Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Leading Through Diversity And Inclusion

 

When I started to write this series for Canadian Business Women I thought I would be providing tips and strategies for leading and growing your business through people. That’s my thing, I had no idea at the time that we would be hit with a perfect storm that is still turning our world upside down. We are still dealing with COVID-19 as we start to open up our businesses and within the last month we have seen the growth of a world-wide movement that has (finally) brought everyone into the conversation about race, injustice and inequality in a way that we have never seen before.

For many of my small business owner clients and colleagues, this has lead them to take a closer look at their own business practices and personal leadership on diversity and inclusion.

Diversity helps all businesses, including small businesses, foster innovation. improve productivity and strengthen the bottom line through a wider and deeper range of ideas, approaches to problem solving, and perspective that comes from diversity in race, gender and other diverse backgrounds.

Diverse consumers also have tremendous purchasing power, according to a diversity study done by Deloitte. Many of those diverse clients and customers will make decisions regarding whether to do business with you based on the extent to which your business and products and services are attuned to their demands and desires.

Many small business owners don’t realize that they are not diverse in their offerings and practices for hiring or choosing suppliers or other business partners. We all have unconscious biases that affect how we see the world. This means that even when we don’t intend to discriminate, we are unconsciously drawn to people “like us” and as a result end up reinforcing the status quo in our business and personal relationships.

We can end up surrounding ourselves with people like us, thereby creating “mini-mes” on our team which doesn’t provide us with the bandwidth for problem solving and growth. While we are great at what we do, we actually need people with a variety of strengths and backgrounds in order to get the results and achieve the success we want for our business.

In order to foster that diversity, we need to consciously think about how we choose employees, suppliers, and business partners and how we engage with them. Rather than rely on our old methods of referral, and hiring within our network, we need to actively put measures in place to ensure diversity in the process and reach out to organizations and individuals who can bring a different perspective to our business.

I remember working with one client to help build out his digital marketing team. He was very clear that he wanted a diverse group of people, that this was critical to the success of the team. I gave him an assessment to complete for each of the roles in order to create an objective range of success for hiring the team. When the results came back, almost every assessment result looked exactly like his. So even though he made a conscious decision to actively create a diverse team, his unconscious bias created role profiles that were just like him, and this was even before he began to recruit or interview candidates. This is how unconscious bias works.

So if we want to embrace diversity and inclusion we need to examine our own practices and decisions. If you have employees, review your existing systems such as hiring, performance evaluations, work assignments, promotions, and compensation systems. These are all potential areas for systemic bias. Look at other policies like holiday observance to see how inclusive they are. If you are hiring, review the role description and requirements and consider using unbiased assessment tools to help screen candidates.

Creating a more diverse and inclusive business requires more than just mission statements on a website. It requires active outreach to communities that are under-represented. Using your usual network to find employees, suppliers and partners will only reinforce the status quo. You can start with a small goal, like 10% of spend for diverse suppliers.

As you consider steps you want to take for diversity and inclusion in your business, do so in a way that genuinely reflects your values, your brand, and the work you do. Diversity starts with you as a leader, so it’s important to be aware that you, like all of us, have biases. We need to make deliberate choices to change how we make decisions about the people we surround ourselves with and how our practices and systems either reinforce the status quo or promote inclusion. Change, even in a small business, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that will take time, dedication and consistency in your efforts. The payoff in financial and business success will be well worth it!

If you would like to talk with me directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their leadership strengths so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/?ref=settings

Adapting Your Business Through COVID-19

 

A couple of nights ago I woke up at 3:00 am and just couldn’t get back to sleep. My mind was racing and my thoughts were all over the place. It doesn’t happen all the time but this was just one of those nights.  In my last blog Leading Through Resilience I talked about how your emotions will come in waves as we continue to navigate through this new way of being in the world. I had to remind myself that this also applies to me and to cut myself a break.

I share this to remind all of us that even when we think we are “doing fine” we are still adjusting and living in new reality that none of us could anticipate. So if you are unsure right now about what to do with your business, you are not alone.

We are all experiencing a form of grief and it’s not a linear experience. Don’t push yourself or force productivity out of guilt or worry that you are not doing enough. If you are contacting clients and customers in this state, it will show up in how you are engaging with them and they will sense your stress (or desperation). You want to be calm and confident when you talk to them.

Many small businesses are struggling. Unless your business is considered an essential product or service or you are Amazon you are likely experiencing some challenges. Its easy to get caught up in what you can’t do right now, given all of the current restrictions. So what are some things you can do now that will support you and your business?

 

Grow Yourself

This may be a good time for self reflection and development. Focusing on something that helps build your strength as a leader in your business can help you build resilience and confidence as well as give you something positive to channel your energy and do something good for yourself and your business. It can also help you establish some of that much needed structure that I spoke about in my last post.

