Geologists use core samplings from glacial ice and rock to uncover the secrets of the past.

Core samples allow geologists to reconstruct and understand climate changes and geological events going back at least 800,000 years.

So, what do core samples and geology have to do with owning and leading a salon/spa business? Actually, plenty.

What if it was possible to do a core sample of the history of your salon/spa under your leadership. That core sample would show all the ups and downs, great and bad ideas, good decisions and bad, and when your culture was dialed in, and when it was contaminated.

Most of all, that core sample would show periods when you were engaged as the leader and kicking butt. Likewise, it will identify when you were overwhelmed, distracted, burned out, and checked out.

So, let’s do an imaginary core sampling of your salon/spa ownership history and see what we learn:

• Your financials tell the truth: (Disclaimer: Only if you report all revenue and expenses.) Lending institutions want to see your financials before they loan you money. As a coaching company, we want to see your Profit & Loss Statements and Balance Sheets so we can understand the performance and health of your company. You need to understand the story your financials tell about your business under your leadership. QUESTION: When you look at your financials over years and months, what decisions could you make to ensure your future financials are impressive as heck?


• Critical numbers reveal your effectiveness: Too many owners obsess over their company’s critical numbers. Many owners use employee critical numbers more as a hammer than a coaching opportunity. All critical numbers are OUTCOMES. Telling an employee, “You need to get your retail/productivity/prebook/etc. numbers up,” won’t change the outcome. Focusing on the drivers is how to achieve the best outcomes. QUESTION: Looking at past critical numbers, how can you train, coach, and inspire your team to focus on the drivers and behaviors that make critical numbers you can be proud of?


• Decision making gaps, losses, and wins: Take a brutally hard and objective look at your financials and critical numbers to understand how you did, and did not, show up as the leader your team and company needed. Strategies coach Daryl Jenkins always says, “Companies move at the speed of leadership.” QUESTION: Using history as your baseline, how do you need to show up every day to eliminate the gaps and losses to create the wins your company is capable of consistently achieving?


• Procrastination revelations: Procrastination is damn near every leader’s nemesis. It’s like stepping in leadership cement. As you analyze your financial and critical number “core samples,” it’s easy to identify when procrastination got in your way, slowed you down, or stalled your progress. Defeating procrastinating behaviors is a choice. QUESTION: Moving forward, how will you approach important tasks, projects, problems, challenges, tough conversations, and other traps to replace procrastination with progress?


• Vision clarity and wandering aimlessly: By analyzing your past leadership behaviors, thinking, and choices, you’ll be able to identify when you had your vision in sharp focus and when it was lost in the fog. It’s damn near impossible to lead and inspire others when you’re not sure where you’re going. QUESTION: Moving forward, what will you do to keep your vision crystal clear and the centerpiece that inspires you and your team to achieve it?