by Scott Airitam
President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC
So, check this out. I'm sitting here, doing my work and minding my own business when people I admire very much, my county commissioner and his assistant, ask me to represent them on a pretty important board of directors. Now, I don't have any ambition at all to serve in public office. I'm very thankful to those that do serve because it's important to be represented, and, because we need options in order to get the right people in office.
But, I digress...
Anyway, I have a plan for my life. It's not rigid and it's not all written down, but it is a legitimate plan. Then comes this opportunity, and, whoa, I'm considering it. Not only am I considering it, but I've all but said yes, barring any potential conflicts of interest with my work. No doubt, this, and the recent appointment to a Dallas Area Rapid Transit Quarterly Incentive Committee for their Blue Line extension from Garland to Rowlett will throw some kinks into my plan. I mean, I didn't even know about these things when I created the plan.
And, I'm finding that to be the fatal flaw in small business planning. I get to work with companies of every size and industry in so many different cultures and communities. Life has truly dealt me a special hand when it comes to my career. Just over the course of the summer, I've gone from working with the Air Traffic Controller's Association (a union), to juveniles, to hospital directors, to bank officials--just to name a few. Also, I've chatted with more than one small business owner about improving their business. These conversations generally come down to knowing their business plan. The sad, but realistic, thing about this is that small business owners are so busy keeping the business going that they do not reappraise their plans. Years and years after creating the business plan, they are still relying on it to guide their decision making. Of course, they've made adjustments, but they are in their mind, nothing concrete, and thus are subject to how powerful the influences pulling in different directions that day happen to be.
The real tragedy though, isn't that they don't "officially" adjust the plans they've created. No, the real issue here has much more impact on the big picture. What happens, by maintaining an old plan, the organization keeps hard-charging in the direction that it had originally set. Opportunities are missed. Opportunity spurs opportunity in this life and if a true opportunity is overlooked, so is the path that could have been by seeing it.
Like I said, I have no doubt that by being a part of the DART committee and the board of directors that the commissioner would like to name me to is going to open up new doors I could never have seen before. People I wouldn't have ever spoken to will become familiar and their influence will affect me and vice-versa. The same things happen for organization (of all size, by the way.)
I tell the kids I coach in basketball that their defensive effort isn't completed until we have the ball. In this case planning isn't finished until an the plan is changed to take into account opportunities that might not have ever fit into your plan in the first place.
President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC
So, check this out. I'm sitting here, doing my work and minding my own business when people I admire very much, my county commissioner and his assistant, ask me to represent them on a pretty important board of directors. Now, I don't have any ambition at all to serve in public office. I'm very thankful to those that do serve because it's important to be represented, and, because we need options in order to get the right people in office.
But, I digress...
Anyway, I have a plan for my life. It's not rigid and it's not all written down, but it is a legitimate plan. Then comes this opportunity, and, whoa, I'm considering it. Not only am I considering it, but I've all but said yes, barring any potential conflicts of interest with my work. No doubt, this, and the recent appointment to a Dallas Area Rapid Transit Quarterly Incentive Committee for their Blue Line extension from Garland to Rowlett will throw some kinks into my plan. I mean, I didn't even know about these things when I created the plan.
And, I'm finding that to be the fatal flaw in small business planning. I get to work with companies of every size and industry in so many different cultures and communities. Life has truly dealt me a special hand when it comes to my career. Just over the course of the summer, I've gone from working with the Air Traffic Controller's Association (a union), to juveniles, to hospital directors, to bank officials--just to name a few. Also, I've chatted with more than one small business owner about improving their business. These conversations generally come down to knowing their business plan. The sad, but realistic, thing about this is that small business owners are so busy keeping the business going that they do not reappraise their plans. Years and years after creating the business plan, they are still relying on it to guide their decision making. Of course, they've made adjustments, but they are in their mind, nothing concrete, and thus are subject to how powerful the influences pulling in different directions that day happen to be.
The real tragedy though, isn't that they don't "officially" adjust the plans they've created. No, the real issue here has much more impact on the big picture. What happens, by maintaining an old plan, the organization keeps hard-charging in the direction that it had originally set. Opportunities are missed. Opportunity spurs opportunity in this life and if a true opportunity is overlooked, so is the path that could have been by seeing it.
Like I said, I have no doubt that by being a part of the DART committee and the board of directors that the commissioner would like to name me to is going to open up new doors I could never have seen before. People I wouldn't have ever spoken to will become familiar and their influence will affect me and vice-versa. The same things happen for organization (of all size, by the way.)
I tell the kids I coach in basketball that their defensive effort isn't completed until we have the ball. In this case planning isn't finished until an the plan is changed to take into account opportunities that might not have ever fit into your plan in the first place.
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