Evolving as a Business: Advice from Your Friendly Toronto Business Consultant – Part 2

In our last blog, we looked at why it’s necessary for businesses to see problem-solving in action. As a Toronto business consultant who specializes in leadership coaching, I stress the importance of learning from true results.

This isn’t the time to insert new ideas or act like the smartest person in the room. Instead, it’s a time to debate—to give and take. It’s important to understand the speed of implementation and rigor of validated learning.

Initially, many teams struggle with this new exchange taking place between them and myself. Proving an idea works takes time. It’s often a process that’s undervalued in business. I had to create ways to prove this value. This often involves gathering stories and sharing success—this is the process of validated learning.

All this work is hands-on. It involves showing genuine interest in a team/business’ work—and understanding its relevance to a clearly defined overarching strategy. A good memory jogger for any leader is the Tree of Activity, a simple diagram of key strategic goals and the supporting objectives right down to key activities and their hard targets. 

Tree of Activity

When the pace becomes frenetic and ideas are clouded, this tree is an essential memory aid that clearly outlines where the majority of problem-solving time should be spent. With so many different time-consuming priorities, it stands to reason that the tasks that lead to real process and headway can end up on the backburner. Come year-end, it’s easy to be left wondering what happened—why no real progress was made.

Work with Toronto Business Consultant Leslie Barker

Avoiding this scenario means taking stock of problems and prioritizing high-value work. Through leadership coaching services, I work with organizational leaders across Canada and the US who are looking for proven solutions to advance important outcomes and goals. Part of building an effective team is seeing ideas in action and understanding why they work. If you’re struggling to make headway or enhance efficiency, I have a proven track-record of success. Reach out for a consultation.