Here’s the problem. The larger your organization becomes, whether it is two people or ten or twenty seven, it gets increasingly complex and difficult to deal with. Make or break decisions are being made every day, especially if you are growing fast. Yet the people you spend every day with—your customers, employees, and even your family—either cannot or will not understand your situation. Internal business decisions cannot be openly discussed with customers. Employees can’t really be consulted about a whole range of issues, sometimes legally, and sometimes because exposure to even the consideration of alternatives will reduce their confidence in you as a leader, or in their position within the company. When they lose confidence, you risk either losing them or undermining their ability to perform. Your family or spouse may be very interested in your success, but as they confront their own issues every day, usually which are very different from yours, it takes enormous time to explain the situations, and even then, often they do not or cannot understand simply because they are not living it and do not know the subtleties the business owner confronts. And yet, these are the people you spend your time with. (more to follow)

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