Governance in Action: How Contract-Ready Businesses Build Systems That Scale | Featuring Shenell Glover

Most business owners focus on winning opportunities.

The businesses that last focus on being ready for them.

In this episode of GovCon Clarity, Dr. Lori Smith welcomes procurement readiness strategist Shenell Glover, Founder and CEO of Ambitious Strategies, for a practical conversation about what happens after you build your governance framework.

Because creating policies is one thing.

Living by them is another.

Together, they unpack how successful businesses move beyond paperwork and create operating systems that support growth, reduce risk, strengthen decision-making, and prepare organizations for larger contracts and greater responsibility.

Drawing from more than two decades of experience in government contracting, procurement readiness, grants management, and federal business development, Shenell shares what agencies actually evaluate, where small businesses often fall short, and how founders can build the infrastructure needed to scale sustainably.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why governance should protect your culture, not replace it

• The three moments governance must activate inside your business

• The difference between business readiness and procurement readiness

• Why capability without capacity creates risk

• The most common compliance and risk management mistakes growing businesses make

• How agencies evaluate contractors beyond the proposal

• When founders should delegate authority instead of simply delegating tasks

• What separates contract-ready organizations from businesses that struggle to perform after award

Whether you're pursuing government contracts, preparing for growth, or strengthening your operational foundation, this conversation provides actionable guidance you can implement immediately.

One quote that captures the heart of this episode:

"Governance isn't about being perfect. It's about being intentional."

If you've ever felt like your business is growing faster than your systems can support, this episode is for you.

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Because readiness protects what ambition pursues. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:12

With over four decades inside, Dr. Lori breaks down what agencies actually evaluate the capacity to life and credibility. If you're ready at the federal level, not just supply, with clarity to get as I often say, readiness protect what ambitious pursues.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

