MODERN ENTREPRENEUR
Five Keys to Transform Your
Business and Your Life
F
By John Sikkema
or business owners, the line
between personal and business
life is inevitably blurred.
Managing a business is a demanding
juggling act, sidelining valued
relationships, resulting in frustration
and a lack of control over any
aspect of our lives. I’ve lived by the
following five key principles to create
balance in business, freeing time for
family and relationships:
vision - the sooner you move the
wrong people on, the quicker you
can surround yourself with Executive
Team members who will commit
to, and contribute to a common,
unifying vision. Look for leaders with
complimentary skills. Few of us are
blessed with all the skills necessary
to build a successful business. As
soon as I identified such a leader, my
business really took off.
1
2
Get your FOUNDATION
right and be clear on the
DESTINATION
Having the wrong people in key
roles results in competing agendas
and a clash of values. Address this
problem immediately. Team players
need 100% commitment to your
32 ModernBusiness
June 2016
Be prepared to take on a
LEADERSHIP position
The greatest move you will ever
make is to step up and be ‘the
leader’. Find a mentor to encourage
and challenge you. Some of my best
mentors I’ve never actually met. They
were visionary leaders who shared
their most important business
lessons in books on business and
leadership.
3
Make CULTURE, VALUES
and INTEGRITY a priority
Get this key right and people will
want to work for you, and not
leave. A colleague observed I had
a paternal attitude towards staff.
It’s true, I do treat staff like family.
Many companies however develop
values that sound meaningful,
even displaying them in full view
of customers. This is a dangerous
practice. Customers should be
experiencing these values rather
reading them. The most powerful
value I have adopted is servant
leadership. The people at the top