In my more than one year of experience as a freelance consultant and coach, I have already had the third company owner as a client who complains about working far too much and managing the company is becoming increasingly difficult. I heard from these very successful founders that success is no longer fun. Every new market success means more work for these people. There is often no more capacity for efforts in the strategic development of the company. For the medium-term future, the entrepreneurs recognize the danger that the success could stop, and the company could stagnate.
How is that even possible? Characteristic of these three entrepreneurs is their success in the early years. Due to their own active involvement in the operational business activities and their extremely high level of commitment, the companies have quickly become profitable. They became significant players in their respective markets with sales of several million euros. Suppliers and customers particularly value the personal business relationship with the owner and support growth with all their might. This recognition and the joy of success motivated the entrepreneurs even more and acted as a booster for their personal work commitment.
It is characteristic of their situation in their companies that the founders gather employees around them during growth who were able to work perfectly for them. Two of my three clients are now large companies with 30 and 60 employees respectively, and almost every operational decision still falls to the company founders. How can that change?
In my two areas of focus as a consultant, namely coaching and organizational development, I find the solutions in working with these clients. I got involved with two of the clients through a coaching process. If the founder is really aware that the situation he is in has a lot to do with himself, then coaching is really appropriate. This is a sustainable approach, because if the coaching is successful, the company owner will take the necessary change into his own hands through increased self-control skills.
Based on my training as a systemic organizational developer, I often support other entrepreneurs by initiating and accompanying a strategy process for the entire company or for an important line of business. Because I work on an equal footing with the entrepreneur not as a consultant but as a process facilitator, ideas and solutions for market or personnel strategies arise, which are fully supported by the client and, above all, by his environment. I try not to be the advisor with “better knowledge”. I motivate my customers to come up with their own new ideas.
Would you like to learn more about how I can support you in “exiting the hamster wheel“? I am at your disposal for a non-binding conversation (make an appointment with me directly on 0172/2898877).