Elimination Before Elevation: S³ Sustainable Growth Strategy

Hello and Welcome December! !In the past I have written several blogs and articles about specific sustainability topics and issues that pertain to organizations such as water equity, strategic organizational alignment, the importance of analytics, the circular economy, and social responsibility issues such as the Charlottesville episode in August and how some businesses in that area teamed up and made a few decisions to protect their community and their businesses. I decided, however, to niche down my focus because sustainability issues in organizations are very broad and I don't want to imply I am capable of being all things environmentally sustainable to all businesses. I was all over the place and a confused mind does absolutely nothing! I decided to focus on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and GLR (Global leadership Responsibility) social issues as they impact an organization and the leader.

Live 4 Change, LLC is a Christ-centered, Biblically based consultancy and we believe the Bible is the best tool to teach us how to be socially responsible citizens and our beliefs are frequently found in our organizational culture. The social media posts are two-fold: inspirational and organization leader-focused. However, my primary business focus is to develop leaders and their organizations as well as demonstrate to them how to build CSR principles into their existing business models. To learn more about CSR please click on this link and read my Jan. 30, 2017 blog.

Many of us are excited about the holidays in this month and are making plans on how money is going to be spent, where to take vacations, how we are going to spend time with family and friends, and even planning for what the new year will bring. However, there are also some who are experiencing dread. The business didn't reach the projections for the year and the actual numbers just doesn't seem to reflect the effort placed in trying to grow and expand. Going into the next season seems to be difficult at best and the future seems obscure and bleak. Well, I'm here to hopefully encourage you and persuade you to shift your thinking and intentionally plan to elevate in 2-0-1-8! (get it??) As I mentioned previously, I had to do some reflecting on how I can best serve my clients. I had to make a deliberate decision to concentrate on what I love while also offering a service that will meet my clients needs. This required taking an assessment, doing inventory, and identifying what needed to be eliminated from my initial business model. I know I will probably make more adjustments, but now, I am more confident in my offerings to my clients because I gained more clarity. Now, I will begin to elevate more because I will attract more of my ideal clients. I enjoy inspiring, encouraging, and edifying my clients while also challenging them to connect their business strategy with CSR principles which will enable them to build a more sustainable and efficient organization. But I had to make some changes.

What are you going to eliminate so that you can elevate in your business? Could it be that in 2017 you rolled over inefficient practices that caused stagnation in your organization? Could it be for example, that as a leader, you decided to reduce or remove personal and professional development from your budget and your company isn't moving forward because it's unable to compete? Are you a learning organization? Peter Senge, a notable scientist, came up with the concept of a learning organization that basically is open to continuous training and experiential learning; transforming itself. If your organization is not aiming for transformational change it will never fully reach it's peak performance and will not only fall short, but soon become obsolete. There maybe other decisions made or not made, that are contributors to the inability to advance. But here are 3 ways to ELIMINATE -to-ELEVATE:

Eliminate a negative mind-set. Leaders, how we think influences how we make decisions and it will impact our entire organization. Everything starts in the mind.
Take inventory of what worked well and what didn't work well this year. We need to do this quarterly as well as year-end. Where is your strategic plan? Did you follow the action steps? Did you have buy-in from your team? Was there engagement at every level in your organization? Interdependence within the organization encourages growth and elevation, not independence.
Make the change- just do it! Pay attention to how you think, what you say, how you respond, and what you do. The mindset shift is tied to your character and how you behave tells your employees, your team, your followers what the acceptable behavior is in your organization. Embrace long-term. Some of the necessary changes will take time. What needs to be eliminated can be hidden in the culture of the organization. If your company is accustomed to certain behaviors that are debilitating and stifling, it's hard to identify, therefore, difficult to eliminate.

These are just a few key ways to eliminate inefficiencies in your organization. Let's not drag into 2018 the same hindrances from 2017. It's a new season and we can make it a productive one. Listen, making these changes are not easy and can be overwhelming. You may need a third party consultant, someone neutral, who can see what you aren't able to see because you're always in it. I'm here to help leaders like you. Live 4 Change, LLC is a global strategic sustainability consulting firm centered on providing leadership development solutions for desired outcomes by incorporating CSR sustainability principles in your business structures and design. Click this link and take advantage of a FREE 15 minute leader assessment or schedule a 1 hour consultation. Let's get started!

P.S. If you would like, please click this link and check out the Facebook video I did on this same topic, "We must Eliminate Before we Elevate". It's from a different perspective, but I believe it will be beneficial to you.

Through consultancy and leadership development, Live 4 Change, LLC will help "transition you from where you are now, to where you desire to be."

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