17 Jan Change is Guaranteed
I dropped my baby girl off at college last week. It is something as a parent you know is coming, yet how do you prepare for this season? You spend almost two decades investing a lot of your time, energy, and resources to make sure your kid has everything possible to be successful, then you just drop them off and drive away?
I am a proud dad. My daughter graduated high school a year early and is off to college at age 17. We thought we had at least seven more months before this day, but that is not how life works. We all know change is a part of life and most of the time, we know that change is coming, yet we still resist it as if we have control over the situation.
That is true in life and true in business. You have heard the saying that the only constant in life is change. If you started your own business, you might remember the days of excitement when it was just you and an idea. But your business does not stay that way; no, you grow it and start adding staff. With each hire your company starts to change. You have new issues to deal with once your company grows. And sometimes, honestly, we resist these changes. We miss the simple times when it was just yourself or you and a couple of employees.
I cannot treat my college daughter the same as when she was in elementary, junior high, or even high school. She is a young adult, who still needs her dad’s guidance from time to time, but it looks different today. Today I have to sit back and wait for her to come to me. Giving her unwelcome advice does not play well today. If you are an empty nester, you know exactly what I am talking about.
But if you think about your growing business, the same is true. When I first took the job at Centerpost, the founder had a staff of two full-time employees and one part-time contractor. We had one TV network that was in five markets and that was it. Those early days were exciting. As the leader I had my hands in every aspect of the business, meaning I was doing the work. I called on affiliates to get distribution, I called on programmers to get more programming, I called on local businesses to get sales, and I called on agencies to try to convince them to sell national advertising. I remember the day I brought on my first leadership role to help me, Mark MacGregor. He got BizTV in 20 additional markets in his first year. That allowed me to focus on sales and we landed our first client, who I am proud to say is still with us today.
As leaders we must change as our organization changes, or the organization will outgrow us.
But managing Centerpost looks a lot different now. We have a staff of 30 and a leadership team that is second to none. Today my role is more about equipping and getting out of the way. As leaders we must change as our organization changes, or the organization will outgrow us.
But I confess, sometimes I am resistant to change. Sometimes I give the college daughter more advice than she wants to hear and sometimes I revert to managing the company as if it was still a small start-up. Neither ends well.
As you start off the new year, think about how your organization has changed. Think about how it needs change to grow. You don’t want your babies staying babies forever. Well okay, maybe as parents we wished our babies would stay, but that is not what is best for them. And the best thing you can do for your company is to stop resisting change and start growing your business. This might mean stepping out of your comfort zone and marketing your services.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. Show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.