Support System and its 4 Components

The background

A professional business person must have a support system. No matter how accountable you want to be or how much you want the success of your business to be attributed to you, a successful turnaround is not a one-person show.

You need people, systems and most of all, you at your best performance levels. Once you get into the turnaround process, you soon realize that where motivation gets off the bus of your labor, obligation kicks in.

Unfortunately, obligation has less capacity for extra work & excellence than motivation. That’s why you can’t afford to lose motivation or rely on others to motivate you. If it’s not from within, it won’t suffice for the crucial moments in a turnaround. A support system is thus called into being.

Your support system is a fortress for your success in life as well as in your enterprise or business unit.

Definition

Simply put, a support system is a combination of disciplines, persons and processes that you, as a turnaround executive, cultivate, fuel and sustain as a basis/ framework for your defined success. Your support system would be at two levels -operations and personal. The components are generally the same but the workings may be different.

The operations support system is what you need to accomplish the turnaround in the enterprise or business unit. It will include trusted people within the organization who will carry out their roles/ assignments while being genuine with you about the process. It will also include the processes you put in place to achieve your goals.

A personal support system is important because it provides refuge, stability and motivation for those times when you are upset, overwhelmed, discouraged, need to celebrate a personal win or simply when pockets of rest and rejuvenation will be necessary, away from the business.

A support system that works has your shortcomings and blindsides covered.

Components of a support system

Defining your success is the beginning of creating and having a sustainable business and personal support system

1. Your defined success

Once you define what success is to you, then you shape and work everything out towards living that success.

2. Your disciplines

These are the habits, actions, activities, irreducible minimums and non-negotiables that you do without fail, almost like clockwork, to enable you to get your best foot forward no matter where you are or who you are with or what you are doing. The right disciplines help you build mental toughness because they center you both at work and in life.

3. People

No one succeeds as an island. That is why everyone of us on a journey of success needs a confidante, a spiritual centre, a mentor/ coach, a refuge/ safe-house. The roles that each of these play are detailed in the blog post 5 Must-have Partners for successful living.

4. Process
Businesses take on the characteristics of the owner and cultures are formed from the foundation that you build for yourself as a business person, a change agent or a team leader. Process, herein, is about how you do things as one whose primary concern is self.

To learn more about the Support System and how it applies in business and your personal life, get yourself a copy of the book Strategic Business Turnaround: Basic, Strategic & Practical Steps to Getting Your Business Profitable Again by Wangari Maina.

I look forward to reading in the comments below what your support system is like.