The other day my wife and I were on a bike ride.
We were on a little bit of a climb, and I noticed someone pass me. He wasn’t pedaling any more frequently than I was, but he was making a lot more progress than I was.
I have a bike that has 21 speeds, and I just had it right in the middle of those gears. It occurred to me that I’ve been working pretty hard and pedaling pretty hard, and I should use those different gears.
I shifted, and it was amazing to me how much further I could go with just a slightly more forceful push. And it got me thinking about running our businesses.
Are you working hard, but not getting the kind of results that you should?
Are you working and trying so hard, but actually, the real issue is that you aren’t gearing properly? What would that look like?
I think some people are unwilling to delegate. I think some leaders struggle with prioritization. Sometimes we pedal hard, and we don’t stop to think about whether or not what we’re working on is the most important. Other “gears” could be budgeting or saying no.
There are a lot of business owners that are working very hard; they’re pedaling very fast. But they’re not going very far because they’re not using these “gears” to help them move along much more efficiently.