And in this series, Systems Before Scaling, we're building the structure that carries you there. So in series one, we built your first governance framework: decision authority maps, core policies, documentation systems, review rhythms. And so if you did the work, you've got the bones of something real. But here's what I've learned about governance in small businesses. Building it is one thing. Making it live and breathe in your day-to-day operations is another thing entirely. So today we're going to talk about how to make governance a living practice, a living practice, not a chef document. And we're going to talk about the uh part nobody covers, how to introduce governance to your team, your subcontractors, and your collaborators without it feeling stiff, you know, corporate or like you suddenly became a different person, right? So welcome to GovCon Clarity with Dr. Lori Smith. I am the CEO and founder of Acology and LLC and the founder of Sew N R C's Empowerment. This is our making governance a living practice episode in our uh Systems to uh systems before scale uh series. And this is where governance moves from you know theory to practice. Quit threat, back to where you know we've been. So in series one of episode four, you know, we we built that governance framework there. It was four layers, uh, starting with your decision authority map and ending with your monthly uh review rhythm. In episode seven, we introduced the concepts of rhythms, roles, and rules in the operating system. And so today what we're doing is connecting those two ideas and operationalizing governance because governance that sits in a document isn't governance, it's an aspiration. And governance that shows up in how you actually run your business, that's readiness. So let me start with the uh most um common thing I hear from founders who've done the um governance work. I built it, but I'm the only one who knows about it. Or I wrote the policy, but I don't know how to bring my team into it without it feeling weird. This is real, especially for women and veteran founders who built these uh collaborative relationship-based cultures, you know, in our businesses. The idea of suddenly showing up with an authority matrix and a set of policies can feel you know off, you know, like we're changing the vibe. And so here's what I want you to do uh to understand governance doesn't change your culture, it protects it. When decisions are clear, uh people have less anxiety. When authority is defined, people don't have to guess. And when there's a process for handling problems, people feel safer. So governance isn't the opposite of warmth, it's the infrastructure that allows warmth to survive under any kind of pressure. So, how do you introduce it? Let me give you language you can actually use uh with a team member or subcontractor. It sounds like this. Okay, I've been working on getting our business more organized so that things don't all have to uh run through me. I want to share some of what I built so we can both have more clarity about how decisions get made. And so you have more room to move without waiting on me for everything. Notice what that does. It sort of frames governance as a gift rather than a mandate, right? It positions delegation as the goal, not control. And it invites collaboration rather than imposing compliance. So with a client or contracting officer, though, it's gonna sound different. It's we formalize our internal governance, including our decision authority structure, our quality control process, and our documentation uh standards. I'd be happy to walk you through our approach if that would be helpful. That's a professional version, and that version build confidence because it tells the agency this business takes itself seriously. Now, let me talk about the part that uh trips uh people up most, actually using the governance framework in real time. So here are three moments where your governance should activate and what that looks like in practice. Moment one, you have a new opportunity come in. Before you say yes, before you start pricing, before you promise anything, your governance should kick in. You're gonna check the decision authority map. Is this within your approval threshold? Does it need an escalation? Pull up your bid no bid worksheet from series one, run it through the five questions, document the decision. This takes about 15 minutes, and those 15 minutes can save you months of regret. Moment two, a deliverable is about to just go out the door before it ships. Your quality control policy activates. Who reviews it? Against what standard? Is there a checklist? Was the review documented? I know it feels faster to just send it, but just send it is how quality problems start. And in federal work, quality problems become performance problems, and performance problems become CPAR's eye problem. Moment three, something goes wrong. You got a deadline slipped, a subcontractor underperforms, a client changes scope without documentation. This is where escalation paths earn their key. You who get notified? At what threshold? What's the documented response? Without governance, these moments become panic. But with governance, they become a process. And process is what builds trust both internally and with the agencies evaluating you. Governance doesn't change your culture, it protects it. Now I want to bring in a perspective that I think will be really valuable here. In this next segment, I'm going to be joined by a guest whose work I deeply respect. Someone who has built procurement readiness infrastructures in growing small businesses for more than two decades. I am thrilled to bring in a woman whose work I respect deeply, Ms. Chanel Glover. She's the CEO and founder of Ambitious Strategies. Chanel is a government contracting strategist based in Los Angeles who has spent over two decades helping small businesses, you know, move from being, you know, contract curious to contract ready. Her path is unique because she started her career inside of the Small Business Administration as a financial analyst and grants manager. You know, and there she earned the SBA Superior Performance Award. And then she went on to go, uh went on to lead Federal Business Development and Capture at Snorkel AI. She's also worked at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Uh, and that's where I had the privilege of supporting her in one of her uh initiatives, uh supported and helping small businesses again get contract ready, right? And she is a certified high-speed project manager. Uh, she's certified in high-speed project management. In 2018, she founded Ambitious Strategies to fill a gap she saw in the field, build the procurement readiness infrastructure small businesses need before they chase the contract. Uh, Chanel and I have known each other uh for a few years now, going back to a panel we did together on domestifying government contracting. So if you're serious about building uh the systems behind your uh pursuit, listen closely uh as I welcome uh Chanel to uh GovCon Clarity. Welcome, Chanel.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Hello, Lori. Thank you for your wonderful introduction. Um I respect your work as well, and I'm uh happy to be here, excited to be on your new venture and to share our knowledge with other people. But I just wanted to say thank you, and I do respect your work and the things that you're also doing and have done for decades for small businesses and businesses and procurement. So let's get started.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

All right now. So y'all heard her. She said, let's get started. So, Chanel, okay. Um, you've uh this is the first question. I got a series of questions, and we're trying to get through all of them. Uh, but if not, you know, we we just gonna flow, right? But you told small businesses that the strongest businesses aren't the ones chasing funders, uh funding, they're the ones prepared to deliver and manage it. What does preparation actually look like at the operating system level, not just the capture level?

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Uh to be ready is to have not only capability, because I see a lot of companies that have the capability to do the work, but do you have the capacity? Are you are you actually ready? So to be ready is to have uh your to have systems like basic systems in place and systems that meet the requirements of the type of customer you're going after. Do you have the fiscal capacity to do the work? Um, can you sustain, you know, if you're paid late, or if you have to do have startup, you know, if you have startup costs that are covered, or you have, for example, you may have an individual on your team that costs more than you know what your customer is willing to pay. You have to consider all those things. And when you're ready, you you can do those, you you can do those things because if you built out systems and processes and you have backing, you have a uh some type of foundation where that will not make or break you know your business once you get in front of a customer. So being ready to me, um, and work on the businesses that I work with, I one thing I have them to do is to do a readiness assessment, and we cover fiscal, administrative, legal, um, subcontracting. Like, are you really ready to go in front of a customer? You have you don't have to have every single thing, you know, uh ready as soon as you know you start your business. But when you go in front of a customer, the the more you're ready for them and like to meet all these requirements, the easier it will be for you. And based on my past experience, I see businesses that can do the work because they're capable of doing the work, like you meet the requirements of the RFP, but when you go into the customer space, you have to deliver. Are you ready to deliver?

