It’s easy to feel alone as a business owner. You see everything, and so you know what is coming in and going out. You know who is doing what. You have a lot of control over people’s lives. And, truth be told – you’re often the only one who really cares about your business. Sure, other people say they do, but in the end, you and I both know that it’s all on your shoulders. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Today, we’ll explore why it is so often all on your shoulders, and what you can do to fix it.
Why It’s All On You (HINT: It’s Because of You)
All Hail the Ego!
Most people have heard of something called the ego. We think it’s another word for our pride or arrogance, but it’s different. The Ego is a tool that we have that keeps us from making fools of ourselves and alienating ourselves from the tribe. It also stops us from second-guessing ourselves or being hyper-critical to the point of depression and suicide.
Ego stops people from doing all sorts of healthy things for us, like asking for help or making changes as soon as it’s clear we made a bad decision. Ego is honestly a major reason why it’s all on your shoulders. You made a bad decision and instead of rectifying it, you just pick up the slack and make due.
The Experts Weigh In
The second reason it feels like it’s all on your shoulders is actually an effect of the first. It may feel like all the work and pressure is on your shoulders because you didn’t hire the right person, and instead of firing the wrong person and hiring the right person, you just let it sit. Listen, I get it. I’ve been there. But it doesn’t have to be this way! And, unless you fix it, then you’re going to be singing the Beatles: “Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight a long time!”
Sharing the Load
If you’re ready to give up your suffering then there are two great places to begin. You’ll have to determine which course of action best fits your situation.
Ask For Help
The ego naturally tends to not ask for help because it’s justifying your actions and saying that you didn’t do anything wrong and therefore don’t need any help. And no one can be all right. Just ask my grandma! If you want to reverse the negative pattern, then start simply. Ask for help. If you’re in business and you have employees you know are capable of helping then ask them to do it. Start to trust them, instead of being afraid of alienating yourself from your tribe. Leaders who know how to be vulnerable are the best leaders. Just ask George Washington. Start sharing. Things will work out.
Train Your Team
If you don’t have a team with whom you can share work because it’s stuff they don’t know how to do, but could if trained then you should train them. It’s that simple. Give them the chance to try. Let go of your ego and don’t be afraid to let them do things a little ugly. You can always step in and fix it when it’s not up to snuff. But just this simple act alone will pay major dividends later.
Conclusions
A parenting expert says that we can have things one of two ways: hard-easy, or easy-hard. What she means is that if we take the easy way out and let our kids just kind of do whatever early on, then it will be hard later. Or, we can do the hard work early and then it will be easier later. But here’s a tip, the hard that comes later is far more difficult than the hard of doing things early. It’s the same way in business. It’s hard to get your ego out of the way and correct your mistakes, train and trust your team, and give over some control to others, but it’s only going to get harder. And by acting now, it’ll be so much easier.
Let go of your ego. Train your team. Trust them. Help them when they need it. But share your load with them. That’s why you hired them in the first place.
Don’t Give Up the Ship!
