Bosses don’t get the same feedback as other people because it’s costly for people to call you out. When you embarrass someone, or get angry for no reason, or say something inappropriate, there may be an awkward silence, but there’s rarely someone getting up in your grill about it. So if you’ve been a “boss”…
A week or so ago, I wrote about The vulnerability of the business owner, and that post generated a lot of responses! There are a couple that I’d like to lean into over the next few emails. One business owner replied to that email by saying: Thank you for acknowledging that feeling vulnerable is inherent…
One of the challenges of owning your own business is that you are both the CEO, responsible for the day-to-day decisions and direction of the company AND you are also the principal investor responsible for the long-term health of the business and interested in improving the equity value of the firm. To use a sports…
If I stop at the end of a busy day and think, “Did I do a good job today?” I tend to think about 3 things — did I crush my to-do list? Did I win the email battle? And, did I put money in the bank? But if I stop to think about it,…
Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. ~Brene Brown Business owners are often indistinguishable from their businesses. Our self-worth and our identity are all tied up in our business performance. When the business performs well, we’re champions; when it doesn’t, we can feel worthless. Each of our decisions, good, or bad, nudge our business…
Last week I was talking to two different business owners, both were in similar circumstances, but they told me very different stories. Business Owner 1 This business owner runs a marketing firm that focuses on urban real estate companies. They had some terrible years in 2008 – 2012 — but the owner told a very…
It can’t keep going like this! You hustle to get more work (‘cause you NEED more work). But when the work comes in, too much of it falls on you! Yes, there’s a team, but it takes more time to get them to do the kick-off and set up the billing, and schedule the status…
I just got back from a family trip two weeks ago, and then a conference last week, so my to-do list is bursting at the seams as I try to get caught up. This is the kind of situation where I need to be 100% focused and productive, but my brain is all, “We need…
Sometimes I procrastinate. I have something that would be easy if I just got it done, but instead, I put it off. Do you ever do that? Recently, I procrastinated on a deliverable that was my client was anxious to see. What I promised him seemed simple enough at the outset, it quickly showed itself…
I was chatting with a referral partner this week (The incomparable Adam Radulovic) and as we were discussing a company that I thought needed his services he asked me, “How many grownups are there in that organization?” “What do you mean, ‘grownups’?” I asked. “You know. Who’s telling the kids to do their homework, and…