SPEAKER_03 12:11

Yeah, and and that is so important having that operating system and that back end to help with that ability to not only just be capable, but have that capacity to be able to uh perform. So uh great response. Okay, question two. Uh, you worked inside SBA and alongside primes like snorkel AI. When a small business walks in the door saying, I want a federal contract, what's the first governance gap you see uh almost every time?

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Is that they don't understand the customer and they treat the federal government or any large government like it's another small business. Um I recommend that they look at each department as its own entity almost because they have their own programs, their own regulations, policies, um, you know, just things that they do, and you're gonna have a learning curve if you treat the federal government as like one big big big business. Like I'm going to target the federal government or I'm going to target SBA or HHS. Like which department, which program, what what what requirements do you need to meet to be there? And even if you've had another customer in the past that's similar to that agency, if it even if it was another government agency, especially at the state or local level, um, or something that's totally different from their mission, you still may have may have a learning curve. And I think uh that's something that's common that companies are sometimes shocked by like how much uh there's a vast difference in each customer within the federal government space or like any large government.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

Yeah, and that's a great point, and it sort of leads into my third question because you know, uh, throughout our dealings and our interactions and been on various platforms and um various conferences, you know, and even in your your work and your capacity, you use uh the phrase procurement readiness. And so, how is that different from the general business readiness? And I think that was sort of what you was alluding to just recently.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Most founders think uh that they are building because you're ready to do business, you can do business with me or Lori or you know, pretty much anyone. But when you're doing business with a larger, more structured and regulated entity, that's a different ball game. And um to me, that's where businesses will say, for example, uh we've we've we've done this process in 100 spaces in the private sector. And I've even had large companies that had that issue when they transferred over to like government contracting, their regulations and the policies, and you know, even the cybersecurity or security requirements are different. Administrative is um it can become an administrative burden to meet all the requirements. And I think people may not consider that if you know if you've never done it before, and that's something that I see that's common, is that there's a lot more, there are a lot more requirements outside of the actual requirement, the work you're doing. So do you understand how to do your uh your your financial reporting? Are you familiar with indirect costs? Are you familiar with the security currents requirements and how everyone that's on your private sector projects may not be able to convert over if they can't clear? You know um, what are the agency specific regulations that they sometimes prefer to have people who are familiar with so they don't have to have their learning curve, things like that. Um, I companies may not consider it, and then I don't I don't expect them to if they're new to the space, but those are things that I would say um a lot of companies may struggle with um that I've seen in the past. And even companies that are familiar with one customer, one federal customer or state customer, and they transfer over to another department or agency, and it's like a fresh start, a new a different world. We get customers that need help with transitioning or learning their new customers. So that's why I also say when you're getting procurement ready, learn your customer.

SPEAKER_03 16:33

And you know, I really I love that because it actually said way so nice into this uh operating system framework that we actually talk about here on the show, uh talk uh uh um that I call rhythms, uh roles, and rules. And you sort of uh actually you adequately touched on several activities or actions that fit into each and or either of those. So, in your experience, which of those uh three breaks down first as a small business grows? So we got rhythms, you know, that's a frequency, what am I doing consistently, you know, roles, who's doing what and when they're doing it, and then the rules from a compliance perspective, what is required, whether it's regulatory in accordance with this customer, those uh types of things as well. So in a um and from your experience when you're dealing and you're working with small businesses, which of those uh areas break down first as the small business grow?

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Um, risk management. Not the the thing for small businesses, sometimes they don't realize the risk that they are they have, like they don't know their tolerance because they don't know the risks that are in the space. Um they don't know how to remediate them because again, if you don't know all the requirements, and we get examples of not knowing the requirements, like having risk management. Because if you don't have proper compliance, it doesn't matter if you're, you know, across the board, administrative, fiscal, um, you know, meeting the regulatory requirements, if you can do the work and you're you're not meeting those requirements, you're still going to put your contract, you know, or your portfolio, put portfolio at risk of either like a suspension or some type of you know trouble that you don't want to deal with. So I would say uh understand that's the thing. Learn the customer, know what applies to this customer, know what applies to your certifications. And an example is recently they've had like certification reviews. Some people are gonna find out through the review that there are all these other requirements attached to their certification that they're not familiar with. They'll say, Oh, I met the SBA or like HHS's grant management requirements, but maybe not the O and B or like some far, you know, requirement that they're just they're just not familiar with because they got an agreement, they signed it, it was a contract, it was full of all these different things, and and and also I say, for example, it may be a link within a contract that has blaster pages behind it or clauses that something that's very important, and you're not going to find out until there's a review or something goes wrong, you don't even know that you're at risk. So, understanding you know the requirements of what you're doing, not just not just signing a contract and saying, like, okay, let's do the work. There, there's their requirements there.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

