Remember The End Goal
For those of you who enjoy endurance sports like running, cycling, swimming or skiing, you know what it feels like to take time off and then begin the process of training for your next event. IT SUCKS! It’s defeating, exhausting, painful, and you’re usually sore for many days after. Then throw in the ego hit that occurs when you realize how far away you are from your previous fitness levels and it’s almost enough to make you wonder why you are even bothering to go down this path. But then you remember the end goal, so you come back the next day, and the day after then the next thing you know you’re a few weeks in and you’ve acclimated to a new level of fitness. You’re able to do more while expending less energy than that first workout.
As we roared into our busy season at Footers Catering, our team is experiencing something similar. We are coming off our slower season and we are currently in the middle of two extremely busy weeks. It’s a shock to our system and a stress test that measures the level at which we are currently operating. As I addressed our team this week, I reminded them that what we are currently going through will get easier as the weeks progress. We will get in the routine of being able to execute more and soon it will feel almost normal.
Major shifts in life and business can be overwhelming. In the moment, it’s hard to pick your head up and see the bigger picture. As leaders, we have to remind our teams of what we are working toward. Encourage them to embrace the “hard” and push through it to the other side. The pain and struggle is temporary and will soon fade for strong teams. At the same time it can sink teams that are not cohesive. It spells disaster for teams that don’t have high levels of trust and are easily thrown off course when challenges arise. This is precisely what differentiates those that are successful from those that collapse.
As your teams get busier, simply working harder isn’t necessarily the answer. It’s more about acclimating to a new level of operating conditions. Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” When we adjust to an increased workload, we find ourselves better equipped to actually take on more. We are forced to be more efficient and therefore are able to accomplish more while exerting similar or even less effort. And in order to get there, we have to persevere through those first workouts and overcome the stress of what will soon become very manageable.
Back again by popular demand, we are creating one last opportunity in 2022 for those who missed this unforgettable
2-day experience to find community, strength,
and Heart Leadership skills!