Like the three-circled venn diagram, there are three essential elements to a successful business. Your greatest success is going to be right in the heart of where those three essential elements overlap. Unfortunately, most people only focus on one, maybe two of the circles. Are you neglecting any?
First Circle — The Client. For people in similar lines of work as mine–coaches, therapists, chiropractors and the like–this is the circle that gets most, if not all, our attention. Let’s face it, we’re doing this kind of human work because we really care about people! I’m a coach because I love my clients and influencing the kind of thinking, feeling and behavior that changes lives. And most of us will, on those days when we’re frustrated by how slow the business growth is going, say something along the lines of, ‘Man, why do I have to sell and do bookkeeping, I just want to do what I do well–I’m good at it, I have the skill, I just want to be true to that!’ What we’re saying, of course, is we only want to do that. We don’t want to deal with the other circles, and oftentimes our focus on the client leads to neglect of other areas of our lives–or of our business, which leads me to circle number two.
Second Circle — The Business. For many people, especially those in heart-centered, human-focused work, it’s the business circle that is often neglected or put off to the times when our will-power is weakest and our interest at its lowest point. I’ve had a PhD level therapist, someone who’s arguably very smart and amazing at what he does, cringe and shy away from the thought of “building his business.” Admin work, sales, finances, marketing, and everything in that realm is not only distasteful but intimidating to so many people driven to entrepreneurial ventures. Trust me, I can relate; it is by far my weakest link. But the reality is we need to earn money, we want to earn money–not because we’re greedy or in it just for the revenue (such thoughts go against the very grain our existence), but because money is essential for living. Almost everything we need to serve the clients of circle one is derived from money: education, phones, tools, places to meet them… If we go out of business, if we fail to earn a happy wage plus enough to support our business needs, taxes and the professional services that help us thrive – we can’t serve our clients. This is the circle that probably demands our highest level of personal leadership and where I find myself coaching a lot. It’s a funny thing.
Third Circle — The Self. The challenge in this circle is that too many providers read this not as self, but as selfish. The overused analogy is the Oxygen Mask Theory from airplanes: “You have to put on your own mask before helping another.” You know why, right? Because at that altitude, you would pass out in about 30-45 seconds. How much good can you do in 45 seconds? But even if your neighbors passed out, and you were solid with your mask on, you could help everyone around you, and once they started to breath again they would come right back to life. The circle of self refers to everything: your health, well-being, relationships, authenticity, vulnerability… –it’s being the best version of you. Often the professional who struggles with business will end up neglecting his self–giving away services, solving people’s problems without payment or even sacrificing new a client relationship because their own baggage gets in the way. In the long term, that doesn’t serve the client, and it certainly doesn’t serve our self or our business. We need to be authentic, true to ourselves, and come to work with honesty and vulnerability. When we’re being authentic and taking care of ourselves, we’re able to give our best to our clients. And in the end, isn’t that what our clients want of us–our best selves? They want to know they are working with strong, confident, successful people that pull us up from above, rather than push us out from behind.
The heart of it all, the rounded triangle in the middle of that venn diagram, is where you’ll find the powerful decisions that completely and totally serve you, completely and totally serve your client, & completely and totally serve the business. That’s a small portion of the possibilities, but it’s where you want to focus. That’s where the best version of yourself, your business, and your service to your clients can be found. That’s where your long-term success lives. So rather than take clients that don’t serve you, or making business decisions that lose you money or go against your dreams, health or values, go after the clients right in the middle, that call out your best self, that allow you to be profitable and allow you to do your best work for them to reach their highest goals.