So, if we do not make sure that we understand the rules that are applicable to that interaction as we begin to grow, that breaks down because we're not posture for that. You know, we we we we are not, you know, we haven't instituted or documented rules of engagement, we haven't understood the magnitude of it. So as I grow, man, I run into a wall because hey, there are some labor laws uh applicable to a certain requirement. And at this dollar value, no, it's not triggered, but at a greater dollar value, they are triggered. But man, I didn't understand that because I was just operating the same old way. I'm not even scaling as I even pursue larger efforts based on dollar values to even know what triggers a change. So uh that was an actually great response, and so I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Thank you. And Lori, I'm glad you touched on like the requirements as they grow. Um, an example is like a common one that people struggle with sometimes, especially in certain industries, is Davis Bacon, the Davis Bacon Act. They may not know it because you don't know that something applied when Lori said like your business is growing, you have labor requirements, you still have to meet those. Your employees may know about it. And sometimes the employee will share, you know, with the regulators or your like your contract's office if you're unaware. So you you want to make sure you know all you know know all these things that especially that apply to your money, your employees, you know, the administration of the contract. But then second, I would say is the fiscal piece because once you run into compliance issues, it can cost you, or when you're growing, you you you're gonna have to um have the financial uh backing to be able to sustain and um you know invest in your business.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Yeah, okay, great response. Okay, question number five. Okay, you've seen founders try to delegate too early and delegate too late. What's the signal that tells you a founder is actually ready to hand off decision authority and not just task?

SPEAKER_00 21:56

I would say I see founders hand off. too early in the mostly in the government contracting space because they are trying to run their private, you know, a corporate side too. Um one thing we have to remember is that your portfolio um your your relationships matter. Your portfolio can be impacted by the relationships that you have you or your key team members have within your company. And when you handle things too soon and you're not aware of what's going on at the client site or you're not engaging with the client or or knowing like what's what other issues are within the client space. One that can reduce uh the communication between you and the customer then your customer may start to depend too much on your staff. You're the you're the owner. You're not in a loop too soon you're you're exiting and then you have pretty much staff there that the customer knows and they don't know you know who the small business owner is or um who the C level staff is and in my opinion like you should you should want to be more involved and I know from experience that some of the most successful companies that I've seen um grow their their owners are if they're not I'm not saying that you have to be on site and you know run your business day to day as an employee but those owners are very involved. When I see them in government contracts and they're growing their companies they're very involved and they also interact and make sure that they keep consistent communication with their government clients or potential customers yeah you're right so okay so we got quite a few people that are listening in so for a founder that's listening who's pre-award they're pre-award they have no past performance yet no prime relationships yet what's the single most credible signal they can build this quarter that tells agencies they're ready that they're ready yeah you know they don't have no past performance or you know um no prime relationship just yet so what's that sing uh single thing that they can do um that signals to you know the agencies that uh that they can build this quarter that will signal to the agencies that they are ready or that they're real i would suggest asking for an intro if the no after bids are out um and starting to learn the agency before learn the agency before you go in front of them but i would ask for an introduction and get out go to the events that they're having because right now agencies should be you know having uh forecast and just certain types of events industry events get out there but be informed when you go in front of a customer so if you're just trying to get into the space I would say ask for the intro but before you do that do your research and have an informed conversation about things they care about. What are their priorities? What are their uh shortfalls uh is there something that you a requirement that you think that you may be able to meet for them that they haven't been able to and then how would you do that? Because also if you do get the opportunity can you actually deliver so you want to make sure you have all that covered who and when you're doing when you're asking for intro make sure you're going to the right person identifying who are the key stakeholders and most of the time some uh businesses can sometimes get that wrong just because someone is the chief or head of a department it does not mean that that's the person that you need to talk to so you need to actually identify the right people ask for an introduction or get out to where they are um and make sure you're having an informed conversation and you did your research if if you you know you're not at that point maybe you can look into subcontracting opportunities like who's already there is there a need that you can meet um do they have uh smaller dollar value uh opportunities that may be available to you um do your research do your market research and then uh you know go go to the customer but make sure also they don't have any active bids out for things because that's another um thing that comes up often is that a customer may not respond sometimes they cannot respond to you some of the questions you're asking at a certain time so you you learn about timing when do they get their funding do they even have funding for what you um you're looking to do are they interested in it they're only going to buy what they what they want and need um and who you need to talk to is this the right person can they refer you to someone else and um remember this is relationship building so uh you you don't want to be too forceful you want to build relationships you're trying to build an alliance um with a partnership with a customer and you know and I really do love that response because I think it's very important that we are more strategic in the development of our outreach and engagement and establishment of relationships with prime contractors as well as agencies because far too often you know we're just running out there and we're not being purposeful but to know who doorbell you should be ringing, know who you who who am I talking with, getting to know them because that's how you establish and that's how they learn hey okay you're a real person, you're a real company.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

