The company is a person, and you are its mind.
As a director, you control the company. If there is more than one director, then you have a board of directors. Together, you control the company. As a trustee or on the board of trustees, you, too, are the mind. You are responsible for all actions and inactions of the company or charity, just as the mind is responsible for the body.
Strengthening a Team
Let’s imagine we have a team that is not performing well. We would like to see improvements. Continuing with the body analogy, let’s think of this team as being the arms. Now, if we want to strengthen our arms, we lift heavy things. The process starts with making a decision, which we do with our mind. Then we set a plan, again, this is the mind. Perhaps we subscribe to the gym and pay for a gym membership. The mind, hands and eyes are all needed for that. The mind is needed to get to the gym, and decide on what exercises, set the weight levels, decide the number of exercises, etc.
We may decide to use a personal trainer and then not have to make all these decisions. Again, this is for the mind to do. If we are not happy with our arm strength or we lack the motivation to stick to a plan, we do not put the blame on our arms alone; we take responsibility and address it.
It is for the board to make the decision to strengthen a particular team, to make an improvement plan, to pay for training, and to put resources towards improvements.
Company Culture
The company culture can be seen as the personality of the company. There is an undeniable interconnection between our mind and our personality. In this way, the board sets the culture of the company, whether it wants to or not. The board’s behaviour directly affects every aspect of the company.
When it comes to personality, we either accept it or we change it. It can be a little more challenging to change our personality than simply improve our arm strength, but we can make changes. Let’s say we want to become more positive. We might then spend more time with people who are positive. We might read more positive or hopeful literature. We might adopt habits that promote positivity. Over time, our personality changes.
Like the mind, the board can take steps to change the culture. You might recruit a director with qualities that you want to promote. You might reward behaviours that are consistent with the culture you want. You might adopt habits that are consistent with the culture you want. Over time, the culture will change.
Strategy
As individuals, we cannot devote 100% of our time to self-improvement. We need to work to pay for that gym membership. Muscles don’t grow without sleep, and we need to pay for the roof over our heads. We need to decide how much time to allocate to it, and for this, we might set specific goals.
I might decide that to strengthen my arms, I’m going to bench press 200kg every day. This will not work. If I tried this, I would likely get injured. Setting an everyday goal would not give my muscles time to recuperate. I would be spending all my available time on just one area. I need to be more realistic. Similarly, if I set 50 or so new habits to improve other areas of my life, I would probably give up on all of them.
It is the same with a company. We cannot put all of our energy into improvement in just one area. The strategy you set, as the mind of the company, will need to ensure that the rents are paid, that the day-to-day operations are not hampered by the improvements and that the goals, plans and expectations are reasonable. By the same token, if there is no strategy, there is not likely to be improvements.
The Future
The great thing about realising that you are the mind is that you are in control. You can put the company into the position you want it to be in. You can make the future of your company what you want it to be.
I might never bench press 200kg. But if I can keep myself motivated and give myself the time, food and sleep needed to do this, then I might get there. Your company might never reach the FTSE100, but if that’s your goal, you have the right people on your board and you give your team the resources needed to accomplish that goal, then you might.
If you are looking for a corporate “personal trainer” to help you create a realistic improvement plan for your business, please do get in touch. You can contact me here for an initial consultation.