We had a little celebration in the office when I returned from holiday recently. Anyone who knows me, understands I don’t like much fuss. I am not a big fan of my birthday, to me it’s just another day. I knew my 10-year anniversary as Peak had ticked over, I was planning on not making a song and dance about it all.
My team had other plans! There were balloons, cake and they surprised me by inviting my family into the office.
Since we at Peak Strategies have reached our ten-year anniversary, I thought I would write a blog about the 10 things I have learnt in my first 10 years as Director of Peak Strategies.
1. The greatest asset I have is stubbornness and persistence.
We all have goals we want to achieve, both in business life and personally. As we all know, the path to achieving those goals is sometimes hard, difficult, also full of many twists and turns. If the goal is strong enough, just don’t give up. I have stuffed up, and failed more than enough times on things, and copped a lot of blows that I didn’t expect. But I learnt quite a while ago, shear stubbornness and persistence will get you through and will allow you to achieve any goal you set out to achieve. Just don’t throw in the towel as soon as it gets hard.
2. Get yourself a mentor.
We don’t know what we don’t know and sometimes we just need a helping hand. Someone who can guide us and help us. I have had a few mentors over my journey, all have contributed in some way to growing me and the business. Whether it was my first personal trainer, still one of my best friends who started me on a path to fitness and strength. Another mentor who aligned my vision and helped me understand the opportunities in pharmacy. Then I had mentor who taught me the tools and systems needed to run a successful accounting business (still learning). Lastly, a mentor who taught me about leadership, about overcoming anxieties and fear. So many valuable lessons have been learnt.
3. Every now and then you must do something that scares you.
One of the greatest lessons I learnt. True growth only comes from overcoming fears and challenging yourself. If some of greatest people of our time, artists, musicians, business leaders etc all have elements of nervousness and fear and push through that to achieve amazing things then I should be as well. And I still do. I often have goals to achieve that really scare me. This year is no different. You know a goal is right if it excites you and scares you at the same time.
4. We have no greater enemy then our own mind.
The biggest problems I have had in business life has come from the battles I have with my own mind. Insomnia, depression and anxieties are all familiar acquaintances. They have all held me back on more than enough occasions. In addition to this I don’t want to be restricted by my own thoughts, biases and opinions. I want to keep learning, understanding and experiencing.
5. You have got to have both a vision in business and in your personal life.
This is a must for anyone. You must have a vision for what you want to achieve in business and personally. You must know what it is you want to achieve. Something you desire and have an emotional connection to. From my own experience, understanding and knowing that vision was one of the biggest stages that turned around business for me.
6. Understand the values you want to live by personally and in business.
Another of the big lessons I learnt and really underestimated its importance. Knowing the values you want to live by, and the values you want your business to live by, is so critical. It sets the guidelines in which you solve problems and address issues. It is what attracts your team and your customers. It determines the personality of your business.
7. What you think is irrelevant.
Following on from point 4 above, your mind is sometimes your enemy. It sends you a lot of incorrect information. It often tells you what you are doing is not good enough, to give up, it’s not going to work, no one is going to like it. Please trust me on this. What your mind is telling you, often is wrong. It’s the impact you are having with the outside community that matters the most. Sometimes you are having a huge impact on someone and helping them.
8. Who will support you when you want to give up?
We are not always at our best, sometimes it is too hard. Sometimes we cop a lot of blows. Sometimes we can’t see our way through things. We need someone in our life who we can lean on and support us, when we have run out of strength. For me that is my Queen. My wife Lisa. It is my belief, we all need someone in our life who is there with us on the journey, who will pick us up when we trip and fall.
9. Recruit by Personality.
The Peak family are wonderful. I am so blessed to be able to work with all the team at Peak. Again, one of the most critical success points in Peak life to date. We learnt to recruit the personalities that live by the same values as us, that will connect with the rest of the Peak family and will connect the best with our clients and the pharmacy community. We didn’t always get it right, but we got better at it. The lesson, you hire the personality. Yes, we can find chartered accountants, but we need the right personality for us, and I have some wonderful people.
10. Helping people comes before money.
Yes, we do what we do as professionals and we get paid for that, which helps put food on the table. But it doesn’t make us happy and provide a fulfilling life. What makes for a happy day is the relationships you have with who you work with and the clients. This is what puts a smile on our face, help your patients first. This comes before dollars.
So, 10 years down.
I know I have grown so much in that time; Peak has changed immensely from when it was initially conceived. Yes, I am proud of where we are and what the Peak family has achieved in that time. But with every peak we climb, we see a different part of the world, new peaks to climb, new goals to achieved, new experiences. We want to keep learning, keep trying, continue to help community pharmacy grow and prosper across Australia.
Here's to another ten!
#takingyourbusinesstonewheights
Written by John Thornett