A business that is ‘ready to conquer the world’ is one that has defined its quest but it will only succeed if it builds the traits that enable it to persevere on this journey. Many will dream, but few will succeed.
Active Knowledge Question:
What does it take to conquer the world?
Enthusiasm
Whether you are searching for a new business to commence or looking to take that next big step in your existing business, it always starts with enthusiasm for an idea.
An idea where you can see an opportunity, hopefully, a chance to fulfil an unmet need. A need where you can deliver more customer value than anyone else. A value that is aligned with your capabilities and strengths, and where no one else will be able to come close to the value you are able to deliver.
A marketplace that you will create through the value you are able to deliver into a need that is evolving and unmet. Where customers will embrace the value you will be able to provide to them. And if you get this right, the profits will be well worth the risk and effort.
Your purpose and motive must be clearly wrapped around the customer need and value you have envisaged, and from which profits to sustain and reward will be earned. Suppose your enthusiasm is bedded in the thoughts of exceptional profits. In that case, you are starting out on the wrong foot, and the motive you are seeding of profit-first will only disperse and neutralise the competitiveness of your business.
But enthusiasm only gets you so far. Your passion for what you believe you can create must be built upon a foundation of traits. Traits that will enable you to step out, adapt and evolve as you begin to create this new market and win the customers that will make it all worthwhile.
Traits
When thinking about new business ventures, we often focus on data and running numbers to measure up the potential size of a market, costings, overhead costs, pricing etc. Then, we develop and test market strategies, and so goes the market testing process. For some business leaders, this is 101 before commencing a new business, and for others, they just go with their gut and give it a go.
Few pause and ask if they and their team have, personally, ‘what it will take to make this opportunity a reality?’ I have written many times on the importance of the competitive engine in your business and ensuring your business is competitively fit. But, of course, a business only comprises the people who work within and with it. And ultimately, it will be their personal strengths that will enable this opportunity to be won.
There are a series of traits that form what I have come to call the Achiever Trait. The characteristics that you find within a person who has built a life of enduring success.
But today, I would like to look at the question of traits through a different lens, one which allows business leaders to step away and ask and answer the question of ‘does my team’ possess the necessary traits to be successful?
There are six traits that, if present, support and enable the individuals in a team to move from enthusiasm to reality. They are in three sets:
– Wisdom and Intuition
Wisdom defines good judgement, which comes from experience and a lack of ego and self-interest. The ability to look at opportunities and events without a bias and to draw upon a knowledge that allows you to make informed decisions.
Intuition refers to the capacity/ability to move beyond data and what we may describe as facts. To discern patterns and relationships which may, on the surface, not be obvious. Some may call it ‘gut intuition’, but I think it may be deeper than that feeling, and I believe it comes hand in hand with wisdom.
Wisdom and intuition require a robust humility to allow you to listen, hear and learn. It also requires that you can cut through the noise that often exists in businesses and the marketplace and not be distracted or misdirected.
– Courage and Faith
Courage refers to the willingness to step into the unknown and to accept the risks both professionally and personally. Opportunities are never certain, and there must be a willingness to embrace these uncertainties, and the consequences should things not work out as expected.
Faith is about trust and confidence in yourself, your team and the business, in its people and systems. It is an active willingness to trust.
A strong faith reinforces and renews one’s courage.
– Strength and Willpower
Strength is all about capability when it comes to discussing opportunity. It is the ability to deliver on what you have promised and, in the example of a business, the ability to deliver the client value you promised. Do you have what it takes?
And then willpower is about endurance. Nothing will happen with ease, and there will be many unexpected barriers. Do you have the willpower to persevere and overcome?
Willpower is a limited resource, but it is renewable if periods of rest and replenishment are provided.
Investing in your strength and compounding on it lessens the drain on willpower.
Before stepping out to conquer the world develop the traits that will enable you to choose the right opportunity, step forward with confidence and deliver with certainty.
An entirely new level of performance.
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All the best in the success of your business,
Richard Shrapnel
