POV: 10x Your Business in 30 Days… I Call Bullsh*t by Gry Tomte

There’s little in life more painful than personal growth, I think. It’s messy. It’s full of mistakes. It’s difficult. And it takes a loooooong time! In fact, embracing a true growth mindset, you’ll intrinsically know and embrace the fact that the journey is lifelong.

There’s also little more rewarding than personal growth.

There’s also little more rewarding than personal growth.Embracing personal growth will not only make you a better human to be around (just ask my husband, I’m sure he’ll be very happy to tell you) …It’s also necessary when it comes to running a business, leading a team, and staying ahead of the curve.

So, knowing that growth and change takes time — and in fact is a lifelong journey, why then do most people jump on the nearest “quick fix” band wagon — or “get rich quick” scheme?

10x your business in 30 days anyone?

Well, the thing is, most of us just want to skip straight to the end result. We want to jump ahead and skip all the messy bits in the middle — and head straight to the other side as quickly as possible, without the detours. But what if I told you some detours are necessary for transformational, lasting change?

A bit of my story + how I know band aid approaches ain’t the way!

5 years ago, I was staring at the bottom of the barrel with regards to my business. Which meant I was at the bottom of the barrel in my personal space too. Hating my own clinic and felt like the underdog in my own business. The business I’d c created with my own hands.

Don’t get me wrong, we were making money… So, on paper we were super successful.

We were the “it place” for the insta famous, and I’d get constant messages in my inbox saying, “You’re killing it Gry!”… Made me cringe so bad. our culture. And it meant I was pretty damn miserable myself.

All the coaching I had embarked on up till then did nothing to address the cause — just the surface level stuff like increasing revenue and scaling quickly.

I was stuck.

As the numbers grew, our culture declined. PS! I later changed my definition of success — and now success is about being an incubator for our people’s growth so they can grow the business.

My business coach at the time was working with a “culture consultant” and brought her in to fix our culture.

She gathered my team without me and asked them all what they don’t like about their job, what they didn’t like about me as a leader, and what the thought needed to change.

She then delivered a massive, humiliating 3-hour presentation of all the things I did wrong and how the team really felt about my shortcomings as a leader, and how much they hated their job. It was devastating.

Pretty sure one of my most humiliating moments was calling a breakfast meeting with my senior therapists, chokingly asking “why are we so broken??”. The moment is etched in my mind forever. Of course, they looked at me in bewilderment and didn’t know what to say (I later found out the importance of creating a psychologically safe environment that maximises 360 feedback…)

But - painful as it was, it was also the catalyst for massive growth.

I understand now what the consultant was trying to do.

But because it was a rushed and poorly executed process, the cost to my business was just incredibly large. I lost most of my team, most of my dignity — and most of my confidence. Not the best place to start when you need to embark on a change journey!

The solution to fixing a problem isn’t telling a person they’re just not good at what they do, and everything needs to change. If we had a magic wand that would be fab — but so far, I haven’t found one…

No, personal growth, which is what I had to do a whole lot of, starts with knowing what’s possible. That you possess the capabilities to get there within you — with concerted effort and diligent work.

The power of reflection in growth.

These reflections and experiences have all shaped me in how I approach working with my coaching and mentoring clients today.

One of the most detrimental things in business is hastening the process and putting in place band aids without being purposeful about fixing the root of the problem first. Totally get that we all want results at supersonic speed these days.

But just like a skin transformation takes time — you know, rebuild the barrier first, then chip away at the problem…. So too does personal growth, culture change and building a robust, profitable and people first business.

I do find it really curious that a lot of business owners want a complete business transformation in 10 steps but expect their clients to invest in a yearlong skin journey with us — sometimes longer!

If my case is anything to go by (and in my experience I believe is - I speak with coaching clients all the time who experience the same), I had to fix my own crown first before I could fix the team’s.

It starts with us. And a change in mindset, EQ, and growth, as we already determined, takes time!

SO HOW TO CREATE THAT STRONG FOUNDATION FOR GROWTH AND LONGTERM POSITIVE CHANGE?

1. You as the owner / leader of the business HAVE to open the door and admit you don’t know how to get to where you’re wanting to get to. You might approach it like this “I know where I want this culture and our business to be, and I’ve tried lots of things but it’s not having the impact I think we need. What are some ideas?” I see a lot of businesses embracing the team days. Which can be incredibly powerful! A “team day” though, all need to be executed with purpose and deliberation. And only once the foundations are right. It’s not a “fix all”.

2. Approach the broader vision for yourself and your business with curiosity — not assumptions — and know that where you are today is just the starting point (in other words, adapt a growth mindset!).

3. Consistency in habits, processes, accountability, and expectations — all in line with your values — is key. 4. Everyone on the team has to be clear about the values — that was probably one of the biggest issues for us — we didn’t have them! And reflecting back that was where we should have started.

5. Everyone HAS to speak up when a teammate — or the boss — isn’t living up to the company values or being unfairly treated. There needs to be a companywide buy in and dedication to holding each other accountable for the “rules of engagement”.

6. Everyone has to embrace the fact that we ALL make mistakes, and those mistakes are a great catalyst for reflection and learning.

7. Do the work! Understand that all good things are worth sticking with and don’t expect to undo years of poor habits, limiting beliefs and behaviour patterns in a few weeks. It won’t happen. So, embrace the journey.

8. Lastly, it only takes 30 seconds of insane courage to create massive change. What’s ONE action you can take today that can bring you closer to your dream business?

After building one of Australia’s most renowned awards winning 7 figure businesses, Gry’s new passion project is mentoring and coaching other clinic owners. Gry is passionate about multiplying value to others so more people in the beauty and aesthetic industry can build purpose driven, people first businesses — and achieve more profit and joy in the process.

Gry Tomte

Want more leadership and business advice? Check out Gry’s mentoring and coaching offerings here: https://linktr.ee/grytomte