“You can’t be one person in one area of life and another person in another area of life. Life is one indivisible whole” – Mahatma Ghandi
The ultimate objective of most business owners is to create a consistently profitable business that can operate without you. That “without you” part means that you should be able to achieve success in business, along with a balance lifestyle in the process so your business life is in harmony with your personal life, and both of them give you more life.
By contrast, some business owners are so focused on the success of their business that their personal life suffers. Robert Louis Stevenson said: “Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.” So that you know exactly what I’m talking about, let me give you a quick overview of the six dimensions in both your personal and your business life.
Your capacity to develop and achieve balanced growth in these six individual dimensions will affect the quality of your life. They are your intellectual, professional, physical, relational, and financial capacities.
Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner refers to eight different abilities that he calls our multiple intelligences. Now it may not be possible to develop equally in all six dimensions because we all have strengths and passions that drive us in one or more of the areas. Some may even be limited because they are challenged in an area. However, neglecting any of them over a long period of time can have a detrimental effect on you as a whole person.
Your goal should be to identify, develop, and maximize your unique abilities so that you can bring value to others. Here are the three guidelines to help you in that process:
1. Your Calling – This is the unique ability that motivates you and becomes your driving force. Goeth observed: “The man who is born with a talent which he is meant to use, finds his greatest happiness in using it.”
2. Your Contribution – You should add value to the lives of others through your contributions. In the beginning your contribution may be small, but as you continue to use your talents, your ability increases.
3. Your Capacity –Through continued contributions, you will develop a greater capacity to add value to the lives of others. The reciprocal affect will be that your life will be blessed with greater abundance because of the value that comes back to you.
Now let’s turn the discussion to the importance of understanding and developing the six dimensions of your business. An individual’s six dimensions correlate to an organization’s six dimensions, and there are similar implications if one or more are neglected. The business dimensions are innovation & growth, professional development, operational capability, stakeholder relationships, marketing strength, and financial improvement.
Your business will have strengths and weakness in each of these areas and there may be some that are emphasized more than others. However, none should be neglected as your organization grows. The advantage your organization has over your individual ability to progress in the six dimensions is that you can hire others to focus on the areas in your business you feel are your weaknesses, while you can only focus on those areas that are part of “your calling” or unique ability. As your business grows, you can place capable individuals in all the important roles and responsibilities of your company so that it is balanced in all six dimensions. This will allow you to remain focused on your calling, give a greater contribution, and develop your full capacity – and so will everyone else in your company.
Can you imagine the accelerated growth that you would enjoy if everyone who works within your organization feels like they are fulfilling their calling by making a greater contribution to customers and the community, and increasing their capacity to serve as the organization continues to grow?
Not only would this reflect on the bottom line, it would have a great impact throughout your organization as turnover decreases, more customers become loyal to your business, and the general culture is positive, encouraging, and stimulating.
Once this occurs, work becomes play and your business becomes a finely-tuned vehicle that can take you to wherever you want to go. In the process, it will add more life to you, your staff, and the customers you serve. Ultimately, you will be able to step out of your business and allow it to operate without your presence so you can pursue other passions, or just spend less time in it while you develop yourself in other ways.
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