How Do You Maintain?
by Clark
As a therapist and positive catalyst, sometimes people use me as a role model. They believe I know all the right things to do and don't make bad choices.
Trust me- I do!
I made a poor choice recently and it got me thinking. Who else might be making similar poor choices in their business that I did in my personal life?
In short- I failed to keep up on my car's maintainance. Because of that I went far past the recommended time to replace a part called a timing belt. I knew when it should have been changed. I knew the time had passed. I told myself that it's probably fine. I chose to ignore it.
The timing belt broke.
If you know cars then you just gasped. It's bad! When you break a timing belt there is a ripple of serious damage that spreads throughout the engine. To state it simply, a simple maintainance task (one day and a few hundred bucks) became a week and a half in the shop and a $3000 bill. All because I ignored a known need.
How often does that happen in our businesses. We see problems. We know that there are shortcomings, poor communication patterns, or outdates resources. How often do we say something like, "I'm sure it's fine.", "I'll get to it in the next cycle", or "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
Use my cautionary tale. Do some office maintainance. Are your facilities still a healthy, envigorating place to work? Do your employees have all the resources they need in the right amounts? Are you actively caring for your employees' well-being, so that they won't 'break down'? Are you taking care of your own well- being?
As your business' leader, people look to you as the role model. Take that seriously and show them that you are there for them- maintaining.
Take some time in the next days to check if there is maintainance to be done and invest in it. The alternative is to follow my 'role model' and pay several times more (in time, energy and revenue) in the end.
And go check your timing belt!
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