#5 - One simple strategy to gain more freedom from your company

What?? 3 weeks have passed without you hearing from me?!

Ouch! That’s NOT what I had planned - at all.

BUT that was what I needed.

I didn’t gave up on you.

I was just busy with the most important job of all: family time.

After 2 years without seeing my grandparents and the rest of my big family, I was finally able to spend a couple of lovely weeks in Brazil with them.

I wasn’t planning to disconnect, but while I was with them, it just seemed like everything else could wait - and that’s a crazy truth: it can!

This got me thinking.

We all know that running a company requires a lot of your attention and time.

If you’re anything like me, you will agree that family and the relationships we build are a big part of a meaningful life.

But more often than not, if you’re not aware, it can take much more from you than what you were willing to give at first.

Many times you might give up spending meaningful time with your family because your business needs you. And I bet you tell yourself that you’re doing it all for them.

If you’re on the early stages of your business, I understand and support you. But if this is not your case, today’s topic is for you.

If you’re past the early stages of your business and you say things like “If I’m not there nothing happens”, stick with me.

Changing how you see your business changes everything.

If today you were locked out of your company for one year, what would you want your team to know?

Focus on direction, not destination

How does this question help you?

1. It helps you understand what you’re not communicating or aligning with your team.

2. It helps you build more autonomy in your team trusting they know the right direction.

3. It helps you to set priorities right.

Let’s discover your answer by breaking down the question:

Part 1: “If today you were locked out of your company”

This means that starting now, you wouldn’t have any contact with your business systems or people. It’s like you have suddenly vanished.

Part 2: “for one year”

One year is a good time line to think this question through.

Because within one year your business can go completely broke. It forces you to think beyond the daily tasks and more towards autonomy of thinking and decision making. Direction, not destination.

Part 3: “what would you want your team to know?”

What does your team need to know to keep driving the business in the right direction?

Delegation and automation are important to keep your company from needing you 24/7, but that’s not enough for keeping it thriving for one year without you.

I’m talking about the most important and most often ignored routine: ALIGNMENT.

Alignment starts between partners and should then be expanded to each team member.

Alignment is not a goal, but a THINKING SYSTEM.

When a team is aligned, they are empowered with trust and autonomy to find their own ways to fulfill the "mission."

This is the basics of what you should consider when building alignment:

• What direction are we going? What is our long-term vision of impact?

• What are our one-year goals? What are our five-year goals? And why?

• Who are we as a company/brand? What makes us special, and what should we keep focusing on/leveraging?

• Who are our customers/clients? What is the intersection between what we value and what they value?

• Consider these four areas: marketing, culture, sales, and product development - and for each of them, define:

  • What is the top priority for each of these areas when facing conflict and decision making?

  • What behavior/outcomes are expected from this area?

So the real question we're trying to answer is:

If your company were a ship, what would be the guidelines that keep every crew member operating in the right direction, even when the captain is not there?

Alignment, like in any relationship, is not something you build out of one conversation, and it’s not one way communication routine. It’s something that requires intentional time!

With every client I work with, they receive their own customized Brand Guidelines Checklist. It is a short and to-the-point document that covers the questions I mentioned before and more, for all four areas (sales, marketing, culture, and product development), which they can share with the team and use to create alignment meetings and review if everything is going in the right direction.

This is something you can do too.

Now, it’s your turn…

Action step

👉 Set aside 30 min to work on your version of this prompt to get the clarity you need to set your business for authentic growth (and get the time you want with your family).

Warmly,

Nathalia Montenegro

P.S : Ready to find out exactly what you need to do next to grow your business?

Here's how I can help:

• If you haven't yet - connect with me on Linkedin to get daily insights about how to get clarity about your brand and yourself as a leader.

• Book a complementary clarity call with me here to find your unique path forward to grow your business.

PS2: New here? Read the previous issues of this newsletter here.