Turn up the Heat

Spring Day most certainly crept up on me and all of a sudden there it was. I had to rush to buy some ‘Spring-ish’ flowers (as the friendly cashier put it) and organised a last-minute Spring breakfast at a nearby restaurant for the team.  Whilst I wasn’t really prepared for Spring Day it did remind me of how excited people seem to get and how quickly our attitudes change.   There’s a renewed optimism in the air. Winter is over, or nearly so, and there’s the summer to look forward to. Things seem greener, blossoms are starting to fill the trees, new leaves and shoots are everywhere to be seen. On the downside, I find people already saying things like: “It’s now downhill to the end of the year”, “The year is almost done”, count downs to Christmas have started, and other similar nonsense. I say nonsense with the greatest respect. For most businesses, the financial year runs from 1 March through to 28 February. So 1 September is only the start of the 2nd half of the year.  We’re now only halfway through and it’s, therefore, an exciting opportunity to review the first half and put pedal to the metal for the second. This is definitely not the time to start slowing down or slagging off. Let’s go back to Spring and nature in particular. Why is it that nature starts coming alive in Spring? Why does the growth start? Why is it slow at first and then seems exponential? Pretty simple answer. It’s the heat. Turning up the heat is the catalyst. Warmer temperatures, longer days, and more direct sunlight are what start the growth, and then provide the ever-improving exponential growth. Your business is no different! Now is the time to run up the heat. For the second half of the business year, you need to ensure you’re turning up the heat across all facets of your business to ensure you finish strong. There will not be a good summer if your spring is not on time. Now is the time to increase marketing, up your communication with clients, train staff harder, focus more on KPIs, manage cash flow better, encourage creativity more and take everything that works and do more of it. The energy your business needs to create the much-needed momentum comes from you turning up the heat. Bigger, better, faster, more. Don’t even think about slowing down; instead, become focused on creating more urgency. If you’re ahead of your budget then push harder to guarantee you have a record year. If you’re behind on budget, then push harder than ever to make up the backlog first, and then get ahead of the curve.  The goals don’t ever change. You do! Use the excitement of Spring to turn up the heat in your business … starting … NOW! NOW is the time for ACTION! Better yet, get an ActionCOACH TODAY to hold your feet to the fire and have an amazing second half of the year. I guarantee you’ll thank me later!

Harry Welby–Cooke, ActionCOACH Country Partner
impact.actioncoach.com | impact@actioncoach.com