Of all the ways you can improve your MSP business, you may overlook your personal shortcomings that negatively impact the organization and your leadership abilities. Overcoming these can be an effective way to bolster your chances at personal and professional success.
Yes, admitting faults isn’t easy. It requires setting aside your ego and being vulnerable – which can be tough for many. You must have the courage to look into a mirror and be truthful. Additionally, consider asking your colleagues and team members to openly share with you what they believe are your shortcomings. Remember, the way we perceive ourselves is not the same way others perceive us, so they can help identify your weaknesses, allowing you to improve your personal and professional self.
Here are some common shortcomings and the benefits of conquering them, loosely based on “Sunny’s Silver Linings Podcast”, an IT By Design production which featured Michael Einbinder-Schatz, the President of Jobecca Technology Group, a very successful cybersecurity and managed IT services provider in the Philadelphia region.
Leave your comfort zone – You can really grow personally and your business by taking forays outside of your comfort zone. Jump into your fear zones and assess the result. There’s a good chance you’ll find that you actually survived the experience. The benefit? Your comfort zone expands by overcoming your fear. This can open up a wide array of new opportunities for your business, like expanding your product lines or partnering with a third-party company. If you fail, it won’t be the first time – and you survived previous failures. It’s all part of lifelong learning.
Hire people smarter than you – Nobody can do everything, know everything, or be everything. So hire individuals who you deem smarter than you or who can complement your shortcomings. You’ll see the strengths of each team member truly shine and together you will form a powerful team. Yes, hiring in the MSP channel is currently difficult, and to find smart candidates or those with unique abilities will take much time and effort. But in the end, it will be worth it and you’ll have successfully overcome yet another personal shortcoming while enhancing your business.
Candor – Make this a core value. Enable yourself and team members to freely deliver straight talk to clients and employees, including delivering bad news. But candor without responsibility, accountability, creativity, and a team spirit can be fatal. Why? Because then it’s just criticizing. So present the news in a professional way that clearly shows the other party that it’s being delivered in their best interests and the good of their relationship with your organization.
Embrace “Wrongness” – Welcome the fact that you could be dead wrong about something which you passionately believe in. By owning being wrong and then releasing it, it opens up other possibilities for your team to resolve issues, to allow greater creativity to flow from them, and the opportunity to put into practice your organization’s core value of candor. This will be a tremendous win-win for everyone involved.
What are your shortcomings that can be addressed to improve your leadership abilities and your business? Be courageous, identify them, and effectively conquer them to realize your full potential as a leader, colleague, and individual. Click here to listen to the full podcast.
This guest blog is courtesy of IT By Design and authored by Sunny Kaila, founder and global CEO. Read more IT By Design guest blogs here. Regularly contributed guest blogs are part of ChannelE2E’s sponsorship program.
