Article Updated in May 2022.
Karma in general (and business karma more particularly) is a fascinating concept. For millions of people, one’s fate depends on the sum of their actions in this and previous states of existence. Or, said differently, one’s ability to behave honorably now is the key to a better future. This belief is strongly implanted in cultural and religious contexts, obviously. But elsewhere people will tell you that nothing happens without a reason. Him who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind, as they say…
Interesting, isn’t it? But what would you say if we applied this unavoidable law to business? Interestingly, our years in the business advisory industry have led to a very simple conclusion: like it or not, but we all have a business karma and whatever happens usually happens for a reason.
There are two constants out there, in reality. One, not everything we do produces results. That’s too bad, for sure, but that’s the hard reality of life. Two, those who obtain the strongest results have done something right in the first place.
Need an example? One hundred percent of those who win at the lottery have purchased a ticket, and one hundred percent of those who didn’t by a ticket failed to win. The proof is in the pudding!
So here is the thing: the way your business develops in the future depends on things which got built in the past, which get built in the present and which will develop sooner than later. Said differently, what you get in a couple of years depends on what you build now, and what that means is that your business karma depends on your ability to start being strategic now.
Except that most people never do that…
Bad business karma: what people typically do.
In our experience as advisers to entrepreneurs and executives, what people typically do is run, run and run (because sh** needs to get done), without investing in strategic planning (because that’s not worth the time) and complain of the absence of results (because, well, there’s nothing left to do anyway).
People run, and run, and run.
Look around you and ask people how their day was. Busy, probably, and tiring, because they kept running and doing a million things for nothing. Meetings and to-do lists rule, people try and adapt by squeezing as many things as they can in the time they have. In fact, they don’t have time, but they are on the clock, day after day, and that’s becoming too much of a burden.
The same applies from a business perspective. When people run and get controlled by their to-do, few important things actually progress. In fact, the urgent things take over and the important ones tend to stay behind. Typically, however, the most important things are not the urgent ones (until it’s too late, we mean) and ultimately nothing important happens.
People don’t invest in planning strategically
Said differently? Well, many entrepreneurs and executive work on the daily (and often micro) management of their business but they fail to invest in strategic planning. The big important developments which need to be put into place get put on the back burner, and as a result the business does not evolve as it should.
Oftentimes, in fact, people run so much that they simply don’t think about setting goals for themselves and for the business. Entrepreneurs come to us with an issue to solve, they ask for a quick-fix and complain that things don’t happen as they want, yet in the absence of formally established and carefully articulated goals they soon realize that the absence of a strategic roadmap is at the heart of their absence of results. Think about it… a GPS will get anywhere, but what can it do if you have no destination in mind?
People complain – because there’s nothing left to do.
Permanent running and a general lack of strategic thinking usually leads to a lack of result, or in any case to results which were either not planned or not desired. The last tool is the toolbox, therefore, tends to be one’s ability to complain, and in many occasions their ability to present themselves as the victim of the system.
Business is too slow, people are too complicated, social networks are overcrowded anyway, right? Well, maybe, but ultimately the time often comes to wonder. Perhaps nothing happened because nothing was done to provoke results? And that’s when business karma kicks-in.
Good business karma: making the most of what comes next.
So, business karma is the idea that the results you will achieve in a few years will be the sum of all the efforts you have made to get there. The question is, how to build good karma and make the most of what comes next?
There are various options, quite obviously, and having a look at our Accelerated MBA Blog will give you a good overview of your potential. Having said that, focusing your attention on a couple of priorities is a good start.
First, having a clear idea of the impact you want to have helps more than you think. Second, developing a set of beliefs leads to developing a “good karma” business mindset in line with your desired impact. Third, realizing what being an entrepreneur really is about is fundamental. Last but not the least, ultimately everything depends on your ability (and willingness) to step back, sit down, look up and plan strategically.
Having a clear idea of the Impact you want to have helps.
This point is fundamental, the best way to obtain results in a year, three years or ten years is to define what Impact you are trying to make on that period.
Perhaps the Impact you have in mind will relate to changing the life of others, to stopping deforestation, to creating a new generation of pacemakers, or to help ten book authors to actually produce a good book. Perhaps the Impact you want to make is on yourself, in which case the result might be to change your lifestyle radically, to move across the world or to… whatever you have in mind, really.
In all cases, knowing where you want to be and what difference you expect to make is fundamental. We used the GPS as an illustration earlier, remember? Well, defining your Impact clearly is nothing but entering the right direction in your GPS. The destination is the beginning of every journey if you will…
Developing a set of beliefs leads to developing a different mindset.
Once you know what Impact or difference you want to make, the next step is to start developing a set of beliefs capable of guiding you throughout the journey.
Some of these beliefs can be values you believe in and in which you want to invest. For instance, if you try to develop a cosmetics business and believe in nature protection and animal care, refusing to work with any supplier whose business activities are not aligned with your ideals can be a powerful way to get your brand in a very specific direction.
Beyond values, the idea of thinking in terms of goal management (smarter goals and all that) and performance indicators also makes sense.
Again, goals provide direction and tangible milestones over the years, while performance indicators help with assessing progress towards the full realization of the goals and the overall fulfillment of your mindset expectations.
Do you work on your own? Personal beliefs will help you build a business mindset that keeps you going over time. Do you have a team around you? Those sets of beliefs will provide the foundations of a team mindset and dynamic that everyone can win from.
Now, we know. The idea of developing such sets of beliefs is easy to dismiss. Yet, in our experience those who invest in building them have a much better business karma and achieve far better results than those who don’t. But hey, what do we know?
Developing an entrepreneurial mindset now – for real.
Because business karma depends on your ability to start planning and building for the future, it is also of primordial importance that you start developing an entrepreneurial mindset now, for real.
We won’t get into too much detail here, really, as we have already talked about the topic in our post on entrepreneurs and the various types of ‘Entrepreneurial Mindsets’, but the idea here is to say that an important part of your future business endeavors is purely a matter of business psychology.
Many people call themselves entrepreneurs because they have built a business into which they work hard. Very hard, actually. Except that this is not the point.
Those who spend most of their time working into the business – i.e. doing the technical parts – are technicians. Entrepreneurs, by contrast, focus on planning, deciding what the orientations are, and building internal structures and processes so that the Impact takes place down the road. Can you see the difference?
Again, the logic is simple: technicians run, focus on to-do lists, and complain that things aren’t optimal. Entrepreneurs focus on building the big picture, because they know that business karma is, well, business karma. And you, where do you stand?
Turning goals into Impact and results requires a plan.
This leads us to our fourth and last point – i.e. that turning goals into results, Impact and good business karma requires a strategic plan. Really.
Ultimately everything depends on your ability to step back, sit down, look up, and plan strategically. Differentiate the urgent from the important, learn how to delete, delegate, and expedite the urgent, and invest your time on the important. Build your big picture, know where you go, why you go there, and how you will get there. Assess, analyze, revise, pivot, do whatever you have to do, and ask for help in the process. But be strategic. And plan.
The bottom line: your business karma depends on the efforts you are willing to make. Period.
The bottom line is, your business karma depends on the efforts you are willing to make now to think ahead and obtain results in the future. It sounds logical, we know, but in our experience, many people don’t go for common sense because running is more urgent.
In our experience again, asking for help is often a very good way to move forward. Booking some time with yourself is important, but booking some time with a personal adviser who knows the ins and outs of your business may prove even more productive. Claim your free first consultation and see for yourself!