There are many virtual offerings for developing your leadership capabilities that will help you come out of this more confident that you can take your business forward with the tools and knowledge to do so. Investing in yourself this way will help make all other decisions easier for you as you navigate through this time.

 

Grow Your Team

If you have a team, investing in developing their ability to work together will help you build a more effective, productivity team and build your collective resiliency for any future challenges.  It also provides a much needed moral boost as you signal to your team your intention to grow the business with them and are committed to investing in that. It demonstrates your confidence in your business and in them to move forward.

 

Grow Your Business

As you think about how you can adapt your business, focus on what is within your control and influence, not on what is outside your control. Consider that your clients and customers are also facing unprecedented challenges. Here are some questions to kick start your creative thinking:

How are your clients or customers impacted by Covid-19?

What do they need from you right now and how can you deliver that to them?

Is there something outside your current offering that you can do for them?

Are there other complementary businesses you can team up with to provide a necessary products or service at this time?

When you have an opportunity to work with clients or customers go above and beyond what they expect. The extra care you give them now will be a good investment in your ongoing relationship and future business opportunities.

Now is also a good time to re-think your marketing messages. Given that everyone is affected by this pandemic in some way, many people are likely more sensitive right now to overly “salesy” or pushy tactics to get their business. I’ve been checking in on clients regularly to see how they are doing and whether I can do anything for them or if they just need a sounding board – someone to listen. Your clients and customers will likely appreciate and remember you for reaching out to see how you can help them, rather than trying to get them to commit to buying from you right now.  And if they need help now, they will more likely turn to a supplier who cared more about the relationship than the sale.

If you would like to talk with me directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their leadership strengths so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/?ref=settings

Leading Through Resilience

In my last post, Leading Yourself And Your Business I talked about taking care of yourself because you are at the centre of your business. We’re going to go a little deeper into that because it is critical for your ability to sustain yourself and your business through this time.

We may be living with some form of isolation, social distancing, and other measures for some time while we gradually open things up and continue efforts to contain the virus.  So while daily virtual happy hours with friends may have gotten you through the last month, it’s not a good long term plan for you or your business. Developing resilience is going to be key.

You might think that resilience is already your superpower, that you have been through shit before and came out of it successfully. Great!  The thing is, no one has been through this particular shit before so many of your very excellent coping and striving skills may or may not serve you here. Your stress, emotions and energy are coming in waves and can change on a daily basis. One minute you feel almost “normal” again, perhaps even optimistic and the next you are completely overwhelmed. You will likely continue to have days where you feel hyper productive and on top of things and other days where all you want to do is heat up a frozen pizza and binge watch a new Netflix series in your PJ’s.

On top of the constant stream of news and social media updates and we now have to consciously think about doing things that we usually do unconsciously, like taking a walk, running errands, or going grocery shopping. This depletes our mental energy without even being aware of it so of course we feel tired and wired. So how can we ground ourselves and our businesses in the middle of this chaos?

There are many ways to find your footing but there is one thing that will definitely help you build and sustain resilience: Routine. Routine is your friend right now. Before this crisis I had regular meetings and deadlines for deliverables and generally more structure in my life, even if I occasionally rebelled against it. Now much of that has been removed and in the absence of that structure it’s easy for days and weeks to blend into each other and to loose track of time. While this is normal for what we are going through, it won’t serve you for sustaining and supporting your own mental and emotional health and your business for the long haul. A routine, some structure in your day will help you maintain your sanity and your focus.

So how can you establish a routine for yourself so that you won’t feel so restricted that you throw in the towel and stay up all night with your latest Netflix binge? I borrowed a few tips from Mark Manson about how to establish a very simple yet effective routine:

Schedule a regular wake up time – Whether you are an early bird or sleep till noon find a time that works best for you most of the time. A regular wake up time will help get your day going with some consistency.

Schedule time for health and self care –rest, exercise meditation, journaling…you need to carve out time every day – one hour minimum, for whatever helps you look after yourself and your energy.

Schedule Time to connect with others – socializing “fun” time with family and friends whether it’s a zoom cocktail hour or virtual bingo, you need to maintain a regular connection with people you care about and who care about you.

Schedule Time to go to bed – even if you aren’t tired. You will have sleepless nights but staying up with the TV or social medial won’t help you. Try a book or guided sleep app.

Schedule work hours – I know that business is not usual right now and you may not have a lot of your normal work to do but this can be a time to reflect and explore some interesting options for your business and invest in developing yourself. (more on that in my next post!) You will have days where you don’t feel like thinking about your business at all but if you commit to just one thing and see it through it will help you move forward.

