Business Ownership and Personal Development

As business owners do we neglect our own personal development?

As business owners do we neglect our own personal development? Following the new years’ tradition of analysing oneself, December and January saw a flurry of articles on Twitter and LinkedIn relating to self-reflection and how to make goals for the year ahead. This got me thinking, how many business owners consider their own personal development in the same way as they do for their teams?

If I don’t have a personal development plan (and I don’t), does that mean I am a limiting factor in Rohallion’s growth?

Not having a plan is probably short-sighted. After all, I set aside time to define the vision for Rohallion over the next 3 years therefore I should set aside time to define my vision for myself.

I need to develop my own abilities so that the challenges Rohallion will face in the future do not break the business because of my (under-developed) response to them.

As we grow these challenges will change and there will be new problems and I will need to put myself on the best footing to address these.

A personal development plan and progression routes for a business owner are not as well defined as they are for members of the team. For example, a junior developer would look towards becoming a senior developer and have a technical team lead guide them along the path. What should a plan look like for a business owner? There are several areas I think my plan should focus on including: resilience, work/life balance, and leadership skills.

Reflecting on the last three years of Rohallion while I haven’t ignored my own development it has very much been just in time. Support from my colleagues, associates and peer groups such as the Agency Collective are valuable but tend to be reactive.

Personal development takes time which is not always compatible with running a growing business and personal (family) responsibilities but if you want the business to grow then I believe the owner needs to grow with it, so the cost of time is worth it.

I am still ruminating on my personal development plan for the coming year. It will likely involve spending time away from the office to ensure focus. Reading books seems to be key in a plan but are there other ways to develop personally?

Do you have a personal development plan? What are your goals?