Week 19: Sequencing can make or break your business

what comes first is all the rage

the greatest trick in the art of building a business is quite simple.

and yet the hardest: what do you do first?

every day, we are surrounded by several priorities and as a team, and find myself constantly wondering - not about “what to do” - but rather - what to do first.

fears like - will this work, is this right, are we wasting time, are we missing an opportunity, should do something else first, is this too soon, too late?

and this word comes to mind: Sequencing

it literally comes down to sequencing.

here are a few ways i am thinking about it (this might take the pressure off you and does not kill someone else’s idea):

• instead of saying hard NO, i try saying YES, but not yet

• instead of saying HOW, i try saying to WHEN should we focus on this

• instead of saying DO THIS, ask QUESTIONS on how this will affect the business

here’s an example:

we have been selling consistently each month until we hit June - we didn’t sell anything.

momentum dropped like a rock.

i could feel the pressure.

so my weekly update to the team and as a leader, i am jumping in with my both feet in it is simply this - we will never again have a month when we don’t close a deal - that’s sloppy and kills momentum.

so we defined clear swim lanes to focus:

• my role for the next 2 months is to be the SDR (set up calls to sell our new offering - we closed two this month already)

• someone on the team - focus 1 week at a time on new product offerings we can test

• and so on….

as a leader, i have to set the pace.

pace for myself.

pace for the team.

pace for the customers.

pace for the market.

if not, there is no sense of urgency or forcing function.

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on a personal note, sequencing works at home too:

i have been focusing on writing thank you cards each week.

it has been almost a year since a stack of cards has been sitting on my desk with envelopes and stamps.

but i literally started writing thank you cards a month ago.

now, i do 5 cards each Friday.

i feel so good that i look forward to Friday, not for the weekend but imagine someone getting a thank you card from me that says - YOU MATTER!!!

it gives me the joy to see someone else’s joy.

so my new goal for myself is this - write 1000 thank you cards (starting with 5 at a time purely for the joy of it)

who knows, maybe, one day i will write a million thank you cards!!!

now, that be awesome!

Leaderpoint: you have to set the space and sequence what you do first. what you prioritize is what you get.