I have always enjoyed the team environment and the support each worker gave to the other.
Managers enjoy leading and directing others to achieve targets; they are in the position to identify and encourage changes in business and workers. I felt comfortable as a leader for over ten years working with people to achieve results; but was not satisfied; a very confusing realization.
Entrepreneurs’ are driven by a vision and have the need to follow that vision at any cost, they see failure as a learning experience but this will never stop them trying again, they know and set the expectations of what targets are needed to achieve this vision. Entrepreneurs will take many risks and make many sacrifices; why? because they can visualise their destiny.
Have you ever felt like you needed more from life, that no matter how many targets you achieve and how many people you support, your life just does not seem fulfilled? Think of the three categories above and ask yourself – which category are you currently in, and is this where you belong?
Author: Jan Tinsley
Business Growing Pains – 'The Beginning'
When working in somebody else’s business I enjoyed building the right foundation ensuring trust and loyalty was a chosen value with team members. Achieving this was an amazing feeling and continued to motivate me for over 10 years, yet, could not understand why so many leaders did not implement this leadership style??? Didn’t they see that achieving results through people gave them freedom to market, build and develop new processes or enhance existing achievements? After a couple of companies and many teams later, I felt I needed more than leading someone else’s team to satisfy my career. I could visualise myself running my own company with a team wanting to succeed, as they too could see and feel my vision. So I left a well paid career to live on a dream.
Supporting others is my purpose in life – a strong direction I discovered when I was fortunate enough to be involved in a Breakout development within the ANZ bank - Reality check …“so this was why I often redirected my energy in support of others?”Once I accepted this I could also accept and realise that this is what I enjoyed doing – as the saying goes “you cannot change who you are, so learn to work with what you have”, and this is what I did!
I chose a cleaning company – why? Because it not only supported others, it had already been supporting me.My cleaner Michelle was a valuable part of my family.
The process in starting my cleaning company was structured with training manuals, expectations, communication and feedback, thus involving everyone associated with the clean – the client, the cleaner and the business.This process contributed to the rapid growth where I then made the fatal business mistake I’m sure many business owners make… I became so involved and attached to supporting everyone associated in my business, that I did not see it grow beyond myself.I knew I needed to do something about my structure, but by this stage I had become too busy working in it to even think about working on it…. Mistakes were made; communication broke down, resulting in clients and cleaners doubting my worth… a very stressful position to be in and one I don’t recommend – ever!
Going back to the beginning is often the last thing we think of in a time of stress and anxiety… but I did.
The position I really enjoyed prior to management was a personal assistant.I made it my purpose to understand my manager’s role and managed upwards to provide him with the freedom to achieve beyond his role…. This made me feel good about myself.
My cleaning business was in need of support, and I felt the answer was in the structure; what am I best at and what do I outsource?I want to market and grow my business, have sub-contractors cleaning in my business and the support of a Secretary to allow my business achieve all the above.
My cleaning business wasn’t big enough for a full time secretary, but I didn’t see the point in a part time secretary, so why not share a secretary? And why stop at sharing one secretary, surely there are many businesses out there in the same situation as I was.Thus my second company was created – “A Virtual Secretarial Service”.
My secretarial service instantly structured my cleaning business to support my clients, my cleaners and most importantly, me.I was now in a position to continue to support everyone in the cleaning business; remembering supporting others is my purpose - but now I have developed a business that can support many small to medium business as well, assisting them to grow at any pace; my new adventure will provide them with the structure to do this.
Having the support of those around you, in my opinion, is the secret to good business.“You should be in business for yourself, but not by yourself”. Outsourcing is vital to a small business looking to expand; this is where your business needs a good structure to ensure you continue to do what you do best and let others do the rest.
Now you can get out there and really market your business, because the value of a great secretary can help you do this – just don’t leave it too late!
Author: Jan Tinsley
