Heart and Soul Part III: Case Study – Return to Joy

shutterstock_101027878Susan burst into tears as she closed the door to her car. In its shelter she could let go for a moment because she was away from everyone she was trying to keep as a client, or on track, or motivated, or just plain not upset. After a day of running from meeting to meeting, she was hungry and hurting – so much sitting had aggravated her back issues and it had been months since she did her regular physical therapy exercises. She briefly put her head on the steering wheel, wondering if she had any reserves lefteo to face the traffic and get home to the string of emails waiting for her. She could handle the phone calls from her marketing VP and field manager on the drive. Hopefully. And hopefully Ted would have the kids bathed and fed. Hopefully. Otherwise, well, another deep breath. Turn the key. Get moving. Again.

When I met Susan, her reserves were spent. She wanted to get the high-end home remodeling business in good enough shape to get out. When her Dad was alive, she had envisioned this time of her life with such joy – to have been so successful in taking over from him, to have expanded their footprint to three of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Atlanta, to have weathered the Great Recession and to be profitable was a dream come true. If only she had the energy to smile about it. Her attention to detail was what made her company sought after by very particular (OK, let’s just say it – high maintenance) clients. It was also why she couldn’t seem to let go or hire the right people or keep the good ones.

Fast forward a year after implementing EOS®:
Business is booming (Atlanta’s a crazy home market right now) and Susan is smiling.

“At first it was really hard to take the time, the thought of taking my whole leadership team away from the business for a whole day was terrifying. But on that first day, the Focus Day™, Lynda taught us tools that immediately began to take the chaos out of my days. A month later, at our second meeting, I was confronted with how my strong self-reliance made it impossible for people to know what I really needed, or where we were going as a company (it wasn’t that clear then, but now I see what we accomplished in that meeting!).

Now, things are still really busy and I still have some really hard days, but I don’t want to sell. I can let go to other people better now, and be sure they’ll take care of things. It was a little embarrassing to realize how off-balance I had gotten. I’m still on the journey back to myself – working out, eating better, seeing the kids and my husband more, but it’s been a long time since I put my head on the steering wheel and cried!”

Try it yourself! Contact me for a free 90-minute consultation.

 

Catch up on this blog series:

Heart and Soul Part I: The Real Engine of Business

Heart and Soul Part II: Ineffective Sacrifice

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