Over the past six months or so I’ve talked with more than 150 business owners and CEOs.  We’ve talked about challenges facing the business and opportunities for growth. At some point in the conversation, I almost always ask, “If everything went as well as it could, where would you find yourself in 3-4 years?”

Most of the time I get answers like this,”We will have increased our revenues by x%, increased our profit margins to x%, and moved into new markets.” What I find interesting about this kind of answer is that it doesn’t really answer the question I asked: where would you find yourself.

I get that people who own and run small businesses have a huge part of their identity tied up in the business. That’s a good thing. That’s a big part of what makes many of these businesses successful. It’s certainly a big reason that they work so hard to overcome obstacles.

So I’d expect an answer to center on what happens in the business. But I wonder why people often don’t take the answer a step further: we’d grow by x% and what that would mean to me is . . . .

When businesses grow, the role of the owner/CEO changes. If you double your revenues or hire a bunch of new people or build a new plant, your life as the leader of the business will change. If you’re not ready for the change, if you can’t adapt to growth, you won’t grow.

The next time I ask the question I hope to hear all about ambitious growth plans for the business. I’d like to hear about growth plans for the boss, too. Will you be ready if I ask you?

I got a post card in the mail today. A plumber will be in my neighborhood every Tuesday. If I make an appointment to have this plumber stop by, he’ll waive his usual service fee.

I’m calling this guy (let’s call him The Plumbing Guy). I’m calling him because I’d like to save a few bucks on some small plumbing jobs I’ve been putting off around the house. But I’m also calling him to talk to him about this incredibly smart business strategy.

Here’s why I think this approach is so smart.

First, it saves him lots of money. By scheduling all calls for one of his plumbers in a geographically compact area, The Plumber Guy saves gas money by driving less.  He also generates increased revenues because shorter travel times between jobs creates time for more jobs in the day.

That’s smart business. Here’s what’s even smarter.

I know that the service fee represents an increase of about 30% since last winter. And I know that this plumber, and most of his competitors, have increased their service fee because of increasing fuel costs. But while every one else is saying, “Gas prices are soaring. You now must pay a 30% fuel surcharge for each plumbing job” this smart plumber is saying, “I would like to reward you with a discount if you behave in a way that helps me reduce my fuel costs.”

With most plumbers, I’m free to schedule my plumbing job at any time (as I always could), but I pay the service fee no matter what. My options don’t change, but the price goes up.

With The Plumber Guy I have a new option. I can save money by choosing to do something that benefits his business. If I schedule plumbing on Tuesdays he saves money and passes it on to me.

Offering customers choices makes good sense.  It seems to me that it makes very good sense to offer discounts to customers who make choices that save you money.

Compare this with how the airlines have approached their fuel costs: increasing fares, reducing service, charging passengers extra fees for meals, drinks, and luggage. Does this make you more likely to fly? Does it make you happier when you do?

The airlines could adopt The Plumber Guy’s approach. Raise fares, sure. It has to happen. But instead of charging extra for everything, offer discounts for desired behaviors. Instead of setting a fare at $100 and charging $25 for the first bag and $5 for the snack pack, set the fare at $135 and offer a $25 discount for checking no bags and a $5 discount for choosing not to eat.

If you can get the same results by rewarding people rather than penalizing them, which do you think will create happier customers?

I’m going with The Plumber Guy.

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has spent three decades trying to figure out why some people flourish in business while others of equal talent don’t. Her conclusion, presented in her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, is that people who think that their intelligence and talents can grow over time are successful while people who think they are stuck with what they’re born with don’t.

“People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes. But people who believe that talent can be developed are the ones who really push, stretch, confront their own mistakes and learn from them,” says Dweck.

Here’s one reason why this it is so important for a leader to believe in his or her own growth potential. As businesses grow, they require different things from their leaders. The talents and skills that bring success at one stage of a firm’s development are not the same as those required at another stage.

In Navigating the Growth Curve, James Fischer describes seven stages of growth, from start-up to about 350 employees, and identifies key reasons why many companies get stuck at one stage or another. One of the most common reasons companies get stuck is that leaders are unable to change how they show up at work.

The leadership skills, attitudes, and approaches that are required to get a company off the ground are very different from those required once the enterprise grows much beyond 20 employees. That’s one reason so many companies get to about 20 employees and stagnate. After all, of the 27 million small businesses in the US, only 600,000, or 2.2%, have more than 20 employees.

Do you have a growth mind-set? If you don’t, you’d better develop one. Otherwise you’re likely to get stuck.

More than a third of U.S. technology workers said they would accept a salary cut of up to 10% if they could work from home and avoid the expense of commuting to the office, according to a poll conducted by Dice Holdings.

That makes sense. Computer Zone Online calculates that he average employee who drives 20 miles to work and gets 15 m.p.g. will soon be paying $229 more per month on gasoline than he or she did one year ago. That means commuting costs will increase about $2,752 over the next year.

But it’s not just the employees who save. Studies also show telecommuting employees are more productive and are willing to commit more hours each week to work. When you add these benefits to others such as lowered corporate and individual carbon footprints, increased employee morale, decreased office expenses, lower employee turnover, and many more, you’ll experience some serious savings, too. Even if you don’t cut those salaries.

We all know that sometimes the boss has got to be tough, but watch out. Insulting employees about job performance or personal qualities is very bad for business. In fact, bullying may be a bigger problem in the workplace than sexual harassment.

According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), 37 percent of U.S. employees have been bullied at their job, as opposed to 8 to 10 percent who have been sexually harassed. And a study by Sandy Hershcovis of the University of Manitoba and Julian Barling of Queen’s University in Ontario, concludes that victims of bullying report feeling angrier and more stressed at work—and are more likely to quit their job.

As a result, the atmosphere in the office is poisoned, everyone’s job performance suffers, and turnover becomes a serious problem. And that’s got to be bad for business.

Of course, it’s not only the boss who can act like a bully. Anyone can be involved in ostracizing or ridiculing co-workers, or spreading office rumors. But it’s up to the boss to set tone in the office. If
you treat employees with disrespect, even occasionally, you are responsible for enabling a culture of abuse.

Apparently many people enjoy Donald Trump’s antics on The Apprentice. Some think he’s a role model. I say, “Donald, you’re fired!”

There is an interesting article by Carol Hymowitz in the Wall Street Journal today titled “Packed Calendars Rule Over Executives.” It makes the case that CEOs today are busier than ever and often feel imprisoned by their calendars. As a result, it’s often hard to find time to attend to things that are important.

This not news to anyone running a business. We’re all so busy that we find it difficult to do everything that we wish we could. And often we find ourselves devoting more time to putting out day-to-day fires than thinking strategically about our businesses.

Here’s how my coach, Doug Gfeller, suggested that I deal with this problem. He suggested that I put a regular appointment with myself on my schedule. Surprisingly, this works pretty well. I find I’m reluctant to schedule an appointment over this time unless it’s very, very important. And I find that as time goes by, I’m increasingly selective about what really is very very important.

Of course, I do schedule some things over this time. But I never schedule anything over my weekly phone appointment with Doug. That fact that someone else is willing to preserve some time for me drives me to protect it at almost any cost.

So here’s a suggestion for a really powerful way to protect regular time for important work on your business: get together with several other CEOs regularly to focus on the strategic challenges and opportunities that will determine the future of your organization. It will be on your calendar and others will be expecting you to protect the time.

It really works.