A few weeks back, I was having a conversation with a client of mine. His name is Barry Siegel from The Siegel Law Group. He’s a Wills, Estate, and Trust attorney in Boca Raton, Florida. Barry was telling me about this theory he had which I thought was brilliant. He talked about the fast, middle, and slow lanes. He shared how you don’t want to be stuck in the slow lane. Think about this, you’re on a major turnpike or freeway, and you’re in that slow or middle lane and someone in front of you is going slow. You are attempting to pass them, however, everyone’s whizzing by you and you just can’t get out into the other lane. You’re now stuck in the slow or middle lane, wanting to get in the fast lane.
Now how does this relate to business? The slow lane in business is where you deal with all the drama, the people that do not adhere to the culture, the people that want to do it their way instead of the organization’s way. People that just don’t want to move forward, want to fight and resist. And the slow lane is where you’re consistently dealing with things that clog up the progression of your company. You have to consistently fix people or things, and it’s not worth your time, energy, and effort. The last thing you want to do in business is be stuck in the slow lane.
To get out of the slow lane, we must master the middle lane as the middle lane in business is where we create the structure, systems, and culture of the organization. When you have everyone riding in the bus in the right seats, the right way, all following their KPIs, adhering to the culture of the organization. Things are then running smooth and synergistically because you have the right systems in place. This gives you the ability, for you as the owner, to step out of the middle lane into the fast lane, because everyone is running the organization for you.
The fast lane is where we start thinking big, next-level stuff, expanding throughout the state, expanding throughout the country, developing numerous divisions, numerous offices around the country. The fast lane is where your brain really begins to tick because you have the slow and middle lanes covered and mastered. This provides you the clarity and ability to create, move forward, and design the business that serves you, your team, and your clients, and really becomes a stepping stone to get you what you truly want in business.
I encourage you to study the three lanes in your own organization. Take the time to do a little exercise with your management team and write down; slow lane, middle lane, and fast lane. Document everything that’s in the slow lane that’s slowing you up in your business that you need to address, the middle lane; if there’s any structure or systems that need to be put in place. Take care of those two lanes first to quickly get yourself in the fast lane so you can dream big and take your business to the next level.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com