7. 13.1
13.1 miles.
The Applefest ½ Marathon in New Hampshire.
The goal was to run my first ½ marathon at the peak of New England fall.
It was 2004, during my first Air Force assignment to earn a Masters at Harvard.
The training approach centered on tackling my 3 biggest challenges –
Finding Time – Sign up for the race, create a training plan, and commit to running regularly.
Focus – Prioritize training techniques – long slow distance, speed work, cross training, strength training, rest days, and more. Sequencing these techniques at the right cadence to avoid injury.
Follow Through – Actually doing it.
My challenges in training for a ½ marathon echo the pain points I see as many small businesses look to scale and grow.
Finding Time – Running a small business is fun and hard. It’s easy to get bogged down in daily operations instead of making time to look up and refocus on the big picture.
Focus – There’s a lot to do running a small business – across ops, finance, technology, HR, sales, marketing, and more. Defining, sequencing, and focusing on priorities is key to lasting impact.
Follow Through – Even the best laid plans often fall victim to the fire drill of the day.
The good news is several tools can help with these challenges.
Finding Time – Strategy intensives to refocus on the 50k foot view to the near-term action plan.
Focus – 1-page strategy to clarify & sequence priorities. If it’s longer than 1 page, it’s too long.
Follow Through – Embedding strategy in operations to make sure the plan happens. This can look like a weekly dashboard, quarterly review, annual pulse, and more.
So, what does it look like for your business? How are you -
Finding time to look up and refocus on the big picture?
Clarifying and sequencing your priorities?
Embedding strategy in operations to ensure follow through?
What is one thing you can do today to drive greater clarity?
I help small technology and professional services businesses scale and grow. This means leaders work ON the business instead of IN the business. Whether it's a 10-year vision, 3–5 year strategy, or 90-day action plan – we partner to achieve your goals.
If you want to break through to the next level in your business, drop me a message, and we'll arrange a 15-min call to see if I can help.
Be well.
~Susan
