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  Introduction

  As I work with small business owners, I see common mistakes that prevent business growth or goal achievement. One of the most common is the desire to personally touch and control all aspects of their business. I often see a small business hit a sales level the owner can manage and then get stuck there until the owner can learn to let go and delegate significant responsibility, authority, and decision-making to one or more leaders in the organization. Sharing leadership requires clarity, resources, trust, and training.

  If you are positioning your company for growth, you must develop a strong 2nd in Command or 2nd tier of leadership in your organization.

  For most small businesses, the 2nd in Command emerges out of circumstances rather than a conscientious decision. Sometimes the default 2nd in Command is a family member, an employee that has been around the longest, or an employee the owner sees him/herself reflected in. Occasionally, these defaults can work. Most often, they do not. Whatever your situation, the steps outlined here are critical to successfully expanding the leadership of your organization.
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  Create Clarity

  Success starts by identifying what success means to you. What does your success look like? When your success requires the support of others, you need to be extremely clear when defining your view of success. This is your Vision. In order to engage the right resources to help you achieve success you will need to have each of the following:

  • Clarity of Vision
  • Clarity of Personal Strengths
  • Clarity of Values

  The process starts with developing a clear understanding of you, your needs and the needs of the business. This is the first and most critical step and the one most often skipped.

  Do Not Skip This Step

  The effort you put into this first step will impact the success of all the others. Let me explain each of these.

  Clarity of vision

  Why does your business exist? Why did you found or buy this company? What value does your business bring to your customers or clients?

  Many business people own a business based on personal goals they felt the business could help them achieve. They may also have a passion for the product or service they provide. Over time, if not clearly identified, the original vision gets lost. If you do not have your long term vision and personal goals clearly written down, do so!
• About the Author
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  Rochelle works with leaders of small businesses to help them identify their goals, confirm they are the right goals, and then, develop the right plan to achieve those goals.

  She has spent the last several years helping a wide variety of small businesses after gaining experience and best practices from her employment at Pillsbury, Multifoods and Banta Printing. Her roles in marketing, sales management and senior management at these organizations have given her a broad experience base to assist business owners with a wide variety of business challenges.

  She holds an MBA in marketing from the University of St. Thomas and a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Moorhead State University. Additional studies include a program at Oxford University in Oxford, England and a business leadership and financial management program through the Executive Education Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

  Rochelle enjoys the opportunity to work with small to medium size businesses and see the tremendous improvement that can happen quickly with a few critical changes.

  Finally, she applies her planning and goal-setting to her own business and to her personal fitness goals as an amateur triathlete.

  Learn more at www.savvyplanning.com

  Connect with Rochelle online:
  Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/in/rochelleshirk

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