And guess what? By doing that, what I can say from experience when our businesses come in and engage us what we are able to then do is if we hear of an opportunity that is coming out we can refer, we can recommend or we can say hey go connect with this organization here they're doing the same thing that you're doing and from a strategic perspective you may have a social economic certification that fits within their subcontract and goals and plans and desires and aspirations. So it is um spot on that is how you can get an agency can realize that hey you're a real person. I'm a real organization by going in now when appropriate and having discussions and meeting them and not only talking about yourself, but learning what their needs are, you know what their pain points are and how you can best serve them. And I also like the fact that you re-emphasize hey don't just show up to an office that offering what you have if it's not something they buy. Because far too often people hear just I'm gonna go talk to the government and you try to compel them to buy what you offer because somebody done said oh the government buys everything. They do potentially you know everything is a bit definitive but you know the government agency or office you're in may not be the one to have that mission. So they may not be purchasing what you offer but go do your due diligence and find out which agency is so great response. Love it love it love it love it love it. Okay I got two more questions for you and we're gonna wrap up on the questions okay so you sat on both sides of the table you've been assigned to SBA grant making seat and outside as a capture strategist what do founders consistently get wrong about how agencies actually evaluate them okay also one other thing other position that I've had held was Kotar.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

So uh so I've also been able to be like the contractor's office technical rep over some tech projects and then um programs to bring helping them bring them bring them back into compliance so I would say the key thing one of the key things is that the small business or founder they have to realize the govern you're there to do the government a service um they're not there to hold your hand to tell you what to do each way they do have lots of requirements but you're there to perform a service for them. So you want to go in this is why I say learn the customer learn their processes learn whatever policies or regulations because you you do not want to go there and have to learn on the job the entire way like think about it your business would you if you hire someone to come and do your financials or do something for you set up a some let's say an event would you want to hold their hand along the way and have to tell them to do everything and then they charge you so I would say to be more prepared and understand what your customer is asking you to do. And even if you know a different way of doing it or you think that it's some a better way if you recommend it to a customer this is something that's consistent consistently as well when people come into the federal space or even just large governments or um highly regulated places if they already have a way they're doing something and we know that it can be improved if you recommend it and they are like hard on just keeping it that way you're there to do a service do what they ask you to do document it document your your recommendate your recommendation just document everything.

SPEAKER_03 31:29

That's what it comes down to document everything and and learn who you're working who that you're who you're working for and what you're supposed to deliver for them and I know that sounds simple no it ain't simple because a lot of times I think what people forget or uh again we have these ghostwriters writing these proposals are for folks and now you know with the help of AI I don't know how many people are reading what it generates but it is very important for people to realize and know that hey I'm evaluating you based on the standards and based on what you commute uh you presented as your capability and capacity to do when you are when when you win this award we expect you to be as great as as you put on that paper even greater and sometimes folks come they come show they show up unprepared and just don't understand no they expect you to be everything you said you were you know and I'm why you got this award I'm glad you said that Lori because I have been on contracts where I walked in the door working right right away and and not just yeah you're there to work but I walked in the door and had to do like comp resolve complex issues go to executive meetings the next day and get briefed the day before and that doesn't happen all each time but I'm always prepared for that.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Yeah so when you walk into your customer space you want to be prepared to do whatever you put on that paper and that proposal and like Lori just said they will go they they will go and pull the proposal you know if you're not meeting the requirements as they should because you should be able to deliver whatever you put there.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

Yeah absolutely okay and so we're gonna wrap this up this is the last question and uh it's one that you know I ask all guests when you hear the phrase readiness protects what ambition pursues what does that mean in your own business readiness protects what ambition pursues what does that mean uh in your own business ambitious strategies uh right now that means the that means the more prepared I am for something then I'll be able to accomplish anything I take my time sometimes someone may a competitor they may beat me to a customer but I know that if I go to the customer ready can execute over deliver I I can do all the things that I aspire to do.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

So I have to be ready if I if I'm rushing as Lori says rush to failure if I'm rushing I may not be able to excel at the things that I'm trying to do. So I'm always making sure I'm ready when I go into any space. If I'm not ready to do it then I'd rather like not take it because I like to master things that I do and um not not coming from a place of perfection but being able to give people and um what give people customers of what they ask for. So if I cannot deliver on that then why why am I doing this? I want to be able to meet the requirements of whatever I strive to do. So the more I'm gonna stay ready. If I'm not ready we're gonna hold on and Lori knows that working with me um we make sure that we're ready to meet the requirement and we want to uh overdeliver so that that's what I strive to do.

