Eric.Coet

09/14/2023

How prepared is your team for sudden turns in the industry or economy?

When an alarm sounds in a fire station, it might ensue in what feels like chaos. Adrenaline is pumping, and there’s activity all around. Uncertainty looms—but not for the team of firefighters. They may not know what they’re about to walk into, but they’re guided by precise systems and practice. They keep their equipment, minds, and bodies prepared to respond efficiently and effectively.

How is your team preparing for the future of your business? Are systems and strategies in place to help your team work efficiently and effectively? Turn every meeting, conversation, and project into an opportunity to practice efficiency and guide your team to greater collaboration and impact.

09/07/2023

Can you picture 75% growth in your company? What could that look like? What would it mean for your company and team moving forward? After working with Blake Martin, owner of White River Electric, we achieved exactly that.

“Now I have a great team in place that I can delegate through. They’ve done a great job of managing the different aspects of the business. That’s allowed the business overall to be more successful. It’s taken the pressure off me as the owner, allowing me to pursue other opportunities.” - Blake Martin | Owner, White River Electric

08/01/2023

What data are you using to inform business decisions, and is that data reliable?

Meteorologists have long pursued accurate predictions of weather patterns and events. They use Doppler radar, satellites, and other instruments to collect data. Viewing that information in light of past weather events enables them to make informed guesses as to what will happen in the near future. As technology advances, so does their accuracy. Yet even with all the data, they can only see a short distance into the future since the weather, at its nature, is unpredictable. The good news is that business patterns and systems are more reliable than atmospheric changes.

As a leader, you have the advantage of not only predicting but directing your company's future. Be careful not to succumb to wrong-thinking that you cannot predict or project based on reasonable assumptions. Projecting, building a profit plan, and setting measurable goals is a powerful way to direct resources in the right direction. Further, by utilizing accurate data and wisdom from past decisions and events, you can lead your team away from catastrophes or setbacks and toward greater success in the future.

04/27/2023

During good times, it's easy to read leadership books and get behind all the cliché quotes, methodologies, and soundbites from the experts. We can learn from case studies and cast big vision and goals. When margins are high, and rain produces abundant crops, it seems to make a hell of a lot more sense to be strategic, work on the future, and take risks. But how do we think about the future when we are just trying to survive? Here are 6 strategic moves to build a more sustainable future for your co-op...

Here are six strategic moves your Co-op can make right now to build the foundation for a more sustainable future whether it rains or not.

03/30/2023

What if, instead of getting really good at solving problems, you become better at mitigating them? Look over the past year and identify the challenges your organization faced. What issues arose amid your team? More importantly, how can you avoid the same problems this coming year? Don’t exert energy solving the same problems time and again. Instead, when your team overcomes an issue, identify what did and didn’t work, so you have a plan of action in the future. Streamline problem-solving by pre-solving issues likely to arise again. When your organization overcomes a hurdle, employ that hard-earned wisdom in your strategy moving forward.

03/23/2023

Is your organization growing too fast?

As leaders, we constantly ask ourselves how to grow our teams and organizations. But there is a hidden danger to growing too quickly. In fact, slow growth can be a superpower.

Consider a forest of trees. Scientists have discovered that if a young tree grows slowly, it has a longer lifespan and is stronger and more resilient than trees in a rush. Like a tree eagerly stretching toward the sun without first strengthening its roots and trunk, an organization greedy for early payouts or taking unmeasured risks makes itself vulnerable.

Don’t be tricked by the fear of missing out when you see organizations in your industry growing quickly. Instead, focus on slow and steady growth that will gain momentum and create a resilient legacy.

03/21/2023

As leaders, we have an affinity for numbers. We gravitate toward their power to measure success. But if we’re not careful, we can become fixated on the numbers to the detriment of what really matters.

How else can we measure success? Perhaps it’s time to rethink progress and wealth. Can we detach these ideas from the numbers that often limit them? In Matthew 6:21, Jesus taught that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Twenty years from now, do you want your heart tethered to numbers? Or would you rather your affections and attention be preoccupied with family, memories, and legacy? These are what create true wealth. Perhaps success isn’t so much about profit and loss sheets but instead about values that can't be affected by dips in an industry or a fluctuating economy. Yes, it’s crucial to measure the progress of our organizations. We should use the numbers to accurately gauge our present reality and inform future decisions. But let’s not tie ourselves too closely to those numbers. Let’s use them but not allow them to own us. There is truer wealth to be gained that numbers can't measure.

03/09/2023

It’s a grand thing to do big things in life. But a nobler cause is equipping others toward greatness.

In fighting to end slavery, Frederick Douglas was known as an astounding orator. But perhaps he made an even more significant impact in his role as a teacher. He knew he could be more effective by raising more leaders. He sought knowledge and then pursued opportunities to use that knowledge to help others grow. When given the opportunity to teach a small group of students, he wrote, “Here, thought I, is something worth living for, here is an excellent chance for usefulness.”

When you look out over the landscape of the next year, what do you see as an excellent cause worth living for? Further, how can you make yourself useful in that cause? What information is your employee trying to gather, and what course can you enroll them in to make it happen? Is a young person in your church or community looking for a mentor? We talk about being generous with money and time, but what about knowledge? This year, look for a chance to bring tangible value to those around you and to share knowledge.