When my daughter was 8 years old, we bought a house with a swimming pool. 

Being young and foolish, there were two things that I wasn’t sure of:  1) I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay the mortgage; and 2) even though there was an in-ground swimming pool in the backyard, I didn’t know how to swim!

One day I realized if my 8 year old could swim, I had to take the big step and learn how.  I didn’t take lessons or read a book on how to swim.  Nor did I have a lifeguard present.   I just jumped in the deep water!  It was sink or swim!

Jumping into the water feet first, I found my learning curve was significantly shortened.  I immediately started to paddle around and I quickly figured out how to swim! 

Jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool is somewhat like what we find ourselves doing in business every day.

As the CEO, president or owner of your business, being the leader means setting the example for everyone else in the company.  It’s important to know and learn at least something about every job in the company.  And the only way to do that is to jump right in and be accounts receivable for a day or warehouse supervisor for a day or even the janitor for a day.  Then you’ll know what to expect from your employees.  And because you’ve experienced it, you’ll know how to set appropriate goals for performance.  You’ll know better what’s possible and what’s not possible.

Jumping in also means you must be the one to live by rules, old and new.  And to move forward into new company endeavors with enthusiasm and support – because if you don’t then who will?

Jumping in can also mean doing things that you really don’t like to do but are essential to the success of the business.  Sometimes this can feel like jumping into the deepest water of all.

Many business people I talk to really dislike making cold calls to people they don’t know or have never talked to.  Jump right in!  Call someone you’ve never met but would like to do business with.  See what their needs are and how you may assist them.  Don’t just stay behind your desk either.  Go out into the hallways of your office and talk to employees.  Better yet, go ride with members of your sales or marketing teams to their various appointments out in the field.  Meet potential new clients, help seal the deal, or visit an established client just to thank them for their business.

With your business, it can sometimes be sink or swim.  Sometimes, the best solution, is to just jump into the deep end.

The more you know about your business, the more successful you’ll be.

So get the swim fins and snorkel tube out. Put the fear aside and jump into the pool of business.

I bet you find the results exhilarating!

PS: Share your comments about times in your business when you had to jump into a sink or swim situation and you found the results to be exhilarating!  And I’ll post your comments here.