(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)
Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:
- My Biz Quote of the week:
“Details matter, but spending all your time on the ‘little things’ is often the refuge of those who are simply ill-equipped or unwilling to deal with the big things.”
…Donald Cooper.
- Quick Biz Tip:
Cash flow is everything!
When you run out of cash, you run out of options…and the end is near. And yet, way too many businesses fail to plan, monitor and control cash flow as they should.
A while back I was trying to help a family-run specialty engineering firm in Vancouver. Their sales were about $4 mill, but their past-due Accounts Receivable were $1.5 mill….and it was killing them. The person in charge of collections was so pathologically shy that he couldn’t pick up the phone and ask for the money.
In an even more bizarre twist, he was their ex-son-in-law and was living in their basement because he didn’t have a place to live after their daughter divorced him…and they felt sorry for him. You cannot make this stuff up!
Even the ‘big boys’ sometimes get their cash flow way out of whack. Meta (formerly Facebook) just reported a 90% year-over-year drop in Cash Flow! The result, their stock is down more than 30% from its all-time high set back in August, 2025.
So, how closely are you planning, executing and monitoring a strong positive cash flow in your business? If not, when will you start?
- Amazing oil facts: The world uses roughly 102 million barrels of oil every day. Of that total, the US uses 20 million barrels…about 20%. But, here’s the thing, the US has only 4% of the world’s population.
- The global online fraud ‘industry’ is estimated to steal more than $500 billion a year from victims every year, putting it on a par with the illicit drug trade.
- AI update. Can AI replace the CEO? Thousands of articles have been written about which jobs are, and are not, vulnerable to being replaced by AI. But here’s a thought that hasn’t come up yet. Canadian startup, Skyfall AI is out to prove that AI can do a better job at being a CEO than a human. They plan to acquire an existing business to act as a guinea pig to prove their point.
Shameless promotion:
Here’s a recent client quote:
“Donald, you stole the show with our Dealers, staff and suppliers! You went above and beyond any speaker we’ve ever worked with.”
If you or your Industry Association have a Conference coming up in the next
12 months, perhaps we should talk. As a thought-leader on management, marketing, staff engagement, value delivery and profitability, I deliver bottom-line business insights and Management Implementation Tools that inform, focus, energize, engage and inspire.
Are the very qualities that got you where you are today preventing you and your business from moving forward?
The people who start and grow businesses from the ground up are generally fearless initiative takers. Nothing stops them. They do it all and, if they’re good at it, they succeed…for a while.
Eventually, the business grows to the point that it has supervisors and managers. But, typically, the boss keeps taking the initiative, keeps giving people a job and then taking it away from them a little bit at a time. And the very initiative-taking that built the business, now limits its growth and drives good people away.
Here’s the thing. Initiative doesn’t exist in the air. It exists in people. And when we take it, we take it away from people. Good people leave in frustration and the rest stay and take “I don’t give a damn” pills. I see this happening all the time with clients.
One of the biggest challenges as the business grows is for the founder / boss to make that important transition from being a ‘player’ to being a ‘coach’. Players take initiative…coaches give initiative. That’s how it works.
So, do you see yourself as a player or a coach? In sports, the difference is clear. Players play and coaches coach. You never see a football coach run out on the field in the middle of a game, take the ball from a player and run down the field himself. Why? Because there are clear rules about coaching and playing and there’s a referee who will blow their whistle if coaches try to be players. Sadly, in business, there are no clear rules on coaching and playing…and there’s no referee. So, bosses (coaches) often grab the ball and run with it while the players stand on the sidelines. As the people in charge of the rules, the bosses are also the ones with the whistle …and they never blow that whistle on themselves!
Being a great player and being a great coach are two very different things. different strengths. In sports, we’ve all seen great coaches who were unremarkable as players…and great players who were ineffective as coaches. They’re completely different skill sets.
Why do so many business owners struggle with this transition from player to coach? They’re wired to be ‘doers’. For their entire career they’ve defined success and relevance by their ability to score goals. Preferably the winning goal…preferably in overtime.
To make the transition from player to coach, you must develop a different skill set and find a new way to feel good about yourself. It’s about getting to the point where you can proudly say, “Today I personally scored no goals a goal, but I coached our team to score enough goals to win.”
To rate your ‘coaching ability’ in just 2 minutes, Click here to download our Biz Tool #A-9.
Making the transition. Give your people specific tasks and projects. Make sure they have the training, ability, resources and empowerment to succeed and that they understand why the task or project is important. Ask them the magic question, “By when can we agree that this will be completed?” and then negotiate a commitment. This creates urgency and accountability.
Document their commitment and follow up at appropriate intervals to see how it’s going. The world is run by those who follow up. Let them know that you’re there to help, guide (coach) and encourage them, but at all times they will they keep ‘ownership’ of the task or project.
In addition to tasks or projects with specific deadlines, give them ongoing responsibilities and then let them do their job. Every once in a while, ask “How’s it going?” Look for opportunities to praise and thank…and look for opportunities to coach, without taking the initiative away. You’ll be amazed at how your good people will become ‘great’, and how non-performers will become obvious.
For insights on ‘How to delegate, get more done and grow your people without losing control’, Click here to download our Biz Tool #B-26.
So, what will you do to make the important transition from ‘player’ to ‘coach’? Remember, if there is a heaven, there’s an express lane for coaches. They grow their business by growing the people in it…and that’s a wonderful thing.
If you’d like help making the important transition from ‘player’ to ‘coach’ in your business, perhaps we should chat. I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com.
That’s it for this week…
Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!
Donald Cooper
Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability. He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.
