The Balance Between Working "On" & "In" your Business

If business were defined by the Productivity and Profitability, then Profitability would be best described as working "IN" your business, and Productivity would be best defined as working "ON" your business.

Starting a business is relatively easy, running a business is a little more challenging, and owning a business takes extreme caution.  The People Who Know How will Always Work for the People Who Know Why!  Managers, by my definition are those who work "IN" a business, and Leaders are those that work "ON" a business. Managers know what the goals and objectives are, and it is their job to get them accomplished.  Leaders are those that know where the organization is going (Vision) and facilitate the quickest distance between two points (hypotenuse).

John Michael Montgomery explains the duties of a leader relatively well in his song Life's a Dance, "you'll learn as you go, sometimes you lead and sometimes you follow."  Knowing when to move forward, while also understanding when to take a step back and observe.  It is my opinion that an effective leader understands the importance of being specific, strategic, and sensible; therefore works to develop plans that have built in proactive decisions, rather than not having a plan and making reactive choices.   

Working "ON" your business has many options to choose from, but starting to develop them is the first step in the right direction.  By strategically mapping the future of your organization and what it looks like, to reflecting on the personal development of yourself.  The plans that are in between would include the following: Marketing and Sales, Customer Care, Financial and Profitability, Human Resources, and defining perhaps Acceptable Ethical Standards.  They begin to be the foundation that can be shared, and even developed along side others within your organization.  These plans, in my professional opinion, help to move you from "How to Why" and a step in a more Productive and Profitable organization.