The Power of Patience

 

If you attend a Kansas City Royals game, touring the Royals Hall of Fame is a must, especially if you’ve never been.  Besides seeing the two World Series trophies and all the cool memorabilia, be sure to check out the Royals Dugout Theater.   The theater plays an inspiring video that tells the story of the Royals transformation and how they became a world champion under the current leadership.   There are lots of attributes used to describe the process, but one word that struck a chord on a recent visit was Patience.

 

The first championship in 30 years was won in 2015.  But, the starting date of building that team was 9 years prior in 2006, when the Glass family hired Dayton Moore.   Moore knew as a small market team, “buying a team” was not going to be an option, they would have to develop and build it from the ground up.  This was not going to be a Cinderella story, a mythical ‘overnight’ success, it was going to take time.  Patience became part of the culture.

 

How do you instill patience in a world that expects overnight results?

At Aspire we firmly believe all companies that experience long term success operate with a foundation of core values and beliefs under them, supporting them.   But, building that foundation takes time.  Defining your values in writing is just the beginning.  For results, it is consistently doing the right things time after time, getting a little better every day.   In this case, there are few short cuts that will drive desired results (at least without consequences).  It requires patience.

 

Can you be Patient and Aggressive?

These two words sound more like opposites but you can be patient and aggressive at the same time.  New leadership at any level brings change.  And the greater the need for change determines how much more that will require patience. You can’t change habits overnight, especially if those habits, those losing ways, have been accepted as part of the culture of the organization for years and sometimes decades.   Remember, when Dayton Moore was named G.M. of the Royals it had already been over 20 years since they had won the World Series.

 

However, a business can still be aggressive in their approach to changing the mindset, building a new culture, identifying existing team members that are good fit, and coaching up those who have potential.  You can be aggressive at working to get a little better each day.  But any significant changes in culture are going to take time.  It will require patience.

 

Starting the process

Whether you’re building a Championship Team or a Championship Business, you have to start with the foundation.   You need a strong foundation so you have something that can support the business.  What steps have you taken to build a strong foundation in your business?  A question we often use as a test is, “If your business had an opportunity to grow 50% this year, is the infrastructure in place to handle that growth?”   It’s not something the average business owner thinks about.  But answering with a high degree of clarity is usually a good indicator of the foundation they have created under the business they are building.

 

Is it going to be easy?  Certainly not, but embracing patience as you implement change is a great way to help you stay focused on the long term goals of your business.  And don’t under estimate the power of communicating this to your team.  There are some on your team who really want to be on board even if they don’t get it the first time, but it may take patience on part of the leadership team to get them there.

 

How important is patience in your business?  Do you expect change overnight? Do you focus on getting a little better every day while you build your championship team and business?   As always we value any comments or feedback in the space below.

Chris Steinlage Kansas City Business Coach