If you need someone to talk to directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

http://catalystleadershipsolutions.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

Leading Yourself And Your Business Through The Coronavirus Crisis

This post was originally going to be a follow up to my last blog Why It’s So Hard To Let Go Of Control, however, like other entrepreneurs and small businesses making changes to adapt and respond to COVID-19, I’ve put that on the back-burner and instead will share some thoughts on how we can all get through this.

All businesses and industries big and small have been impacted by this crisis, a situation that is evolving daily. You are at the centre of your business. So right now, the most important thing you can do for your business is to take care of yourself.

You may be feeling a whole range of emotions at different times of the day or week.  There is no one way or right way to respond to what is happening. A couple of days ago I broke down and cried. Because I miss seeing my parents, family and friends, because my nephew just had a baby and I can’t go see them, because I had a moment of just feeling helpless and I needed to let it out.

This is a stressful time and many of us are feeling a sense of overwhelm and anxiety. It’s a normal response to a situation that is constantly changing. Much of the anxiety we feel is not just about concerns about the virus and its impact on our lives and business, but also from feeling a loss of control.

You may find yourself having moments where you are questioning whether you should even continue doing what you are doing and may want to just walk (or run) away from your business.  Again, normal. This is testing all of us. We are facing something that we have never seen before. There is no road map for what is happening now and so any feelings and thoughts you have about packing it in is just another way of processing all of this and trying to work through it. It’s important to accept and honour your feelings in order to move through them and to nurture your own resilience at this time. Accept what you are feeling and let those feelings guide you to action.

You may also be feeling a lot of internal and/or external pressure to “do something”. Unlike people who are now working from home for employers, your business depends on you continuing to keep it going and growing. It’s easy to fall into a guilt trap or feeling like you are lacking somehow if you aren’t “jumping into action” right away. Take the time you need to regroup, take care of your family and do what you need to do for you. Take one step at a time and if nothing else, remember to breath. The best answers for your business will come easier when you are not forcing yourself to be productive while you are feeling the weight of everything.

There are many available sources of support to help you deal with the stress of this time – all pointing to the need to eat well, rest well, and find ways to move your body and calm your mind. You won’t have to look far on social media or on line to find groups and communities –  even among your friends and neighbors – who are coming together to provide needed social contact and support, as well as resources to keep us all sane. I didn’t realize how much I needed to connect with friends just to check in and see their faces, even if it wasn’t in person.

Many small business groups are offering ways to connect with other small business owners and talk about what we can do to support each other and how we can transform our businesses through this time. If you haven’t already done so, take advantage of free webinars and conference calls that can provide needed mutual support and ideas for your business. I was amazed at how much of a difference it made to me just to join a couple of webinars and conference calls. I’m inspired by all the small business owners who have stepped up and offered their services and products to their colleagues and communities.

We truly are all in this together. If you need someone to talk to directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

Why It’s Hard To Let Go Of Control

 

What was it that made you want to be an entrepreneur? To take that leap and start your own business?

Most entrepreneurs I’ve talked to say something like:

I wanted to have more control, more freedom to do what I want to do and make my own decisions

I wanted a different lifestyle that didn’t conform to the usual corporate job/work

I wanted to create a legacy for myself and my family

I had a passion/idea for X and wanted to see where I could take it.

I wanted to start a movement around X

As entrepreneurs we are drawn to start our own businesses because we want to have control, to be independent, make the decisions, take risks and make our own rules (or break them).

The irony is that some of the reasons we start our own businesses are possibly the very things that can challenge us if we want to build our business to greater heights.  The paradox of entrepreneurship is that if you want to grow your business you have to let go. Specifically, you have to let go of control.

And yet it’s the one thing that many entrepreneurs don’t do well. They don’t realize the potential of their business because they get in their own way. They don’t make the transition from controlling everything to letting others get it done for them and as a result many businesses fail to grow or just fail.

 

So why is it so hard to let go of control?

Well for starters, it’s just plain scary. When it’s your business, your clients or customers that you’ve built and worked so hard to develop and nurture, it’s not easy to hand that over to someone else.  While entrepreneurs are typically risk takers, putting your business – your “baby” in the hands of anyone else may seem like too big a risk to take.

Even if you have a capable team it’s hard to shake the need to stay in control. You might find yourself doing things like following up constantly to check their work (more often than you realize), “joining them” in client meetings, or having everything go through you for approval – right down to what type of coffee to order. It’s hard to trust others to take care of what you have built, to take care of your clients and create the ideas, products or services for your business.

So if it’s so hard, why do it? Why not continue to stay in control of everything in your business? The straight answer is that your business will not grow and reach its full potential if you don’t. At some point you will run out of capacity if you aren’t there already.  You only have so much time and personal resources to develop and manage your business and you will reach a time when you realize you can’t be all things to everyone. Which brings us to the next question – when should you consider giving up some control?

