Anyone ever felt lonely being the “boss”?
As we celebrated #nationalbossday this past Saturday, I’ve been thinking more about this.
It was always a dream of mine since I was a little girl to be the “boss” - own my own business, be an entrepreneur, watch my dreams come to life.
What no one ever warns you about is how lonely it is to be the boss. How hard it is to please the people that work for you, with you, and your clients and customers. Every day we have little or big decisions to make, and only the leader can make it at the end of the day. Some days I know my brain is full and I don’t have the capacity to make a decision. You can ask opinions, but as an entrepreneur you are the only one at risk of making a bad decision that can affect you financially and in turn all the people around you that depend on your business.
I take that to heart every day. I am so grateful for the people that believe in the vision of these businesses. I feel a great deal of responsibility for their careers and their families that depend on the income they bring in from being employed with me.
Many times people who work for you don’t understand why you are making the decisions you are. Often that is because they are unaware of all the different information that you are weighing from all angles when they have their own singular perspective.
From all the businesses I have consulted with over the years and my own business, I do not believe that there is a “boss” that can run a business completely on their own. We all need a village, a team of people that care as much as you do about the success and survival of your business - whether they work for you or are outside friends, family members and advisors.
As much as I love the highs of creating a vision and watching it come to life, the lows we have experienced during COVID as business owners and leaders were those that I could have never imagined or planned for. That’s when the power of a team became so clear.
I own two businesses that were impacted - one is a yoga studio and the other a consulting and keynote speaking business. Both relied on physical interaction in the past.
In my yoga business, within a few days time we went from celebrating our anniversary with everyone arm and arm to converting to an all virtual studio.
With no sight as to what was to come, one month into quarantine, I set a meeting in both businesses with the entire team.
It was time to pause and stop the panic that was happening for me internally, as well as with my team. Instead of me trying to solve it by myself, I was transparent on the state of the business. Then it was time to brainstorm and get feedback from each person, no matter what their job title.
What should we keep doing?
What should we stop doing?
What can we control?
What can’t we control?
We went around on zoom and everyone had a chance to contribute. We changed course in both businesses to survive the unknown so we could come out on the other side. We discussed the sacrifices and the help and support we were all going to need to be able to make it. We also came up with new ideas as well to create celebration and happiness in hard times.
Even though I know it’s hard to be the final decision maker, creating a culture of transparency and collaboration can help you see things you may have not seen if you had tried to go it alone.
Remember you have support. Remember when to pause and take a breath. Remember to ask yourself and the people around you the hard questions to ensure you never feel alone. Remember why you became a boss and the passion and vision that fuels you to keep going.
