Lessons I learned from a visit to the Eiffel Tower
In July of 2019, I took my first trip overseas to Europe. My daughter (who celebrated her 16th birthday on our trip) and I enjoyed one amazing sight after another as we toured eight different countries. Our last stop was Paris and the Eiffel Tower was top on our list of things to see.
I realize now how little I knew about the Eiffel tower before visiting. Yes, it is a well-recognized icon around the world. It is a symbol of love and romance. I learned an unexpected lesson in fundamental business from my visit. That lesson has become a model for myself and the clients I work with.
So here is a little history! Gustav Eiffel had a dream to create the tallest structure in the world for the Universal Exhibition (world fair!) of 1889. The State of France agreed to provide the financing and the project began. Like any business endeavor that is charting new paths the road was not always easy.
The first ten months of the project were all focused on creating a solid foundation for the tower to stand on. With all of the work below ground, the French government was suspicious no work was being done and withdrew funding.
Gustav Eiffel believed in the project so much that he found a way to continue financing the tower. In just twenty-two months the tower was completed and stood as the tallest structure in the world! It was ready for the opening of the world fair. This structure, a modern feat of engineering, was completed in less than two years! Eiffel was rewarded with the cost of the tower being recouped within one year after the tower was open!
That night as I stood on the upper deck of the Eiffel tower listening to the tour guide — it became so clear to me that I was learning a lesson about business that would travel with me forever after.
HOW TO BUILD YOUR EIFFEL TOWER SIZE BUSINESS
The first lesson I took away from the story of the Eiffel tower is how important it is to build a foundation that is equal in size to what you desire to create. Preparing that foundation takes time and during that time it often looks and feels like little progress is being made.
I had been preparing my foundation to move from the corporate world to being an entrepreneur as a full-time life and business coach. Preparing your foundation looks different depending on where you are at this moment.
Here are some key things to consider when preparing your foundation:
- Knowledge — do you have all of the education, preparation, and information needed?
- Resources — who and what are your resources to support you? Do you need to find a mentor or coach to partner with?
- Blueprint — do you have a solid map of what you are going to accomplish? whether you are just starting a business as an entrepreneur or you lead a team that needs to turn around its safety record around; having a clear vision of where you are going is essential.
- Action! There is a lot that goes into building a foundation before it becomes visible to others. Are you committed to taking the daily action needed? who will your accountability partner(s) be?
Whether you are an entrepreneur, own a brick and mortar business or lead a significant sized corporate team laying your foundation to build on is crucial.
The second lesson I learned from the Eiffel Tower was the foundation of a business is supported by solid structures. The Tower has four solid legs that were designed to support its height. Here are some business structures that are key to how significant you want to build your business:
- Mindset Management — how you control your attitude. Your belief about success and daily actions will determine the attitude and environment and enjoyment level of what you create.
- Time Management — learning to use language and habits that support the best use of your time and attention to priorities is key. Learning to view our time as plentiful to get done needs done and developing the habits to honor and do what we say we are going to do set you and your business up for success.
- Client Enrollment — Whether you are a service industry (like I am as a coach) or a brick and mortar business looking for clients to buy your services — your strategy for finding the right clients and maintaining and growing your client base is key to success!
- Team Building — The success of your tower now depends on how well trained and developed the people leading the way are. Creating solid systems that teach fundamentals and increase emotional intelligence ensures the people side of your business will flourish.
- Marketing — How does the world know about you and your services! There are many marketing strategies from local networking to social media. Making sure this key aspect of how to connect to new clients has a solid repeatable process will support ongoing growth.
- Quarterly Measurement — A key part of growth is always setting expectations and always measuring. What worked, what didn’t work, what can we do better next time. Quarterly growth measurement keeps you focused forward while not losing sight of how those long term goals translate to today’s actions.
The Third lesson I took away from visiting the Eiffel Tower relates to the levels the tower itself is built in. It is built in three sections — a Lower deck, an Upper deck and then the spire.
Vision for growth steers how you do everything else. Do you plan on building a small business that serves locally? then your foundation and structures look slightly different. Do you plan on building a location independent business that connects people virtually worldwide? Then your foundation and structures look different yet. Are you part of a corporation and leading a team from the middle? If so your structures, support that!
When we have a vision for growth and benchmarks on how to reach them it keeps us moving forward. What does it look like for you to reach Phase 1 of your Eiffel Tower size business? and What would Phase 2 and 3 look like?
When you can see your Eiffel Tower size business vision clearly and keep focused on it that vision keeps you moving and making decisions that align with it every day.
What will you do Next?
Creating something significant can be done in a short amount of time through planning, preparation, focus and consistent building.
I took these lessons and applied them to how I am building my own business and I also use them when helping clients see why their business might be struggling and how they can begin to strengthen their foundation to build on.
Take a few minutes to evaluate your role and the business you lead whether you are a team of 1 or 100. How can you apply these lessons?
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Vicki Haddock of Transcending Limits LLC is a life and business coach with a focus on helping you make your Eiffel Tower size hopes and dreams a reality. Vicki uses her life experiences of overcoming toxic environments at home and at work; being a single parent and learning first of all to embrace her own wisdom and spirit. She also uses her 20-year background in the transportation, safety and financial industry combined with her professional coach credential (ACC by the International Coach Federation) and the latest in neuroscience to help individuals and companies create excellence and live joyful fulfilled lives. You may reach her at Vicki@tslimits.com
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