How’s your relationship…with your business?

Casey and Caitlin from the magical BWB invited me to guest on their Questions to Hold podcast. We explored the relationship between leadership and business growth, from understanding ourselves to championing our true identities and finding the gift in our blind spots. If you want the details, listen to the whole episode.

But the moment that stuck with me was Casey’s question toward the end of the podcast.

“Would you unpack for us your relationship with your business? …Really think about it as a partnership with another being; think about the power dynamics, the qualities, the characteristics, how you see each other, how you do not see each other…”

This was a podcast interview, so I had to answer in the moment, but as I’ve held that question, more layers have come forward.

• Is this relationship mutual? Am I getting as much from the business as the business is getting from me?
• Is this relationship healthy? Will it last long, or are we headed for a break-up?
• Are our expectations realistic? Are the needs I’m asking my business to meet appropriate, or should I be meeting those needs elsewhere?
• Is the relationship open to negotiation? Are there boundaries I need to create? What would make it a better, more generative relationship for us both?
• Do we need some space? Some time away from each other? (Even if it’s just a vacation without email.)

If you listen to my answer, I confess that there was a time when I was in an abusive relationship with my work boss (that would be me). He would make commitments without considering my personal life or other business commitments. He was treating my body like a rental car, to speak nothing of my mental health. It wasn’t a good relationship!

We’re in a better situation now, but it took work to get us there.

How’s your relationship with your business? What do you need to renegotiate with your work boss? How can you get brutally honest about what you need versus what the company needs?