Are you a director, a leader or an obstacle?
Recently I was delighted to act as a director in the Loughmacrory Park Run (Great run Saturday mornings 09:30, if you haven’t tried it yet give it a go, and yes other runs are available, Omagh in particular) and I thought it was a great reminder of what a director of a limited company (or leader of a business) should be doing.
Firstly the director’s main role is to be a director, ie: start with a plan; make sure there is someone there to do each task; being clear on what task each person should be doing; stand back and let the person get on with the job, but be there to support them if they need assistance in the task, give them space to figure it out themselves first but let them know you can help if needed; ensure the customer is looked after and made feel important; deal with anything that doesn’t go to plan; spot opportunities; appreciate your team and let them know that; enjoy the win afterwards with the team; do your marketing and then sit down after and analyse what could we do better next time.
The beauty of the parkrun was you were forced to do all that by the systems and teams and other directors that already exist, the question is do you do it at work or in life yourself? Do you have people to do each task? Do you have backup if someone isn’t available? Can people multitask (and not just you), do you give people the space to grow or do you step in too quickly and be an obstacle? Are you there when you are needed? Do you motivate both when things go wrong and when they go well? Does your team feel like it is their event/business?
Like me, I imagine you aspire to do all this but don’t always manage to. You are not alone, its so easy to be that busy working, getting things done that you can forget your main role is to lead and direct and to build something bigger and better than it already is and better than what you can do on your own.
McDonalds is lauded as a great business model, built on systems so that it can be replicated again and again; is Park run a winning model too? I am already a huge fan of parkrun as a participator I challenge myself and love the comradery, there are specific milestones, wins are celebrated. As a volunteer again you have the comradery but most of all you are motivated by all the participants and can see and feel their positivity. Now having had the opportunity to be a director; I do believe Park Run is a great model for business with systems we can all replicate.
Happy Directorship, watch out for the obstacles and most of all make sure you are not one of them.
Julian McKeown is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and Business Owner at Abac, Chartered Accountants.
This article is for general information only. You are recommended to seek professional advice before taking action on the basis of the contents of this article.
