Don’t Skip The Training Wheels - Kristen Sweeney - Leadership in Action- Episode #012

11/23/21 • 33 min

Entrepreneurs are always trying to get their business out of its training wheels as fast as possible while experiencing the fewest growing pains possible. A successful entrepreneur in her own right, Kristen Sweeney, owner of Kristen Sweeney Consulting and copywriting extraordinaire, is this episode’s special guest. Learn about solving problems at every level of business, how to set expectations for growing your business, and the importance of going through those growing pains with your business and learning from them.

Takeaways:

Even with as much as you may learn about how to run a business in a classroom, you can’t skip past your business’ training wheels. The growing pains are an essential part of developing both your business and yourself.
If your company is truly operating really well, there’s nothing that will jump out at you and catch you off guard.
Just because your company is growing doesn’t mean that you can outgrow your problems. As your company grows, so do your problems.
You will never be able to get to a point where you have solved every single problem that your company has or could have.
The problems that your company faces will grow and evolve and you will have to stay vigilant to catch them and be open-minded to solve them.
The Great resignation has really shown that a lot of people are taking a step back and reevaluating what they want in life. It is important that you have a Personal/Professional Alignment between your work and your life outside of work.
A good way to wind down before bed is reading. It’s better to read fiction before bed than a business book because if you read a business book you’re more likely to be kept up by trying to figure out how to implement what you just read, leading to worse sleep.

Quote of the Show

“You have to grow up, your company has to grow up, You have to grow up as a leader. You can't go from being five to being 15, just because you hang out with a bunch of teenagers, you have to be seven first” -Kristen Sweeney

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-sweeney-1209/
Crews Consulting Group website: https://crewsconsultinggroup.com/
Kristen Sweeney Consulting website: https://www.kristensweeneyconsulting.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
YouTube - https://youtu.be/46MCMwbeSiU

Takeaways:

Even with as much as you may learn about how to run a business in a classroom, you can’t skip past your business’ training wheels. The growing pains are an essential part of developing both your business and yourself.
If your company is truly operating really well, there’s nothing that will jump out at you and catch you off guard.
Just because your company is growing doesn’t mean that you can outgrow your problems. As your company grows, so do your problems.
You will never be able to get to a point where you have solved every single problem that your company has or could have.
The problems that your company faces will grow and evolve and you will have to stay vigilant to catch them and be open-minded to solve them.
The Great resignation has really shown that a lot of people are taking a step back and reevaluating what they want in life. It is important that you have a Personal/Professional Alignment between your work and your life outside of work.
A good way to wind down before bed is reading. It’s better to read fiction before bed than a business book because if you read a business book you’re more likely to be kept up by trying to figure out how to implement what you just read, leading to worse sleep.

Quote of the Show

“You have to grow up, your company has to grow up, You have to grow up as a leader. You can't go from being five to being 15, just because you hang out with a bunch of teenagers, you have to be seven first” -Kristen Sweeney

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-sweeney-1209/
Crews Consulting Group website: https://crewsconsultinggroup.com/
Kristen Sweeney Consulting website: https://www.kristensweeneyconsulting.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
YouTube - https://youtu.be/46MCMwbeSiU

Previous Episode

Humility in Business - Dan St. John - Leadership in Action- Episode # 011

Oftentimes in life, it is the mindset of a person that is the difference between success and failure. Entrepreneur and photographer Dan St. John joins the show to discuss some of the mental mouse traps that entrepreneurs can fall into and some of the ways to get yourself out of them alive and well. Dan proposes ways to challenge yourself, be more comfortable with yourself and your product, and how best to approach challenges from a mental perspective.

Takeaways:

Don’t let good be the enemy of perfect. You can spend five minutes getting something to 95% and another five years trying to get at that last 5%.
It’s important to realize that you are not the only one struggling with a certain problem. In a business sense, seek out other entrepreneurs and listen to their stories, you’ll likely find many have been dealt a similar scenario and found ways to overcome it.
No man is an island! You shouldn’t feel bad for asking for help, that shows your humility and an eagerness to learn. There’s no shame in not being able to do something solo.
It’s good to be the caveman in the room! If you go into something thinking you have all the answers and trying to be perfect you are only doing yourself and everyone else a disservice.
Confidence comes from humility. No one person has the perfect answer to every question and it’s ok to have to wait and think about a good response or idea.
Learning from and listening to others is a necessary part of every process and cannot be overlooked.
Don’t get caught in the trap of only doing what you are good at and get praise for, this can severely limit what you think you are capable of. Make sure to try new things and persevere when the going gets tough as these may be more rewarding and open new doors.

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lightshedphoto/
Company website: https://www.lightshedphoto.com
Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightshedphoto
Company Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lightshed_Photo

Shout Outs:

Superhuman (App)
Wandering Bear Coffee

Ways to Tune In:

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
YouTube - https://youtu.be/OGO392-IeLA

Quotes:

I think that confidence comes from the humility

Next Episode

The Iterations of Innovation - Steve Rovithis - Leadership in Action- Episode #013

So many people are terrified of making even the smallest mistake in their business and they are missing out on the opportunity to innovate. This awesome conversation with Steve Rovithis, CEO of Rovi Homes, revolves around embracing your failures, finding what works from other industries, and how best to integrate changes and innovations. Stick around for all that and even some great tips for making the perfect pancakes!

Takeaways:

Entrepreneurs must be ok with making mistakes. The only way to innovate is to iterate. There will be failures every step of the way, but that’s how you will learn best, so be more comfortable with making mistakes and then learn from them!
As entrepreneurs, you have a great opportunity to really focus on one aspect of your business and go on a learning deep dive into that area. Once your business is in a good place overall, try immersing yourself in everything you can find about one part of your company, such as culture, leadership, marketing, etc.
Many entrepreneurs hear about some new concept and try to force it into their company immediately after hearing it exists. Try to slow down the integration of new ideas so you can more fully understand them and assess what it being successful really means.
You should be open to trying new things in your company for 30/60/90 days. Understand that it may take longer than 90 days to see the impact of some changes and consider trying it for 6-12 months.
When trying something new in your company, it is imperative to have KPIs measure the impact of the change. Equally important is defining what success looks like for this change. Note also, that what success looks like can change over time.
You don’t know that you don’t like something until you try it. A great example of a business that wasn’t willing to try something is Blockbuster, which had the opportunity to buy Netflix multiple times. They didn’t try anything and now they’re long gone.
Don’t only look to your competitors for the answers to your problems. Examine other industries for solutions, there is more that is applicable than you may think!

Book Recommendation: