If you haven’t heard the buzz about Black Panther, you might be on a serious social media/news fast! The movie is breaking all types of records and has generated a solid cult following.As an small biz coach who wants to see more small businesses succeed by connecting the dots, I couldn’t resist. There are some SOLID business principles embedded in this movie.
Like you needed an excuse to go back and see it again. LOL
So let me dive in. I’ve got three tools from Black Panther can help you strengthen your entrepreneurial leadership prowess:
Keep a diversity of talent in your circle
One of the things that struck me in this movie was the critical role of the King’s sister as a scientist.
Whoooooaa! That’s not a leadership role you typically see in a monarchy.
But this type of diversity in leadership is KEY when you are running a business.
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If you are not good with numbers, become BFFs with your accountant and financial advisor. Otherwise, you’ll miss key observations about your finances and business growth.
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If you stink at marketing, hire quality strategy AND support. Or start investing in classes and apply what you learn. Otherwise, you’ll continue stress to find new clients.
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If you’d rather hide in your creative cave because you don’t like sales, just stop it. Hire someone to teach you the basics. And identify friends and contacts who do it naturally well.
Having a diversity of talents, ideas and opinions is a NECESSARY thing for entrepreneurs.
Action step: Take a survey of your top 5 entrepreneurial friends. Who do you spend the most time around? Be honest and see what skills and talents might be lacking and start to identify ways to bridge the gap.
The enemy is not always easy to identify
Are we supposed to hate Killmonger or the monarchy itself because it didn’t support the diaspora ?
Trricccccckkkky.
This confusion happens in business all of the time. I hear comments all the time from entrepreneurs that
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I need more time
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I need more money
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I need more people
But similar to the storyline of Black Panther, it’s not always easy to figure out who the “villain” is.
Example: Someone tells me in a workshop that they need help finding clients. Typically, I ask them to list their currrent activities around this goal. In the sharing process, there are a host of things I listen for:
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Do they know their target audience and their habits really well?
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Are they doing too much of one marketing activity?
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Are they doing too many activities and not measuring them?
- What is their strategy for finding clients?
Everyone’s situation is different. So it’s key that you get honest feedback and suggestions on how you can personally modify your plan.
This way when you see the business “enemy” coming , you’ll know exactly what you need to do to attack it.
Action Step: Book a strategy session with your business coach. Focus on the key reason why you think you are not earning enough money. You can start by drafting a 1 page business plan to help focus the conversation.
Be clear about your foundation
Ask 20 entrepreneurs within the same industry what they do. You’ll get 20 different answers.
Running a business is an amazing roller coaster ride. You walk the path that interests you and your clients the most.
But what if that conflicts with why people want or need your product or service?
In the story, there were many scenes where the characters had to make difficult choices. Time and time again, they shared that they were willing to make tough decisions because they knew their values. They knew what their foundation was.
I highly recommend you get in tune with yours. Simply – what is your WHY?
It will help you tremendously in your daily and monthly actions because you’ll be able to :
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Say no to things that don’t fit into your core values
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Say yes to things that are difficult
Action Step – Reflect on the larger reasons why you opted to run this business. Yes, money is a key one. But once you have the sales, why THIS business vs others that you could run? Dig deep on this question and find quotes/cards and other visual reminders of why you do what you do. It will help you when you have to make tough decisions stay focused.
