As a coach I want my client to feel enthused at all times and confident that they’re making progress to where they want to be. If you recognise some of the situations and emotions in this article, I have a solution for you…

Your toolset represents the conditions and resources at your disposal and will need a wider, more complex focus to master. Don’t feel daunted. Although, improving your people, processes and systems can seem insurmountable, you don’t have to do it all at once.

Stickiness is how well your business and the offering it provides resonates with its stakeholders. The stickier the more long-lasting and committed relationships you will have with your clients, employees and partners. With increasing competition and focus on marketing, it’s essential your brand is the first that comes to mind when people think of quality and consistency.

Culturally, it is often considered a negative attribute to be vulnerable. However, I would argue that a degree of vulnerability is an important ingredient for running a successful business.

When climbing a mountain, the ultimate goal is clear – to reach the top. The most efficient, safest routes are identified, so the journey can be as smooth as possible. There are points where speed is important, where conditions are poor and pausing too long is hazardous. However, a vital part of this endeavour is taking breaks to reenergise and assess the path in front.

Running a successful business is a team game. You can have the most qualified people, but this is meaningless if don’t work together. To ensure that your company is as efficient as possible, you must have functioning communication channels open with your key stakeholder groups, inside and outside of the organisation.

To properly pursue your ambitions, it’s vital that your organisation is financially resilient. Feeling confident that you can navigate potential challenges and capitalise on opportunities relies on having reserves to call upon when needed. The future is unpredictable, so giving yourself the best possible chance, whatever arises, is the best strategy.

To enhance the relationships your company has, consider risk and reward. What to people risk by ignoring your offering and looking elsewhere? What reward will they receive if they do buy from, work for, or assist you? Get into the mind of your stakeholders and work out what your organisation means to them.

Success cannot be obtained if your stakeholders don’t approve of your methods and aims. You want people to clearly understand what to expect from your business, so everyone can recognise the progress you are making and help to push in that one, unified direction.

Having a solid structure to work from, means the occasions where you do have to think on your feet are more likely to produce positive outcomes. It stands to reason that perfected systems and staff with high confidence levels (the results of a set approach) are better equipped to improvise.

In most contexts, leaving a problem unattended is a risky strategy. It an sometimes be tempting to brush issues under the carpet, particularly during busy periods. However, it is often the case that these suboptimal aspects are symptomatic of the situation and require dedicated action to resolve.

In a modern business, traditional command-and-control leadership will no longer produce the best results. As part of my coaching, I encourage leaders to assume a more creative, visionary role.

Being overwhelmed is a feeling that many leaders will be familiar with. There has to be a cut-off point. If you’re feeling overwhelmed it’s up to you to say ‘no’ and take some proactive steps, otherwise you will likely be stuck in this situation for the foreseeable future…

You should be aiming to create brand ambassadors from your various stakeholder groups, who are eager to sing your praises. Consider this as a win-win situation, where you delight them, so they interact with your company more often, whilst simultaneously they are recommending you to others. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Holding a senior position doesn’t mean you have nothing more to learn. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. As a leader, it’s even more vital that you continue to develop your knowledge and skillset, so you can make better decisions, adapt to the changing wants of your customers and instruct those around you more productively.

As your company matures, your role within it will also evolve. This can be understandably challenging, to adopt new responsibilities and potentially alter the dynamic between you and your colleagues. It might be the case that you have assumed a position you were not intending to take. If this is the case, I can assure you… Leadership is learned on the job.

Most leaders would suggest that a degree of openness and trust with their employees constitutes being transparent, but beyond this there is another level at which the highest performing businesses operate - radical transparency. This is characterised by truthful interactions, not just within the business, but also with external stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and shareholders.

Not all business owners love numbers. In fact, most don’t. However, numerical understanding is an imperative for leaders who want to run profitable companies, not a luxury.

One of the great challenges of leading a business is properly attending to your various stakeholder groups. How do you communicate with your most junior employees? Are you so sales focused that you’re only considering your customers? When was the last time you touched base with your partner companies?

Change can be both an exciting and daunting prospect, as it brings forth something as yet unexperienced. For this reason many people are willing to keep-on-keeping-on, rather than introduce an extra element of uncertainty. However, I would suggest that the most successful people, particularly in business, are those willing to find a different way.