Business Action Plan for 2023

We are In the final months of 2022, our thoughts are probably turning to 2023 and what we want to accomplish in the new year. And I’m willing to bet that most of we want 2023 to be a great year – not just a good one. we had like to put the difficulties and move your business upward and onward  So, now is the time to create an action plan for achieving greatness in 2023.  

To create your 2023 Great Business Action Plan, I suggest learning from the master of going from good to great, Jim Collins. Jim’s very first book, Beyond Entrepreneurship (co-authored with his mentor and Stanford professor Bill Lazier) provided a roadmap for entrepreneurs and leaders of SMEs who want to build great companies. 

To clarify, a great company meets four criteria:

Performance -- is self-sustaining because it generates enough cash flow (through highly profitable operations) and it consistently meets other objectives set by its leaders and owners.

Impact -- plays a significant leadership role in shaping its industry – it may not be the largest, but it has an out-sized influence.

Reputation -- is admired and respected by outsiders and is often considered a role model.

Longevity -- has staying power – it remains healthy for decades.

We are doing many things since we started the business. But according to me, there are 4 key actions for us to take in 2023 stand out:

1.     Set and Live Your Core Values

“Start with Values, Always Values.”

-- Jim Collins

According to Jim, identifying core values is one of the top priorities of a great business.

“If you define success by money, you always lose. The real scorecard in life is how well you build meaningful relationships and how well you live to your core values. This means that values come before goals, before strategy, before tactics, before products, before market choices, before financing, before business plans, before every decision.”

But having core values is only the first step – we must also live them out. Our core values should function as the “operating instructions” for the people in our organization -- they should inform, inspire, and instruct everyone every day. Remember, “Living to core values is often inconvenient, sometimes costly, and always demanding. It is indeed the hard stuff.”

So, as you set your core values, consider what it would take for your organization to take them to heart. Define specific behaviors, expectations, and standards for operationalizing them in areas such as:

1.     Hiring/firing/evaluating employees

2.     Selecting business partners such as vendors and service delivery agents

3.     Enforcing quality controls and safety measures

4.     Setting performance goals and incentives

2. Make Sure You’ve got the Right People at the right place.

“First Who”

– Jim Collins

“First in importance, above every other activity, is imperative to get the right people on the bus.” In fact, “We need the right people far more than we need the right business idea.”

First, get the right people on the bus and then figure out where to drive it. During my consulting career, I always asked my clients if you find the right person then hire them and then create a position for them. Beginning with the right people enables you to more easily adapt to a changing world. Having the right people means “the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.”  The right people are self-motivated to produce the best results.

To help you determine if you have the right people on your bus, then ask the following questions:

1. Are you beginning to lose other people by keeping this person in the seat? - The wrong people threaten your culture and your ability to regain the right ones. 
2. Do you have a values problem, a will problem, or a skills problem? - You can train skills and you can align values (to some extent), but you can’t do much if someone doesn’t want to change and grow – if they’ve lost the will to develop. 
3. What’s the person’s relationship to the window and the mirror? -“window-and-mirror maturity, When things go well, the right people point out the window, giving credit to factors other than themselves… and when things go awry, they don’t blame circumstances or other people for setbacks and failures; they point in the mirror.” 
4. Does the person see work as a job or a responsibility?
5. Has your confidence in the person gone up or down in the past year?
6. Do you have a bus problem or a seat problem? : The right person might be in the wrong seat – if so, can you move them or develop them? The right person might be in the wrong seat – if so, can you move them or develop them?
7. How would you feel if the person quit?

After answering these questions, you will come to know whether you have the right person or wrong person on the bus,

Secret 3: If you want to grow people, first grow yourself.

“Leadership is a responsibility, not an entitlement,”. It is “a decision, not an accident;

If you want to lead your people then grow yourself.

Secret 4: Take care of your people.

To build a great company, leaders need to create a pipeline of leaders. People reciprocate the care, belief, and trust you give them.  Always hire great people and give them great things to do. I always interreact with my clients to hire great people. If you have the budget to give them a 50k salary then don’t hire people with a 25k salary. Just invest in your people and then see the miracle.

The function of leadership --the number-one responsibility of a leader is to catalyze a clear and shared vision for the company and to secure commitment to and vigorous pursuit of that vision.” To fulfill this responsibility, leaders must practice “the art of getting people to want to do what must be done.”

This makes several key points about how to lead:

1. First, it’s your responsibility as a leader to figure out what must be done.
2. Second, leadership is not about coercing people to do what must be done – it’s about getting them to want to do it. They must believe in the purpose of the organization and they must believe they can help achieve it.
3. Finally, leadership is an art, not a science. “You have to discover and cultivate your own elements of style,”

So, there you have it – your 2023 Great Business Action Plan:

a)     Set and live your core values

b)     Make sure you’ve got the right people

c)     If you want to grow people, first grow yourself.

d)     Take care of your people.

Of course, greatness in 2023 also requires goals, strategies, and operational excellence, but building a great business must start with these actions.  And in fact, these actions are actually all about one thing: choice – the choices you make as a leader. It’s your choice to set principles and priorities; create the environment for success; take action and get better.