3 critical skills business owners must master, with Stephen Woessner

Episode 119

And no matter the season your business is in — whether it’s growing — whether it’s slowing — or maybe you’re in the fight of your life as you consider whether your business is worth saving — I want you to know — all of your fellow business owners have all been there before. We are all working on critical business owner skills we need to have in order to help our businesses grow.

We have all experienced those moments when we cried as we held our head in our hands…sobbed at the same bad decisions we made for more than the first time…or grappled with how we would make payroll the next day…and the only solution is to not take a paycheck…yet again. Awesome.

Being Thankful

But through it all…you continued to have hope…you continued to believe in your dream…you continued to push through and not give up. And for that…there is much for all of us to be thankful for.

You should be thankful for your courage…thankful for your blessings of family and friends who have been your shoulder to cry on when you needed it and the ones to kick you in the hind-end when you have needed that, too.

Thankful for all of your mentors and the lessons they shared that helped lead you to where you are and the next levels to come.

Thankful for all of the goodness in your life outside of your business — and it is because of that goodness that we do this crazy thing called owning a business, right?

And let’s even challenge ourselves to be thankful for the dark times because they force us to grow — they force us to be strong. The dark times put us in seemingly unimaginable situations where we are doomed to fail — and yet — we find the will to fight, the will to push on, the will to survive, and these times show us the power of humility and being humble. That we don’t know it all — not even close. And to be better — not bitter — because if we choose to be better, we will move on to reach that next level and to move our business onward. And we can do all of that if we approach life with a sense of humility.

In fact, humility is one of the themes of today’s solocast. I ask each of our guests to share their perspectives regarding “the most critical skill they think business owners need to master in order to be able to thrive today.” So I am going to use this solocast to focus our attention toward three of these critical skills shared by our outstanding guests…the top business owners in the country.

Critical Business Owner Skills #1: Humility

In episode 116, the amazing Wendy Keller joined me as my guest. I asked her the question about critical business owner skills…she answered me with one word at first…“humility.” She paused and then took her thoughts deeper by sharing that it is only through humility that we become teachable. Until we are humble enough to set our ego aside and realize the answer we need in order to get our business back on track, or to that next level, may lay outside our expertise — the answer will allude us.

Our ego prevents us from seeing the solution even if it is staring us right in the face. It is only through humility can we begin to learn. I am grateful, Wendy — thank you for sharing such a critical skill with Onward Nation.

Critical Business Owner Skills #2: The Power Of Masterminding

I am also grateful for all the lessons shared by David Long, my guest for episode 5. When I asked David the critical skills question, he reinforced that business owners need to “tap minds that are greater than your own.” We went on to have a deep discussion about the power of masterminding and how the collective force can and will propel a business for growth. Onward Nation…if you are not currently a member of a mastermind…I highly encourage you to find one…or create one. The proper mastermind can be the ignition to growth in your business. Thank you, David — you are a powerful mentor.

Critical Business Owner Skills #3: Resilience

Then in episode 27, Amy Anderson shared her perspective of the most critical skill as being a “business owner has to have resilience in order to survive the bottomless pit that is entrepreneurship.” As Amy shared deeply during our discussion…it was resilience that was necessary for her to make it through several challenging moments…one of them life altering…and had it not been for her resilience…she would not have become the incredible business owner she is today. Thank you, Amy for being so generous with your expertise and so transparent — letting us inside your story — so we could learn from all of your experiences. I am grateful.

These three critical business owner skills…humility, tapping minds greater than your own, and resilience are also interdependent with one another. For example, in order to tap minds greater than your own — one must be humble enough to learn from the experiences shared by those around us — and humble enough to apply the newly found knowledge into our businesses.

And when times are tough…it takes resilience to get you through to the other side — but oftentimes — our resilience can be strengthened by what we learn from others while in the place of humility.

I am grateful for you being here. Each day is an opportunity to spend time with you and today’s top business owners. I approach each episode with humility and eagerness to learn by tapping into minds and experiences greater than my own.

But why do I do this?

Because I know that when times get tough — the knowledge I have learned from our guests and all of these collective experiences will fuel my resiliency. So I have the courage to stand in the storm — to see it through to the other side — and shout, “I will not give up until I WIN.”

We will all face storms, Onward Nation…and my hope for you is that these three skills will serve you well during your storm.