Herding Butterflies: The Small Business Owner's Guide to Aligning Your Team

Imagine trying to align your senior management team is akin to herding butterflies. Sounds impossible, right? Well, for many small to medium-sized business owners, it feels just like that. 

Everyone's busy oiling the squeakiest wheel first—courtesy of the "Tyranny of the Urgent." It's a chaotic dance where everyone's putting out fires, albeit their own, leading to a scenario where, although the boat's still afloat, it's not exactly heading in any particular direction. But hey, who said keeping the boat afloat was easy?

The real trick isn't in avoiding this chaos—let's face it, that's part and parcel of running a business. It's about getting everyone to row in the same direction, at the same rhythm. Forget herding cats; this is about orchestrating a ballet with butterflies!

How, you ask? Through the magic of engaging team sessions through regular meetings. No, not the snooze-fest kind, but ones where every team member explores their goals, fears, and obstacles for the organization. It's about turning a group of individuals into a cohesive unit, all while having a bit of a fun along the way. The energy and ideas these meetings generate are nothing short of inspiring.

Most entrepreneurs are action-oriented, which is fantastic. However, the key is channeling this bias for action into practical steps that the entire team can rally behind. It's about moving forward, together.

Wondering what results you might see? Let's talk real outcomes. 

One client, after three years of talking about cleaning up a storage yard, got it done in three weeks once the team was aligned. This not only freed up space but also sped up product shipment and recovered funds by selling off scrap. Talk about a triple win!

And it's not just about cleaning up physical spaces. That same company tripled their profit in a year after getting their management team on the same page. 

Yet another CEO found the courage to streamline their leadership, bidding farewell to those uncomfortable with accountability, resulting in a leaner, more productive team.

Even a dreaded and convoluted approval process can be tamed, turning potential financial sinkholes into cost-saving victories. One management team managed to sidestep a costly project and achieve their goals for under $200, simply by getting everyone to agree on the process.

So, if you're sitting on untapped potential and dreaming of what your business could achieve if only you could get everyone moving together, it's time to start herding those butterflies. It might just be the most rewarding adventure you embark on with your team. After all, who said business couldn't have a bit of humour and a lot of heart?