Develop
This step is the heart of the process. Here is where you implement the plan from the Design step.
In this step you translate your plan into action. You will start doing the actions you crafted in the Design step and Jim will be with you to support you and help you to keep yourself accountable for accomplishing what you told yourself you would do.
You will have regular dialogue with Jim during this step. During this dialogue you will consider what has worked well, what perhaps you have not done so well, and where you may need to make adjustments to your plan.
As you have your dialogue with Jim, he will provide for you:
- An unbiased view - What this means to you is that you will be able to evaluate your options more effectively. Jim will tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear.
- An objective view - What this means to you is that you will be able to sort out the issues you are working through to get to the real cause and fix the problem once and for all. This helps you keep from initiating a knee-jerk solution that only addresses the symptom and then having the problem reoccur. You fix it once and it stays fixed!
- Accountability - What this means to you is that you will accomplish more. Clients repeatedly say that having someone to whom they must report that they have done or not done the items they commit to increases their drive to complete their commitments.
- A confidant - What this means to you is that you will always have someone with whom you can talk about the most sensitive issues. As good as your family and employees might be, there will always be things you need to talk about with somebody that you cannot discuss with them.
At the beginning, it is impossible to say just how long the Develop step will take. There are too many variables to consider as you move through the first two steps to get to this step. The key is that it is not supposed to last forever. There will come a day when you and Jim both recognize that you are ready to move on your own. When that day comes, you will move into the final step, Disengage.