Discipline

There is a trait that every successful business owner has and that reverberates throughout his company.   It is the quality of discipline.  Merriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary  defines  discipline as, “to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self-control.”  How does discipline appear in a successful company?

• The business owner and his team do the things that are necessary to be successful, regardless of the circumstances. There is never a perfect day.  Life throws roadblocks and challenges in the way when they are least expected; however, the disciplined organization forges ahead in spite of obstacles.
• An organized infrastructure is in place and a strategic plan has been developed. Doing this task requires deep thinking and planning, time set aside to seriously consider future plans and the actions necessary to be successful.  Only disciplined individuals will be able to accomplish this important task.
• Consistent measurement and rigorous analysis take place to monitor adherence to the plan, and a discipline is in place to make necessary corrections and get back on plan.
• A deep resolve permeates the company’s leaders to never quit when circumstances are bleak. Paul “Bear” Bryant was one of the most successful college football coaches of all time.  Jack Pardee, one of his players, said Bryant felt football should get you ready for life.  “He’d say, ‘What are you going to do when you’re thirty-five and you lose your job and you come home one day and your kids are sick and your wife has run off with the shoe salesman?  What are you going to do then?  If you quit in the fourth quarter of a football game, what’s going to keep you from quitting then(Barra, p. 205)?”  Successful companies never quit.

As a company leader, determine that you and your team will forge ahead with the discipline necessary to be successful.

*Barra, Allen, (2005), The Last Coach