 

Here are some signs that it’s time:

  1. You are profitable but working crazy hours. You can’t remember the last time you took a holiday. You are at a point where your business has become your life and you don’t know where you end and it begins;
  2. You are struggling/striving through tasks and projects that would be better suited to others who have the expertise. You aren’t making the most effective use of your time and energy. You aren’t focused on what you do best because you don’t trust anyone else or don’t want to pay for the help;
  3. You are missing or loosing opportunities because you don’t have the resources, time, or energy to take them on or you are so busy doing the work you don’t step back to take the longer view and see where your business can go;
  4. If you have a team, you may be complaining that they don’t step up or take initiative, or you may be experiencing high turnover. You are continually hiring what seem like capable people but after a while their performance starts to slip and you find yourself having to tell them what to do all the time or step in and take over;
  5. You may be starting to lose the passion you once had for your business because you are trying to juggle too much and are feeling burned out. Selling beads on a beach in Costa Rica is looking good to you right now.

If you are at the point in your business where you are experiencing any of these, it’s time to let go of control. As a reformed control freak myself, I can tell you that managing the balance between controlling and letting go of aspects of your business is complicated. But if you focus on playing to your own strengths and, build a great team that complement what you do best, and let them do their jobs, your business can grow as big as your vision will take it.

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

Leadership Blog– What does it take to be authentic as an entrepreneur?

Leadership is an integral part of running your own business and key to your success as an entrepreneur. Whether you manage people or manage relationships with other stakeholders, authenticity is a powerful ingredient to success.

So what does it mean to be an authentic leader and entrepreneur? Here are 6 tips that will help you keep it real.

  1. Self Awareness – Most of us have some sense of ourselves. As an entrepreneur developing a healthy sense of self is critical to growing your business. Developing self awareness means fostering a stronger and deeper understanding of who you are – your values, skills and knowledge, what makes you “tick”, your best approach to getting things done, your strengths and challenges, and your impact on other people.

It’s an ongoing journey that involves times of self reflection, regularly seeking feedback and coaching to calibrate your own perspective on your impact and effectiveness.  A strong sense of self comes from accepting who you are, knowing your strengths and where you need help.  When you are grounded in a balanced view of yourself it gives you what people call “presence”.

  1. Integrity – I could probably write an entire blog just on this one.  A study by the Centre for Creative Leadership shows that integrity is the key factor in determining success for business owners and leaders.   As an entreprenurial leader, you demonstrate integrity in a number of ways:
    1. You say what you mean and mean what you say.  This helps you build trust and trust and integrity go hand in hand.  People always know where they stand with you. There is no hidden agenda.
    2. You communicate in a straightforward, honest fashion and tell the truth, even when the news isn’t good.  Sugar coating bad news to minimize impact on employees, customers, or clients can backfire. When the truth comes out (and it usually does) you have lost credibility and it’s a much longer road to gain that back.  Be open and transparent and you will continually build trust and credibility.
    3. You are consistent and reliable. This doesn’t mean that you are not responsive to shifting needs or necessary changes.   You can adapt your approach and be flexible to changing circumstances and new information while remaining true to your values and larger purpose.
  2. Courage – You tackle difficulties and challenges head on. You are willing to take the risk to be vulnerable when there is pressure to conform.  You have the internal strength to strive to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to define you. It’s good to accept feedback to raise self awareness, just not at the expense of ourselves and what we value.
  3. Respect – You value and appreciate your customers, clients and employees. You show interest in them beyond what they can do for you. You recognize others for their accomplishments and give them second chances when they make a mistake.   You appreciate the different capabilities that others bring to your business and that everyone has different ways of doing things. You don’t insist that everything is done your way or that everyone behaves like you or values only what you value.
  4. Accountability – You take responsibility for your actions and decisions and those of your team.  The buck really does stop with you.  You follow through on commitments and hold others accountable for their committments.  Too often I have seen people in leadership roles point fingers at each other or worse, at their employees when mistakes are made.   If you want people to trust you and follow you through challenging times, be accountable.
  5. Vision – You have a view of where you want to take your business that inspires others to do their best work, even in challenging times.  You have the ability to look beyond the immediate day to day/ month/quarter, or year.  Rather than short-sighted decisions, you take a longer view of the impact of decisions and can accept short term hits in the interest of longer term value.  That value is directly connected to how you and your business serve the larger community or even the world.

Ultimately, your inner compass guides your daily actions and decisions more than external pressures to conform to someone else’s idea of who you should be and what you should do.  This enables you to accomplish great things as you have earned the trust and loyalty of your customers, your employees, and other stakeholders.  And that is a powerful leader.

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

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