Bill Gallagher, AKA the Scaling Coach, is a keynote speaker and entrepreneur who helps fellow founders and CEOs grow their businesses sustainably, often through fostering more productive and more positive environments. We asked him about some of the keys to creating a better workplace environment, and how to overcome the growing pains inherent in running a successful business.
Bill Gallagher
Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, The Scaling Coach
“If fun doesn’t appeal to you for your business, try therapy.”
How can a different attitude and environment affect small business owners?
Environment includes many things, but you could say that the whole way the world around us occurs for us, is our environment. The way we perceive our environment affects our attitude, actions, and results. One of the things leaders can do is shape the way team members see the world through inspirational ideas and by creating personalized opportunities for the team.
Change your perspectives, and new approaches and actions will lead to new results. Attitude affects performance. Point of view, or perspective, determines attitude. In what other ways could you think about your situation?
At any size of organization, owners and leaders can deliver improved results by their work to inspire and engage others.
Is a business that’s more fun to work for more likely to succeed?
Maybe. It certainly would be likely to have lower turnover, higher engagement, and an easier time recruiting. If your strategy is bad or your industry is declining, you may still fail, but you’ll still likely outperform your competition. And, which kind of business would you rather work in? Fun or not fun?
There are some who struggle with fun at work. Some who feel that fun is not professional or appropriate. That’s a psychological barrier of the leader. Business never gets easy, find a way to have fun with it.
What are some ways small business owners can make their organizations more fun?
Fun at work is not about the absence of work or lots of playground distractions. Fun at work is about a playful and flexible style of work, social and communication style, celebrating wins daily, humor, and being connected to purpose.
What is the biggest thing you’ve seen that holds back businesses from reaching their full potential?
Playing small. Setting smaller goals out of fear and doubt. That also leads to seeing yourself as smaller and less powerful, and seeing others that way as well.
What advice would you give to a small business owner who’s struggling right now?
Struggle is inevitable. We will ALWAYS encounter challenges in any worthy pursuit. It never ends and it never gets easier. Sorry.
But, if we embrace the challenge at hand, lean into the struggle, we will find satisfaction and accomplishment. Embracing challenges can turn the struggle into something more interesting. It’s easier to carry a load downhill than uphill, but sometimes we will encounter a hill to climb. If we embrace the struggle of the climb, we become mountain climbers and find a new view to enjoy along the way. And, after one summit is reached, we go find another to climb.