SPEAKER_03 35:08

And you know what and I appreciate that and I love that I also love that you threw that one zinger in there you know man we're not striving for perception because far too often even in all the accomplishments that we've achieved uh separately and collectively even as business owners and former government federal service workers you know we um have my I mean there's an aspect of profession that you want or excellence that you want to always be operating in but uh everything is not going to always be pretty you know lunch in this podcast I couldn't wait no more for it to be pretty and glossy you know uh going live you know nope can't be pretty and glossy no more Lori uh Chanel and uh Shawana and others just wasn't having it with me no more so they threw me out here so I'm out here not perfect but in even in my imperfection uh it doesn't mean that the information that we're provid uh providing and that we're bringing to small businesses aren't prudent and it's designed to help you. So Chanel thank you uh for joining us on today and do you have any last parting words you know that you would like to share you know uh during this time during this season with so much going on uh do you have any other parting words that you would like to share to give uh small businesses that may be listening in uh whether they're women veterans or other underrepresented groups uh a ray of hope in this season yes i i would say it's a journey don't compare yourself to other people here like you it is a journey is your journey this is your business journey you're gonna get the customers that you're supposed to have you're only going to be in places where you're supposed to be find your customer you may get 100 no's before you get to that customer you may get an immediate contract but don't compare your journey to someone else's like this is your business journey you're gonna do all the things that you want to do there if you just focus on uh delivering for your customer and doing it your way have it this is your path so I I just have to say that because I see and I hear customers tell me and then just like in the in industry I get to meet a lot of businesses like this company has this or they have access to that this is access to that or they won a contract yesterday they just started that's their that's their path you have your own so like just keep going keep going that's that's the key thing for me and I always share that with as a motto I have like just keep going as long as you keep going you'll get there all right well we do appreciate your time and uh you and I we will catch up and connect soon but thank you so much for joining us on today. Yes thank you Lori and and team thank you for everything you all are doing in the background all right well Chanel again thank you uh and what I hope you heard in this conversation uh is uh through life changing operations is that uh it's these are the things that we're doing uh to build this show on and so listen back to what Chanel uh just uh said and make um and map it out onto your own um you know your own framework you know so just stay uh stay connected her observations uh founders delegating tasks not uh decision authority uh is the hardest part of growing beyond yourself and her answer on what agencies are actually evaluating you know that's that's rules the uh decision boundaries that tell the world how your business operates when you are not in the room rhythms roles and rules uh Chanel didn't use those exact words but she was describing the same operating system when she talked about understanding the various financial systems and having those things in place and that's not a coincidence that's what readiness sounds like from every angle and what I love about that conversation is it reinforces something I keep coming back to governance isn't about being perfect it's about being intentional. You don't need a flawless system you need a consistent one and consistency practice over time is what separates businesses that can hold federal work from businesses that buckle under it. So here's your practical application from this episode I want you to do three things this week one I want you to share your decision authority map with at least one person in your business if you haven't already done this or your ecosystem, a team member, a subcontractor a business partner using the language we discussed. Two, I want you to identify one decision that happened this week that should have gone through your governance process but didn't don't beat yourself up about it. Just notice it awareness builds the habit and then three I want you to schedule your next monthly governance review if you haven't already put it on your calendar protect it because if you're finding that governance is harder to implement than it was to design that's normal. That's where support matters and Acuiligen's advisory service includes governance implementation uh not just the framework but the coaching uh to actually integrate it into your operations and so the link to schedule a clarity assessment is in the show notes so in our next episode you know we're going to be stepping back to look at the big picture you know so I'm going to walk you through how to design a readiness pathway for your business a 12 to 18 month uh plan that tells you exactly which lane to prioritarize and when and it's the strategic planning episode and it's designed to take everything we built in series one and series two thus far and organize it into a pathway that actually makes sense for where you are today. So again this is GovCon clarity readiness protects what ambitious pursues so build what holds the opportunity and what holds you by