Do you ever feel like LNC success is elusive? These are 5 principles that can ramp up your business success.
Principle #1 – Stop Complaining
Whenever it comes to success and business, the best place to start is by committing yourself to not complaining and to not hiring anyone who is a complainer. Of course, it is perfectly fine to raise concerns, to question dubious choices, and to remain thoughtful and analytical at all times.
However, needless and persistent complaining generally accomplishes nothing positive. To the contrary, it drags you down, reflects poorly on you, and can transform otherwise productive co-workers into cynical, whining unproductive people.
A negative person can destroy the morale in your LNC business. Take care when you interview people to watch for negativity. Sometimes a person will effectively hide it, but other times it is blatant. Run from the person who displays negativity. In short, focus on hiring people who describe effectiveness in solving problems, not complaining that they cannot be solved.
Principle #2 – Strive to Reach Your Full Potential
One of the things that prevents many LNCs from achieving LNC success is complacency. Once they begin to do well at something in business— be it marketing, producing LNC reports, inspiring employees, or something else—they take a miniature mental vacation.
That is—instead of ratcheting things up further, they don’t push themselves to continually improve. While they are coasting, other LNCs are learning new techniques, technology or tips to improve their skills.
So, instead of being complacent, push hard to reach your full potential at every turn.
Principle #3 – Limit Your Use of Short Cuts
Of course, some short cuts are a good thing. If you can find a way to go from point A to point B in half of the time and there is no downside to the new route, then you should of course take it. Shortcuts I used all the time were creating tables or figures that I reused in reports. For example, I had tables that described the stages of pressure sores, or the parameters in the Glasgow Coma Score. It was easy to insert that into a report.
But in many instances in business, we do face tradeoffs. For instance, we might be able to cut costs by not giving employees a raise, but as a result, they might become disgruntled and intentionally shirk their duties.
Remember that there are tradeoffs. Cutting corners, not taking the time to thoroughly proofread, not organizing the medical records well can lead to trouble.
Principle #4 – Be a Continuous Learner for LNC Success
LNCs have different learning styles. Some learn all the time; and find ways to incorporate that learning into their lives as they go. These people are continuous learners.
On the other hand, some of us learn in discrete chunks. For instance, we might find out how to use a new software program, but immediately after doing so, we will cease to learn anything new about it until it is absolutely necessary.
In general, LNCs who learn in discrete chunks often find themselves at a serious disadvantage, as they often neglect to learn many important new things about products, people, and tools they interact with on a daily basis.
Try to be a continuous learner. Discipline yourself to learn something new every week. Block off an hour to watch a webinar, read a book, attend a lecture. It may be difficult, but you’ll be happy you made the switch.
Principle #5 – Always Have a Plan – Even if You Don’t Use It
Some people serially-plan their lives. For each minute of the day, they have something scheduled. Like clockwork, their days play out with very few unforeseen events. I have a colleague who plans her day in 15-minute increments to the point of knowing exactly when she will walk her dog.
I can’t say I have that kind of grip on my day (and thankfully don’t have a dog that needs to be walked 4 times a day). I know what I need to do each day and I keep distractions to a minimum. You will find that having a to do list and resisting temptation to drift from it will keep you focused and productive. It is far too easy to wander away from what you need to be doing for your business so you can achieve LNC success.
Follow these 5 principles and leave a comment on whether they help.